Whatever Happened To ‘Jammy’

BAE reader Colin Shepherd, of Weldon, asks if anyone remembers “Jammy” Wells, landlord of the Wheatsheaf in Titchmarsh during the 1970s and 80s.

It seems that the pub (a recent CAMRA Gold Award winner) was the “go-to” place for a steak dinner even back then, and the jovial Jammy’s domain was the kitchen while his wife looked after the ale.

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Jammy (which may not have been his given name) loved his rugby and turned out alongside Colin for Corby RFC, and on their nights off he and his missus would head into Corby for.....a drink at the Rugby Club!

If it’s any help, Jammy had a brother called Nigel, who went to work in the Middle East in the late 70s. Colin is interested to find out if Jammy is still about. Anyone?

QUARTS AND THOUGHTS

Spent a happy week in a less-than-sunny Cleethorpes in late August with two daughters and three grandchildren, but absented myself each evening to sample the local pubs and to fill my three-and-a-half pint demijohn to accompany the evening’s entertainment. The Signal Box Inn calls itself “The Smallest Pub On The Planet”, but as customers can’t actually go in, it surely doesn’t count (you stand outside and order). The No 2 Pub, at the station, a multiple winner of local CAMRA awards, supplied my tasty White Rat and Hancocks HB (the No 1 Bar, also on the station concourse, was mysteriously shut). The real find, though, was Willy’s, a seafront bar with an onsite micro brewery. Their Willy’s Original Bitter was quite superb, as was the Bass, and the ambience had Tina waxing lyrical! “A gentler, quieter crowd of an afternoon” says the Good Beer Guide – so we fitted in nicely...

On returning to Stamford, we dined one evening at the Bull and Swan in St. Martins, in recent years perhaps not a pub you’d associate with beery eminence, but it had been proposed for the GBG. I’m happy to say I could see why! Three of Nene Valley’s products on handpump and all were in top condition. Well done!

In the last issue of BAE I mentioned our visit to the Racehorse in Westhall, Suffolk, where locals were trying to raise £96,000 to buy the pub. I’m delighted to report that the target has been reached and the pub saved. Shows it can be done....

I was in Bromsgrove overnight a few weeks ago and headed for a pub I’ve used before, the Ladybird in the town’s Aston Fields. Their Batham’s Best and Wye Valley HPA went down a treat as I fell into conversation with a Scouse plasterer (as you do) who had once been on the payroll of the notorious drug baron Curtis “Cocky” Warren.

Made the trip up to Grantham on Bonfire Night for the St. Wulfram’s Beer Festival. I have never missed here, even before CAMRA took it over, and