The Victoria Pub

A very long time ago, 2013, to be precise, Bill Wells and I got together to talk about the pubs of Loughborough, just after his book, ‘Billy’s Book of Loughborough Boozers’ was published, a new edition of his earlier work. We were both familiar with the work of Eric Swift, who wrote a book entitled ‘Inns of Leicestershire’ which was published in Leicester in 1975, which covered many of the pubs in Loughborough.

Swift’s opening words in his chapter on Loughborough inns begins (I’ve split this long paragraph into a couple of shorter ones to make it easier to read on a blog):

“Loughborough owed much of its prosperity at the end of the 18th century to the canal which gave access to the [River] Trent, and later through Leicester to The Grand Junction and so to London. Several canal-side pubs are left. All can be reached from the towing path, many have a post or hitching ring, to which the bargee can attach his horse while having a drink inside.

The Albion, on the towing path as you enter Loughborough from the North, and named after a famous British battleship, is typical. The Boat, not so old, is near the bridge on Meadow Lane, and The Victoria on the bankside where Nottingham Road passes over the canal, is long delicensed: but painted on the wall it says, ‘Family and Commercial Hotel’, though I suspect the narrow boats brought a good many customers.”

If you want to find out more about life on the canal, there is an exhibition on now down at the Local and Famiyl History Centre in the Loughborough public library.

Anyway, The Boat is still there, where Swift says it is, although the houses that were attached to it on the left have been demolished. The Albion closed a few years ago, around 2015, if I remember rightly, and has been converted.

Also, as Swift says, The Victoria is still a standing building, but hasn’t been a pub for many, many years. Bill and I discussed which of the buildings “on the bankside where Nottingham Road passes over the canal” it might possibly have been, and came to the conclusion it was the one that most recently has been a car body repair shop. Although it doesn’t actually sit on the canalside, it does have the appearance from the front of looking like a pub, but we could be wrong!

Anyway, what is amazing is that this particular property on Nottingham Road has been in need of a little tlc for quite some time, so imagine my surprise when a couple of weeks ago I happened to pass by while a glazier was replacing the wooden window frames with upvc. This has given the building a bit of a facelift, and a new lease of life! Hopefully, Swift would approve!

Heading towards the railway station

Heading towards town

The former Victoria? Pictured in July 2022

Pictured in January 2024 

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Loughborough pubs

The Windmill Inn on Sparrow Hill 

I recently caught sight of an article in the “LeicesterMercury” about pub names in Leicestershire towns. You’d have thought, as the county’s biggest town after Leicester, some Loughborough pubs would have made it into the article, wouldn’t you? But no, lots of others places mentioned, but not Loughborough. I suppose it was because the pub names they were referring to no longer exist in any Loughborough pubs.

The Old English Gentleman on Ashby Road

Ok, so fair dues, the article does say it’s going to look into the more interesting pubs names in the county, but I’m sure Loughborough must have had some of these! The newspaper goes into the possible meaning of the pub names, and their choice includes the following:

• The Monkey Walk
• The Globe (but not the Lamplighters)
• The Cradock Arms
• The Ram Jam Inn
• The Gate Hangs Well
• The Anne of Cleves
• The Tin Hat
• The Two Steeples
• O’Neill’s
• The Bull’s Head

The Black Lion, the Hobgoblin, now the Tap and Clapp

Then, the article moves on to a selection of pub names found, not just within the county, but across the country. Here they include:

• The Red Lion
• The Nag’s Head
• The Black Horse
• The Rose and Crown
• The Golden Fleece
• The Barley Mow

So, let’s have a quick look at those listed above and see if Loughborough has, or had any pubs with these names:

The Bull’s Head

The Bull’s Head [and Posting House] was a coaching inn on High Street (and there was one in Shelthorpe too), approximately where vice Versa, which is now a gym, is. The original signpost was one of those wonderful ones that stretched right across from one side of the road to the other. I haven’t got a photo of this, but here’s a link to one, and here’s a picture of something similar in St Ives, Huntingdonshire, taken in 2014.  

The Oliver Cromwell pub in St Ives, Hunts.

The Red Lion (the sign of John O’Gaunt)

Loughborough’s Red Lion pub was on Biggin Street. I’m not quite sure where exactly, but I think it was in the area now occupied by Timpsons, British Heart Foundation etc.. 

The Nag’s Head (an indication that the landlord kept horses, or a jibe at women?)

A pub with this name was on the site which is now occupied by Wilkinsons. Given that when the Co-op building was being built a hoard of clay pipes was found, maybe the Nag’s Head was the original smokers’ pub!

The Black Horse (was there a racing stables nearby, or is this an omen of death of a member of the royal family?)

There was a Black Horse (and commercial [inn]) in the 1800s on High Street, and also one on Woodgate. Between 1828 and 1841 the landladies were of the Mansfield family.

  

The Rose and Crown (the joining together of two of England’s most powerful emblems)

This pub has had a couple of incarnations. The original building, on Baxter Gate was replaced in the 1930s when Baxter Gate was widened, and has been the Custard Bar (and shamefully, I can’t remember if it still is called this).

The Golden Fleece (nothing to do with Jason!)

Loughborough town centre also used to have a pub called the Golden Fleece. There have actually been about three different buildings with this name, all in the general area of Cattle Market / Granby Street, the latest now being a restaurant and bar (possibly called Chapter One?). Since Loughborough was at one time part of the [wool] Staple of Calais, then I would agree that this pub name represents our involvement in the wool industry, way back.

The Barley Mow

Well, we certainly used to have a Barley Mow, on Market Street, in the double-fronted shop, one half of which is now a café. I wonder if this was called the Barley Mow because in the distant past this area was home to Loughborough’s malting industry? In order to use barley or other cereal grains in the brewing industry or for distilling, the grains first have to be malted  (basically, dried, re-hydrated and then sprouted). This would have happened in a building called a maltings, or a malthouse, or a malting floor. The area where Iceland is now, before it was occupied by Heathcoat’s laceworks, was, I believe, the site of the old malthouse, and was ideally sited because it is here that there are many little tributaries feeding into the Woodbrook which runs very close to Iceland, under the path. A friend tells me that although the area is now called Market Street, his mother still referred to it as either Mill Lane, or Malt Mill Lane. On a related note, there used to be a pub called The Maltings, on Knightthorpe Road, which is now a Co-op, that was a relatively recent build, and replaced an old barn: was this barn a malthouse?

Some of the more interesting pub names in Loughborough include:

Bishop Blaize – Bishop Blaize was the patron saint of the trade guild of woolcombers. The emblem usually associated with this pub name is a pair of candles, or a pair of combs. The pub was at the bottom of Woodgate.

Blue Boar – this pub was in Swan Street, and demolished when The Rushes was built. The sign of the blue boar is associated with the Tudors.

Dolphin – really? Initially I thought this might have been named ironically, rather like the Sea Around Us (on Ashby Road, now the Harvester), but I’ve now decided this uses a crest from a trade coat of arms – the dolphin being from that of fishmongers. The pub was on Church Gate: whether or not there was a fishmonger nearby, I’m not sure.

Dove and Rainbow (later Bucks Horn) – according to Bill Wells*, the Dove and Rainbow was on Pinfold Street / Buckhorn Square. The name could be a reference to Noah and the floods, or it could be that it’s connected with the dyeing industry, as the rainbow was the heraldic emblem of the Dyers’ Company and at one time there were many dyeworks in the town.

The study of pub names is a huge area of research, and there are often several suggested meanings for many names; however, some meanings are quite obvious. Some examples from Loughborough include those pubs with names related in some way to royalty or nobility. Here’s a few examples: 

Royal George on The Coneries / Nottingham Road, which was probably named after George, who was Prince of Wales, and Prince Regent in 1810 when the pub was first opened, and who became King George IV after the death of his father in 1820.

Similarly, the George the Fourth on Regent Street.

The Prince of Wales in Church Gate was opened prior to 1863: perhaps this was named in honour of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII, on account of his being Prince of Wales from 1841 until 1901?

And perhaps the Clarence Inn (later the Jack O’Lantern) was named after the First Earl of Clarence, who was Prince Leopold, Queen Victoria’s fourth son.

Maybe the Duke of York (Nottingham Road, demolished and replaced by flats) was so named after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of George III?

The Marquis of Granby (which was on the corner of Wood Gate and Packe Horse Lane) was named after John Manners, the son of the Duke of Rutland.

Other pubs are named after the trade with which they were mostly associated, so, for example:

The Blacksmith’s Arms on Bedford Square, was so named because at one time the landlord was also a blacksmith.

The Cooper’s Arms on Barrow Street would have been frequented by barrel makers, and prior to this was named the Builder’s Arms.

The Three Tuns (now the Three Nuns) on Church Gate was a reference to the crest of the company of brewers.

The Wheatsheaf, now the Orange Tree

The Wheatsheaf (Bedford Square, now the Orange Tree) was a crest from the trade coat of arms of bakers.

The Green Man (Swan Street and under Carillon Court) was also an image used in heraldry, as the Company of Distillers used a pair of green men  (as in wild, or savage men)  as supporters in their coat of arms.

We’ve already mentioned Bishop Blaize and the Golden Fleece, the Dolphin and the Dove and Rainbow.

The Stag & Pheasant on Nottingham Road

Many pub signs are also named after animals, for example, the White Hart, the Unicorn, the Fox and Hounds, the Black/White Swan, the Black/White/Red Lion, the Black Horse, the Red Cow, Stag and Pheasant, Greyhound, Hare and Hounds/Pheasant, Peacock, etc.. Some of these origins are quite obvious, but others may be misleading, for example, I would think that the Peacock was named after the Dukes of Rutland, the Manners family, whose heraldic emblem is the peacock. Others, for example, the White Hart, have royal connections, this particular badge being that of Richard II.

Well, I could go on about this subject ad nauseam, so I shall stop here, but leave you with a thought: the Blacksmith’s Arms used to be called the Black Boy. This is thought to have been a reference to Charles II, but I have a slightly different thought about this, which I will share with you sometime! 

*Wells, Bill (2014). Billy's book of Loughborough boozers.    

The Swan in the Rushes

The Swan-in-the-Rushes - also known as the Charnwood Inn, The Plough, The Old Plough and the Charnwood Forest Railway Inn

Animals are often to be found in the names of pubs, and I'm supposing that this pub is so called because it is in The Rushes, which many years ago would probably have been boggy, so maybe swans could be found there?

The Swan in the Rushes which we see today in The Rushes is a classic example of the 1930s Art Deco style and makes good use of Hathernware faience tiles. This pub was originally opened in 1932 as the Charnwood Inn, but there had been a pub on that particular site since the late 1800s, firstly named The Plough (not to be confused with a pub of the same name in Market Place), then renamed, The Old Plough, and finally the Charnwood Forest Railway Inn.

Today, The Swan in the Rushes is a lively place, where bands perform and Mikron, the travelling canal theatre group, put on their plays.

Click on the picture to go back to the pub quiz.




The Swan-in-the-Rushes

The Boat Inn

The Boat Inn

I really don't have a clue about the origin of this pub's name, unless it really is as obvious as it appears!

The Boat Inn on the canal bank, is just off Meadow Lane, and was opened around the end of the 1700s. At one time there was a house joined to each side of it, but now it stands alone, albeit with an extension.

It's a popular place for people who are travelling along the cut, to partake of refreshments. It's also a popular establishment for people of the town and students to visit.

In days gone by, the canal touring theatre group Mikron, used to perform outside The Boat, on the banks of the canal, and it was here I first encountered the actor Mark Williams (Mr Weasley in the Harry Potter films, amongst many other parts!).

This is The Boat today: Click on the picture of the pub to return to the Pub Quiz.




The Boat Inn

The Marston's Brewery pub sign

The Three Horseshoes Inn

The Three Horse Shoes Inn

Three horse shoes is quite a popular name for a pub, but could have a number of different origins. So, for example, this could be an occupational sign, or it could be a reference to travellers, so either the loss of a horse shoe, or a warning to travellers to check their horses hooves before continuing on their journey. Alternatively, it could be an artistic nod, as objects arranged in threes are attractive to look at, or because threes are used a lot in heraldry. Finally, this could be an association with folklore, magic and folk medicine, as three is a powerful number in these areas, and a reinforcement of luck.

The Three Horse Shoes Inn on Nottingham Road opened in about 1873. A photograph taken in the early 1900s shows that it served Bass ales, and the landlord was Thomas W. Richards. The pub closed in about 1925, but what became of it around that time, I don't know. Later, in about 1956 the building was transformed into Twiggers Motorcycles, who remain there to this day.

Click the picture to return to the pub quiz.




The former Three Horse Shoes Inn, now Twiggers Motorcycles

The Cross Keys

The Cross Keys - also known as the Cross Keys Inn and the Phantom.

The name Cross Keys is one of those pub signs with religious connotations, as it represents the keys held by St Peter.

The Phantom is situated on the corner of Leicester Road and Pinfold Gate. The first building housing this drinking establishment in Loughborough, was certainly around in about 1770, but was demolished in the early 1800s and moved a bit, I think, as the road it was on became the main Leicester Road (before this, carriages from Leicester would have come down Packe Horse Lane which was then the main road).

In 1994 the pub was taken over by the chain which owned the Firkin tradename - at this time that would have been Allied Domecq. In 1999 the chain was sold to Punch Taverns, who then sold many of the pubs to Bass, who in turn were taken over by Mitchells and Butler. The Phantom, as it is now known, is part of the Scream brand, and is currently being refurbished!

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The Phantom, formerly the Cross Keys

Refurbishment notice