19 15:07
Bobby on the Beat CAMRA’s Oldest Columnist, Gordon Bunting, continues his look back over life in a Stamford pub during the post-war years..... We rarely see a police officer these days (except in a patrol car), but after the war you saw “cops” all over the place. One was always on duty in Stamford’s Red Lion Square, and many times my father, the landlord of our pub (the Burghley Arms in Sheepmarket), would tell me to run to the square and tell the officer on duty that fighting had broken out among the navvies slaking their thirst after working on the Stamford bypass. The policemen, from memory, were big, burly men who soon quelled the trouble!
under it – and say to my Dad “Fill it up, I’m off to the gents”. When the customer returned, his glass would be full, with his change alongside it. Then the scam came in : “You’ve shortchanged me, guv’nor – I left a pound note under this glass”. Strangely enough this ploy never worked in the Burghley Arms – my Dad was from Fletton, after all! At this time of year, there were no fancy Christmas lights in the pubs, just holly and mistletoe. However, our pub was festooned with red and yellow crepe paper chains, painstakingly made by me and my sisters. After Boxing Day, all decorations came down and everything looked rather bare – but things soon looked up as there was a New Year to look forward to! Gordon Bunting
At that time, evening licensing hours were 6 till 10pm and it was not unusual for officers to patrol the pubs and tell the landlords to clear the premises – and I recall them clearing glasses with drink still in them and shepherding out the few remaining old chaps, who hadn’t been quick enough to swallow the contents of said glasses. There were no tills then. Most pubs simply had a pot under the bar, well out of reach of stray hands! A little trick some would try on a busy night was to put their empty glass on the bar – with a ten-shilling note Visit our website for up-to-date news: www.peterborough.camra.org.uk
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021/22
BEER AROUND ‘ERE
23
