Category: UK

Apologies again for the poor photo quality, they were taken on my old phone which has fortunately been replaced since we visited this pub in mid-February on one of our perambulations around Norwich. This was our visit to the Coachmakers Arms on St. Stephen’s Road in Norwich, a pub which dates to the seventeenth century and is a former coaching inn apparently built on the site of a former asylum. The record of it being a pub date to the mid-eighteenth century and the breweries who have owned it include the Tompson Brewery, Morgans, Steward & Patteson, Watney Mann, Norwich Brewery and Tager Inns and there’s more about the latter on the page about the Cricketers’ Rest which isn’t far away.

The pub has an external mural by John Moray-Smith (1889–1958) and he also created the one at Berstrete Gates.

Julian parking his bike in the courtyard and there was a major crime committed here in 1905….. The text from the local newspaper of the time reads:

“CHARGE AGAINST A SCHOOLBOY DISMISSED

Charles James Nichols, schoolboy, of Sixteen Row, Lakenham, was charged with stealing a box containing 14 lbs. of raisins, value 3s. 4d., the property of George Daniel Tann, between November 21st and 24th. Mrs. Bloom stated that last Thursday afternoon a number of boys made a cave at the bottom of her garden on Sigismund Road. She heard them talking about plums, and afterwards found a coat belonging to one of them on the ground and some raisins. A little boy, aged about ten, who said he was with the defendant all the afternoon was called as a witness; but the Clerk said it would not be fair to him to ask him to incriminate himself, and his evidence was dispensed with. The ostler at the Coachmakers’ Arms, St. Stephen’s, said that on the 21st inst. several boxes of raisins, belonging to the prosecutor, were left in the yard. George Tann, a grocer, of Forncett, said there should have been ten boxes. He did not count them, and did not miss one until the policeman made inquiries. The Clerk said it appeared difficult to connect the defendant with the case, which seemed to be one of confession. The defendant’s mother said the lad was no trouble at home. He was never out at night. The Chairman said if he was not better looked after he would bring her to sorrow. There was a difficulty about the case, and it would be dismissed.”

The lad became an “habitual criminal” (I always think of Norman Stanley Fletcher when hearing that phrase) according to police records in 1913 and he had taken to the theft of cycles, which ties in back to Julian parking his bike there quite neatly. He went on to fight in the First World War (Charles, not Julian) with, I think, some distinction and he went on to have a long life.

The courtyard area which I can imagine is busy during sporting events. The building is Grade II listed and I’ll just quote from the listed building record:

“Former use unknown, now Public House. C17 and Late C18 Rendered. Stucco quoins and window surrounds. Black pantile roof. 3 storeys, 4 bays. Off-centre door with plain surround and small decorated consoles supporting a flat hood. One sash window to each side with 3 lights per sash. Raised and moulded, eared and haunched surrounds with keystone. Sash windows to first floor with identical surrounds to ground floor windows. 2nd floor sash windows with simple raised and moulded surrounds. Projecting, moulded box- cornice. Hipped roof. C17 ceiling beams with knicked chamfer-stops. Large frieze on wall to right showing St. Stephen’s Gate by Moray-Smith, 1937.”

The beer selection, although it wasn’t entirely clear what they did have. I ordered two beers from these pump clips and was told they were unavailable so I thought it best to ask what they did actually have and I wasn’t sure that I was any the wiser, but I think they had the Silver Adder from Mauldons, the Abbot Ale from Greene King and the Old Speckled Hen from Morland (Greene King). I think, but wasn’t told, that customers should ignore the pump clips and just look at the barrels as there’s gravity dispense.

As can be seen from this advert from 1873, the serving directly from the barrel is nothing new. Victoria Station, which was located opposite, hadn’t served passengers since 1916 but it remained open for freight traffic although the buildings were damaged during the Second World War and pulled down soon after. The station site was replaced with offices occupied by Marsh, but they were taken down in late 2024 and early 2025 which must have impacted the pub’s trade a little. Not unlike other pubs, they advertised for a ‘girl’ in 1913, noting they wanted one aged around 25 and from the country. They didn’t want any city folk, whether older or younger, cluttering up their residence.

I went for the Silver Adder from Mauldons, which was crisp, hoppy and well-kept, but it’s all a bit light on flavour for me.

There is food served on weekday lunches and the pub was clean and tidy, with the interior feeling historic and interesting. The on-line reviews are positive and the service during our visit was friendly and efficient. The beer selection wasn’t really my cup of tea, or indeed jug of beer, although the Oscar Wilde would have been my choice if they did have it. The pub also sells Cruzcampo, but I make no comment as I don’t judge…. There’s quite a cosy atmosphere and there’s also an upstairs function room.

Taken during one of our perambulations, apologies that these photos were taken during the dying days of my last phone, so the quality of the imagery isn’t exactly top notch. The York is a traditional Victorian corner pub which opened in 1878 and it has been owned by breweries including Bullards, Watney Mann, Courage in the past. I didn’t go and check on this occasion, although I have done before, but there’s a large beer garden out the back which used to be a bowling green and the pub’s web-site notes that there’s now “a Pétanque pitch in the pub garden – a nod to The York bowling club who were based at The York in the early 1920s”. Incidentally, the pub has traditionally been called the York Tavern, although it’s usually shortened to just the York now.

In 1907, the funeral of the landlord Alfred Dashwood took place, he appears regularly in newspapers and seems to have been an interesting character. He had started his career as a plumber and gas-fitter before becoming landlord here and he had built up the bowling club to be “one of the principal clubs in Norwich” which is some considerable achievement for the period (I assume, I think it’s like being the home of the best bar billiards team). He was also active in the Eaton Ward Conservative Association the Norfolk Chronicle mentioned after his funeral, but maybe that’s what happens when you become a pub landlord. I’ll check with Julian. He had been advertising for a servant (Alfred that is, not Julian) and preferred “a country girl” and he had hoped that she would be about 18. I’m not sure that publicans are best advised to advertise for that sort of thing now.

The Westminster Gazette noted the fate of a later landlord, Albert Plane who had taken over in 1908, previously known only to the local press as someone caught refusing to admit the police to his premises. There was something of a tragedy, as the newspaper reported in May 1922:

“Albert Plane, licensee of the York Tavern, rose to his family cups of tea, and later was found lying dead at the foot of the stairs. He had suffered from influenza and latterly was affected by the heat”.

I’m not sure I’ll walk by the bottom of the stairs again without thinking of this.

Just looking back at some photos from 2021, this might be a clearer photo of outside.

And some old photos of outside, I can’t remember why Nathan and I were sitting outside. It was either because it was full inside or I wanted to see this large beer garden.

Back to modern times and the official visit from the Two Julians (we never announce in advance that we’re coming, we don’t want any red carpet quickly thrown outside for us). There were three real ales on, the Sussex Best from Harvey’s, the All Day Long from All Day Brewing Company and the Let’s Cask from All Day Brewing Company. I went for the latter option first, which was smooth with slight Twix flavours and was well kept. As can be seen, there’s often usually a fourth ale as well, but the Encore from Lacons had just run out.

Tom is very good at posing for photos and I will declare that I’ve gone to see the rather formidable bar talent that is Mr Saunders a few times now at the York.

His Untappd page is a thing of beauty with his 10,294 check-ins…. Above is a photo of the day after he got his 10,000th check-in when I popped in to congratulate him. Anyway, enough about him and back to the main event of Julian and myself. The pub was spotlessly clean, with the surfaces clean, dry and not sticky, so it was a comfortable place to sit for a while.

I was planning to go home, but due to some confusion between Julian and I, he seemed to think we were staying out until 03:00 rather than the 19:00 that I had anticipated. However, I went along with his plan as I can be easily led. With that, the food menu appeared.

The York does an evening meal deal thing for £12 which includes a pint of real ale, a rather agreeable deal. The deal, of which I got the last one, was the venison sausages with braised cabbage, mash potatoes and a red onion gravy. Julian had some decadent steak option, but he’s getting quite middle class if I’m being honest ever since he’s become a senior pub executive. Anyway, the sausages were meaty and delicious, the mash was smooth and the gravy was plentiful. My crisis at the time was my phone kept losing charge, but Tom resolved that problem (just as Charlie had to resolve that problem in North Walsham – there’s a theme here that won’t continue now I have my new phone) so all was well. My second beer was the All Day Long which was malty, bitter and went well with those sausages. I must admit I thought that I had ordering halves, but Julian expressed concerned that this wasn’t sufficient to go with a meal. He’s very good at that sort of logical thinking.

It’s a bit of an expedition for me to get to the York, but it’s brilliantly managed, welcoming and the beer is impeccably kept. I hadn’t realised about the evening meal, but I thought that it was excellent value. The service is obviously wonderful and the food/drink balance here is managed well with the pub feeling as if it’s got a friendly vibe. Definitely recommended, and go and wave at Tom as well.

Apologies again for the quality of these photos, they were when my previous phone was having some difficulties…. Anyway, they’ll do. The Adam Eve is located near to Norwich Cathedral, it has a reputation for being an old pub and the owner Rita will have been there 25 years this year which is some going. This was part of our perambulations around Norwich pubs.

This pub is widely claimed to be the oldest in Norwich and there is evidence that there was a building here in the mid-thirteenth century and a suggestion that stonemasons building the nearby Norwich Cathedral would have been drinking here when there was a brewhouse on site. The current building is though seventeenth century, although altered quite substantially in the twentieth century. The pub was the last in Norwich to serve directly from the barrel until a bar was added in the early 1970s. The owners have been Youngs, then Bullards, then Watney Mann, then the Norwich Brewery and then Chef and Brewer before it came into private hands. In December 1902, Youngs, Crawshay & Youngs (to quote their full name) advertised the pub as available to let and they noted the full licence, good yard and stabling. They seem to struggle with this as they were still advertising the pub using the same terms in January 1904 and they then started again in 1906.

There are fewer newspaper articles than I would have expected about the pub, just quite a lot of inquests that were held here, which was commonplace in pubs. One is of note, a 14 year old boy called John Boltz who drowned in the River Wensum in a location very close to the pub. The landlord in 1814, Matthew Peacock, was declared bankrupt and it was noted that his furniture was for sale, “including a four-post bed, other bedsteads, feather beds and bedding, sheets, table linen, a panelled sliding partition, a thirty hour clock, kitchen range, bath stove, copper and furnace, liquor cases, hand lights and all manner of other stuff.”

As an aside, I had to ask Google Gemini about that clock and it noted:

“Thirty-hour clocks are clocks that need to be wound every 30 hours, as opposed to the more common eight-day clocks that only need to be wound once a week. They were most popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, and they are now considered to be antique clocks. Thirty-hour clocks are typically weight-driven, which means that they are powered by a weight that is suspended on a rope or chain. 1 The weight slowly descends as the clock runs, and it needs to be wound back up every 30 hours.”

This video is from 1984 and is worth a watch, with a customer saying they went there to get away from technology……

The bit of the pub we were able to sit in, which is the section near to the entrance which overlooks the road. It was a little chilly inside, although that had no negative impact on me. The toilets possibly needed a little attention, but all else seemed to be in order. There are some old photos of the pub on the walls as well to add a bit of character.

As Julian noted, the area down the steps was just for the chosen ones, so there was a bit of a pile up in the small bar section that was open. I’ve never actually got as far as going down those steps, I think all of my visits I’ve ended up in this section of the pub. The pub’s web-site isn’t available at the moment, but the old one mentions that the building is haunted, adding:

“The ghost of Lord Sheffield – hacked to death nearby on August 1st by rebels – is still reputed to haunt the building. So too are spectres of some of the French speaking medieval monks who lived and worked here. Somewhere below you, one monk is believed to be buried!”

George Plunkett also has a glorious photo from 1939.

The bar area, which is just a little cramped for the poor bar staff (not that there’s much anyone can do about that, they’ve done well to carve out what space they have), and I think it’s linked to the lower bar that I’ve never got to see. The on-line reviews are unusually mixed for a traditional pub and a couple have queried why they weren’t allowed to have a look in the lower bar area, especially as there’s apparently evidence of an old Saxon well down there. I kind of understand that, it’s one of the oldest pubs in Norwich and I think it’s inevitable that customers might want to have a little look around. I think I’d rather let others read reviews directly if they so wish rather than me pointing any out.

The quality of that photo, my apologies…. The beer is one of my favourites, Old Peculier from Theakston and it was malty and smooth, kept well. There are usually around three real ales available and I think the standard of beer keeping is very high.

It’s not really a pub I’ve ever much engaged with, but the service has always been polite and I’ve eaten outside a couple of times over the last decade as they have some external tables. It’s worth a visit for anyone interested in the history of Norwich pubs as it has played a large part in that story. It’s certainly not a pub for Julian as it closes at 21:00 (22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, 18:00 on Sundays) and he’s normally not out until after then. Anyway, back to anyone running a pub for 25 years, that shows some considerable commitment and energy, so congratulations are clearly in order. And Julian and I were disappointed not to see the ghost of Lord Sheffield, as that might have put me off my beer.