Our booked speaker could not come and so we were most grateful to local historian Paul Jennings for stepping in at short notice. He gave us a most interesting talk on the history of the pubs and inns of Harrogate and Knaresborough.
Knaresborough, being the older town with its 13th century castle and on the (now) A59 route, attracted first thirsty cattle market traders, then tourists to the Dropping Well and sightseeing related to the Eugene Arram murder trial of 1745. The Crown, Commercial and Old Royal Oak had played their part in the growth of the town from a “rotten borough” to the railway and market town of today.
Harrogate, on the other hand, grew only in the Victorian era with the coming of the railway and increasing numbers of tourists taking the sulphur waters. The Ship Inn and other pubs, now demolished, served the working population while the older inns catered for visitors and eventually became hotels. The White Hart drew favourable comments from Nicolas Pevsner (the architectural historian and author) as the finest building in Harrogate.
Government legislation affected licensing laws and served to reduce the number of pubs throughout the country. In Knaresborough in 1900 there were 38 pubs and 3 beer houses. During the First World War, fear of drunkenness – especially near munitions factories – meant licensing times were introduced, as pubs were seen as a threat to the war effort. Local Bradford brewery Hammonds Ale was taken over by Bass but Bentleys Yorkshire Brewery while, in Harrogate, the Devonshire and the Black Swan (now the Mucky Duck) survive. The Black Swan/Mucky Duck itself is on the site of a much older pub that ran charabanc trips, and boasted a boxing ring inside. Hales Bar, the oldest pub remaining in Harrogate, is now a wine bar decorated in the Gin Palace style with mirrors, gas lighting and plush seating. The Elephant and Castle in Knaresborough ran waggonette trips to the seaside and countryside.
By the 1930s, terms like “The Local” and “Regulars” were coming into use and, by WW2, pubs were seen as an integral part of the English way of life. In stark contrast to WW1, Churchill kept them open through the war to keep up morale.
In more recent times, during Covid, much was done to try and keep the hospitality industry alive but many pubs are now closing, some becoming eateries or B&Bs, and the old distinction between the pub/ale house and the inn/hotel is lost.
Nicola thanked Paul as we all enjoyed his talk and, as he is knowledgeable on many similar topics, hoped he would come again.