Holymoorside Pubs - Past And Present
From: InnSpire - Issue 8 – August 1997

The village of Holymoorside is well known to real ale drinkers, through the popularity of the Lamb Inn, a regular in the Good Beer Guide; past Pub of the Month and Pub of the Year 1994 and again in 1996. This month, we take a look at the pubs in the village, both past and present.

Holymoorside is not the typical picturesque village grouped around its Parish Church, but spread over a large area. The main employment in the past was not farming as one would expect, but from a cotton mill which at its peak employed 200 people. Considering the industrial nature of its past, it has never been well off for pubs. Besides an alehouse in the 1700's, which did not survive to modern times, only 4 other pubs have existed in the village, one of those for a very short time. The two oldest pubs, the Old Star Inn and the Bulls Head were in existence when the first trade directories were produced in the 1820's.  The Old Star was on Loads Road, on the edge of the village, surviving today as Old Star Cottage. It appeared to have a quiet existence, only making the news when James Wilcockson, a very long serving landlord of 36 years, committed suicide by cutting his throat in July 1886.

Owners, Chesterfield Borough Council sold the pub at auction in April 1921, when Mrs H. Dickens secured the sale with a bid of £1500. The auctioneer described the inn as 'the hub of the universe at holiday times', possibly a slight exaggeration. The Home Brewery later acquired the pub, but in 1958 offered to surrender the licence in exchange for a new pub to be built at Shirebrook - The Summit. The Old Star closed in 1959 when the new pub was complete. A newspaper report at the time stated that it had been licensed for 300 years.

Little is known of the Bulls Head's early years, except that it was bought in March 1881 by Messrs Chater and Soames, owners of the Brampton Brewery Company. With Brampton s famous mild it must have been a very popular venue. Unfortunately this changed after Warwicks and Richardsons took over in June 1955 as their beers were very unpopular. Licensee of the time Hector Bradshaw left in November 1955 after a conflict with the brewery over their beers, Today the pub is owned by Inntrepreneur and run by Lindsay and Paul May who have kept the pub for five Years Beers of interest to the real ale drinker are Magnet; Theakstons XB and Stones.

The Lamb Inn was originally part of a butcher's business, which still exists elsewhere in the village vanes Shemwell was the butcher and first licensee, around 1851. The pub, as we know it today, came about as the result of major alterations in 1953 that incorporated the remains of the butchers shop into the pub and a new extension at the side for toilets. The Lamb was the second pub in the village belonging to the Home Brewery, who eventually sold the pub to the present owners Pat and Alan Goucher in 1992. They have been licensees since 1985, taking over from Pat' s parents who had run the pub for 8 years.

The final pub, The Woodman or Woodman’s Arms was a beerhouse (i.e. could not sell spirits) and was run by William Hayes. The name derived from the landlords main occupation - wood cutter and timber merchant Its only proof of existence is in trade directories between 1862 and 1876. The building still stands as Sycamore House, on the narrow lane between the Lamb and the Bull.

So ends our pub crawl of Holymoorside, hardly a Brampton Mile, but probably an enjoyable experience at the time.

John Hirst

Clay Cross Pubs - Past and Present
From: InnSpire - Issue 9 – August 1997

Little existed in Clay Cross before the Midland Railway built the line, which passes under the town. During excavation of the tunnel, which began in 1837, coal was discovered. George Stephenson, the railway engineer, was quick to capitalise on the find, establishing collieries and the Clay Cross Company, which used the abundant coal to produce iron. The town grew rapidly, which was reflected in the increase in pubs, from 4 to a maximum of around 23. What is unusual about Clay Cross today is that 15 of the pubs remain (i.e. two thirds), compared to less than one third in Chesterfield. Unfortunately lack of space prevents giving a detailed story of the pubs, however here is a brief tour. Original breweries are given in brackets.

Arriving at Clay Cross from Chesterfield along the High Street, the first pub was the Crown Inn (Brampton), which was demolished around 1970 and still a vacant site. Today’s Post Office was originally the Blue Bell, which closed in the 1800's. Opposite the Post Office stood the Star Hotel (Ind Coope), demolished in the 1960's for road widening. The Red Lion, (Brampton) survives but is now owned by Wards.

After the junction with Market Street, is the Elm Tree, which originally belonged to Hollis's Brewery of Pilsley, passing to the Chesterfield Brewery and finally to its present owners the Mansfield Brewery. Over the road is a row of buildings built in 1876. At the far end was the Victoria Hotel (Ind Coope) which closed at the end of 1961. It became the offices of the Urban District Council and Social Security, and is now split into small office units.

The next pubs were clustered around the original centre of the town, the crossroads (traffic lights). On the left was the Buck Hotel (Brampton), which closed in the middle 1950's, its licence being transferred to a new pub of the same name on the edge of the newly built Holmgate Estate. On the adjacent corner is the George and Dragon (Scarsdale), now a Free house. After the traffic lights is the Shoulder of Mutton (Gilmours) now Free of tie selling Tetleys. Opposite on the left was the Angel Inn (Brampton), which was demolished in the 1960's.

Retracing out steps and turning right onto Thanet Street we immediately come to the Cannon, originally the King's Head (Scarsdale), again now Free. We then come to the Prince of Wales (Stones) recently acquired by Gibbs Mew from the Centric Pub Group. Further along on the opposite side is the Queens Head (Gilmours) again a Free house. The final pub on Thanet Street was the Dusty Miller (Chesterfield) which closed in 1910. Now demolished it stood opposite the Kings Head. Crossing the traffic lights again, down Clay Lane is the Royal Oak (Gilmours) also Free.

Going back to Market Street all the pubs have survived closure. From High Street the first is the Gardeners Arms (Kimberley) followed by the Old English (Hollis/Chesterfield) now Free selling Mansfield beers, originally called the Furnace Inn until 1987. Next is the New Inn (Gilmours) now Free; Nags Head (Hollis/Chesterfield/Mansfield) now Free; Three Horse Shoes (Holes of Newark) now Wards and the Royal Volunteer (Gilmours) belonging to the Pubmaster pub group.

The remaining two pubs: the Black Horse, Eyre Street (Brampton) and the Shakespeare, Broadleys (Brampton), both closed late 1907 under the Compensation Act.

In the last issue we looked at the quiet village of Holymoorside. Clay Cross must be the complete contrast. A tour in its heyday must have been quite an experience.

John Hirst