In The 50’s

CAMRA’s Oldest Columnist, Gordon Bunting, continues his look back over life in a Stamford pub during the post-war years.....

In the mid-1950s, trade was at a low ebb in certain Stamford pubs, and one of the reasons was that some of them had installed television sets. My Dad, the landlord of the Burghley Arms in Sheepmarket, was a traditionalist who refused to follow that particular trend, but many drinkers, most of who had no TV set at home, changed their allegiance in order to goggle at the box.

My parents were weighing up their options when a local shopkeeper called in to inform them that he had purchased the pub and surrounding buildings from the owners, Phipps of Northampton. This was good news – the Burghley Arms wasn’t making much money - and Dad and Mum started looking for somewhere else to live. They drew a blank at first – there wasn’t a single house for sale or rent in Stamford!

Out of the blue, a customer told us that there was a house for sale on the town’s Princes Road. Dad told me to go up there and enquire. I knocked on the door and was driven away with a broom by the lady of the house, who threatened to call the police! Anyway, it turned out that the house was for sale after all (with Hodgkinsons the Auctioneers) and Dad bought it for £1100. The same house sold recently for £300,000.......

Yet my Dad had paid almost as much for his car as the house - £850 for a new Ford Zephyr in 1952. It took us several times on our annual holiday, usually to Bournemouth. The Zephyr, Zodiac and Consul were the products of Ford’s answer to the growing post-war demand for more luxurious models. A butcher in Stamford called Johnson bought a new Vauxhall at the same time and he would place a threepenny bit on end on the bonnet of the car before turning on the ignition. So gentle was the vibration that the coin remained on its end!

Dad wouldn’t have a telly in the pub but he did install a gramophone and a group of Teddy Boys, known as the Lambeth Walk Gang, used to come in and play their records on it. I wonder what happened to all those records! And what became of the gang? I don’t suppose any of them live in Lambeth Walk, Stamford, any more.........

Gordon Bunting

THE ADDISON ARMS

GLATTON

The village of Glatton’s Addison Arms is a traditional country pub serving great food, real ale, fine wine and scrumptous homemade desserts.

Food at the Addison is second to none, prepared with the utmost care and attention to detail. The chefs source the best quality seasonal produce so it’s no surprise that the menu showcases a wide range of enticing dishes.

The Addison has become a Sunday lunch destination, with tables booked weeks in advance. They offer at least three different locally sourced meals, a wide variety of vegetables and desserts, and also cater juniors and smaller appetites.

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