Kings Head Berry Hill
Courtesy of: Ewart Hawkins. Uploaded: .
The Kings Head, Berry Hill
The proprietor at this time was Ernest Beach
Thanks to Robert "Fred" Beach who has kindly added the following
commentary :
"Ernest Beach was my dads Uncle Ernie and the woman in the picture I would
imagine is his wife Zilla, they had one daughter Maureen ? I remember as a
child (mid
1950s) a Sunday visit, the pub was closed, and being free to play darts and
table skittles with my brother Harry while the adults chatted. My father lodged
with them before the War when he worked on the GWR railways, he was attached
to the Lydbrook gang, he later transfered to the St Briavels gang as he lived
at Wyesham near Monmouth. Ernest was born 1891 on the Kymin near Monmouth and
died in the 1970s?. Zilla lived on for many years next door to the Kings Head,
probably until the late 1980s" .
Ernest Beach was landlord of the Kings Head from 1931 until 1954. (1)
Thanks also to Joyce Lea who added: "Mrs Beach was my fathers sister.
She had a daughter Maureen who died of M.S. in the sixties and a son
Ronald who was killed, with his wife, in a car crash. She had an identical
twin sister Jess who was landlady of Seven Stars pub in Cinderford with her
husband Ben Voyce and then ran a newsagents, Bowe? in Cinderford until their
retirement".
(1) John Saunders, Past and Present Books, Gloucester Rd., Coleford.
George Smith added (October 2009): "... Bet Jones, another sister was landlady at the Courtfield Arms, Lydbrook during the war. One of the sisters was landlady at The Cock Inn, Blakeney in 1922" .
Mike Jones added (July 2011): "... This brings back teriffic memories. This is very much my territory, God's pocket as my Gran Jones used to say. I was born in the middle of the war, just across the road, the other side of what we called the tump. It later became the pub car park and now a newish house is built there. Our house was Fair View. My uncle Reg Jones used to run a cobblers shop in the garden at the side of the house. There was a walk-in porch on the front door of the Kings Head ("Yud") then. I remember it particularly well for its small bore half down-pipe turned out over the cill, just at the right height for us young uns to trumpet in the belief those inside could hear".
"Apart from the landlady of the Cock Inn, I remember pretty well all those mentioned above but did n't know about Robert's demise. His father was Graham Hose - the spelling might not be quite right, he was a very clever electrician. Graham wanted to teach me the trade until one day I put half of Berry Hill out for the best part of a day. He also taught me the art of improving pom pom bangers by encasing them in peices of old lead piping and crimping the ends up. They made twice the noise but you had to be careful where you put them, - lethal. I dread to think what the HSE would make of that today. When I was very young there was a old timer called George Hughes who used to drink on his own in the 'Jug and Bottle' and he used to sit me on his knee for a slurp of his beer. When George was n't in the 'Jug and Bottle' he was usually sat in Uncle Reg's cobblers shop. There was n't any mains water then. Everyone had a well and many carried water for drinking from Well Lane or Orrel's springs. When the well got low very often the entire family would take turns in the tin bath. Ken Greenway took over the pub from Ern Beach and in terms of timescale he was probably the last successful landlord there. I seem to recall Mr Beach and the Kings Head were tied up with Berry Hill F.C. and I think they may have headquartered there at one time. I'm sure there used to be team pics hung on the wall. Perhaps someone else can enlarge?. I could go on and on with this one".
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