Across the UK, pubs have been closing at an alarming rate, but the Histon & Impington establishments have long histories and are currently bucking the trend. Alison Turnbull traces the timeline.
Histon & Impington is celebrated for its pubs and restaurants, yet the number used to be significantly higher. In the 1800s there were 18 pubs of various sizes in the village, including those that still exist along the High Street today. The Boot was trading at least from 1686, followed by The Barley Mow from 1774, The Red Lion, The King William IV and The Rose and Crown from 1830, 1837 and 1843 respectively. The Railway Vue started in 1847 as a public house and coal merchants serving the new railway.
The building now known as The Rose and Crown dates back to Elizabeth 1. It was originally a dwelling and became a public house by 1843. The name was adopted after being transferred with the new owner from another pub, which is now home to the family-run restaurant known as Tawa Lounge. Those premises were rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1904 and have seen many name changes over the years, including The Brook, then The Green Hill, and more recently The Phoenix restaurant, The Urban Shed and The Smokehouse.
The public houses, all run by local families, were more than just places to drink – they were the centre of the village’s social life. There were games to play and clubs and societies met in the public rooms. They provided rooms that were also used for auctions, inquests, magistrates courts, and occasionally mortuary facilities. The old brewhouse and dairy of The Boot is still part of the premises, but now amalgamated into the kitchens and restaurant.
The original function of the public house as social hub remains to this day, offering somewhere warm and social to go for most of the day, and a friendly greeting from the person serving at the bar. For many older people this can be a lifeline and, in turn, they form a regular customer base for the afternoon sessions.
Big business moves in
In the early days, beer was a local product brewed mostly by the women of the house and sold locally, but the 18th Century saw a growth in population, and innovation was needed to maintain supply. Companies such as Whitbread and Guinness began producing standardised beers with less local variation. The Beerhouse Act of 1830 then liberalised the regulations governing the brewing and sale of beer, resulting in some pubs, such as Star Brewery and Lacon of Great Yarmouth, being bought by brewers and run by landlords. Many of the small family-run establishments disappeared.
As the brewery companies grew, they themselves were bought out by major corporations. In 1965, Whitbread bought Lacons and Ind Coope purchased The Star Brewery. It wasn’t until the 1990s – when Whitbread sold several pubs – that two freehouses were created in the village. Mark Donachy was able to purchase The Red Lion and Dennis Toye bought the King William IV, but there have been more changes since.
While Histon & Impington may appear to be a High Street of small independents, this is an illusion. As things stand today, The Red Lion is owned by Youngs Brewery PLC; The Boot is owned by a London-based private equity company and trades as Heartwood Inns; The Railway Vue is owned by Punch Taverns, a private limited company; The Barley Mow is owned by Greene King, part of Hong Kong-based CK asset Holdings and the Rose and Crown is owned by Everards a family-owned business based in Leicestershire. Currently unoccupied, the brewery has reviewed The Rose and Crown to find ways of making a sustainable business but, consequently, it is now up for sale. The pub’s future now hangs in the balance, so if you’re looking for a business opportunity in hospitality in the village, now is your chance.
Changing Habits
In times gone by, beer was safer to drink than water and regarded as important nutrition. These days, a change in the population’s drinking habits means it is as likely to be another offering that brings a pub’s customers through the door.
The World Health Organization shows that consumption of beer has halved while wine has increased in similar proportion over recent decades. Stats from the Oxford University ‘Our World in Data’ shows the average person in the UK drinks 37 bottles of wine but only 124 pints of beer. This is half the number of 50 years ago, and the number of adults who don’t drink alcohol has risen by 10% since last year. As tastes change, the pubs will need to evolve further to remain profitable.
Last person standing
Today the only freehouse remaining in the village is the ‘King Bill’ – still a true ‘local’ and traditional family-run pub. Running a freehouse brings its challenges though, and landlady Susie commented that, “bringing up children on the premises was not easy, especially in the early days when the kids were babies, with the anti-social hours. But they’ve grown up into confident and entrepreneurial youngsters, because of it.”
Ongoing challenges include sourcing interesting beers from small and micro breweries which are close enough to deliver, and programming the delivery. “Guest beers have to be ordered three weeks in advance” Susie explains. She continues: “freshly brewed, it will last about five weeks, but once a barrel is vented, it has to be drunk within a week. While there are lots of micro breweries, I can only order small quantities, and delivery is a challenge with costs of transport increasing.”
One of their regular suppliers is the independent, Royston-based Buntingford Brewer, whose beers are produced with “all water sourced from our own borehole, all malt sourced through East Anglia.” 80% of hops used in their production is now UK-grown and their packaging is reusable.
So if you’re keen to drink a sustainable beer from a local producer, in a family-run pub that contributes to the circular economy of the villages, then the King Bill is the place to go.
If you’re interested in learning more about the village pubs, there are a number of books in the library, including ‘Cheers’ – a history of the pubs and people of Histon and Impington – 1686 to the present day’ published by Histon and Impington Village Society.
