a pub crawl through Arlesey
part 2
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The True Briton. Image: Terry’s the Barb
Following on from last months feature on pubs in Arlesey we carry on our
‘pub crawl’. We finished up last month at the Star on the High Street (now
The Raj Villa, Indian restaurant).
We now go back on our journey walking north for a few metres until we get to
Arlesey Pharmacy on Fiveways junction and turn left into Station Road. No. 1
Station Road was the Hod of Mortar.
• 1855 opened
• 1874 purchased by Simpson & Co brewers, Baldock
• 1911 closed possibly with only one licensee throughout – Daniel Thompson
Grimes bookmakers occupied the building before moving to the High Street.
Carrying on down Station Road to the corner of Hospital Road is the True
Briton at 27 Hospital Road (was Asylum Road). The next few hostelries are in
quite close proximity to each other
• 1857 opened
• 1855 John Houghton licensee
• 1876 owned by John Steed a brewer from Baldock
• 1894 purchased by J W Green brewer, Luton
• 1903 George Medcraft licensee
• 1940
• 1964 J W Green amalgamated with Flower & Sons of Stratford on Avon
and changed their names to Flowers Breweries Ltd
The True Briton is very much still open and is also a Free House.
Across Station Road No. 42 is a private house, this is the former Brickmakers
Arms.
• 1851 opened
• 1857 James Bennett licensee
• 1876 Edward Fordham brewer of Ashwell purchased the pub
• 1903 Thomas Axam licensee
• 1909 closed and is now a private residence.
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August 2014
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No. 2 Hospital Road opposite was the grandly named City Arms, after nearby
City Farm
• 1865 opened and owned by J W Parker, Buntingford George Wootton was
the first licensee
• 1893 purchased by Charles Wells of Bedford who built a new house
• 1902 Thomas Page licensee
• 1910 daughter Miss Lily Page was licensee
• 1926 closed
It is now a private house.
With the railways and the Asylum came visitors and Arlesey had two hotels
to accommodate these. Only metres apart they were close to the Three
Counties Station and also within easy reach of the brickworks, lime works
and engineering works. The station closed in 1960 as part of the Beeching
cuts.
With the prospect of the railways and a new station, to be completed around
1850 in Arlesey, the Lamb Hotel opened ten years before the station would
be complete.
• 1840 opened. Owned by Thomas West.
• 1862 purchased by William Hill
• 1914 purchased by Arthur Hill
• 1920 George Page purchased it and sold it on to Wells & Winch Ltd. The
pub had been leased to Page & Co brewers Ashwell for many years.
• 1964 closed
The site covered around six acres of land. Between 1857 and the late
1930’s, a standard gauge tramway ran from the station past the Lamb along
Station Road, into Hospital Road across Hitchin Road then through the gates
to Three Counties Asylum. It was used to transport coal and other goods to
the asylum from the mainline railway. A hut on the site was used by Army
Cadets, but was destroyed by fire in 1956. Arlesey Town Football Club had
their home pitch on the site of the former hotel – Lamb Meadow, until they
to advertise telephone: 01462 834265 or go to the website: www.onthebuttonarlesey.co.uk