Launch Night Of David Rose’s New Book: Guildford Pubs

Published on: 10 Oct, 2016
Updated on: 11 Oct, 2016

Local historian and Guildford Dragon NEWS writer David Rose’s new book Guildford Pubs has been published and there will be a launch night with a talk by him on Wednesday, October 19, at the Keep pub in Castle Street.

The event has been arranged between the author and Ben Darnton of Ben’s Collectors’ Record Shop, through his popular Facebook page Guildford Past & Present, and with the kind assistance of the management of the Keep pub.

David says: “Guildford Pubs is something like my fifteenth local history book, either written soley by myself or co-written with others. Publishers Amberley commissioned me to write it as part of its series of UK towns’ and cities’ pubs and I jumped at the chance to write a book about another of my pet local history topics.

“It’s fair to say that the research has taken me a lifetime. Well, it was back in 1974 when I first got served in the Britannia in Millmead and I was just fourteen years old!

The Keep where the book launch is taking place on Wednesday, October 19.

“Many an evening have I spent with freinds in pubs not only in Guildford town centre, but in the surrounding villages.

“The theme the publishers required for the book is pubs that are open to this day. However, with not so many pubs in the town centre as there were when I was hitting them back in the late 1970s and 80s, I have also included a selection from villages around the borough of Guildford – from Ash and Tongham in the west to Shere, Albury and West Horsley in the east, with others to the south and north.”

Now Five & Lime, here as the Mary Rose, pictured by the late Dave Salmon, and formerly the Carpenter’s Arms.

Forty-nine pubs are featured. For each one David has included something of their history and what they have to offer today in the way of drinks and food. The book contains old and new views of the pubs, inside and out, most in colour.

He adds: “Many pubs open today have changed a good deal over the past couple of decades. This is of course due to the changing requirements of customers. Offering a wider range of food has probably been the greatest change as people now eat out much more than previously. There are many pubs that are more akin to being restaurants, but for those who want them, old-style traditional pubs can still be found. This book looks at all types.

Music venue The Boileroom was once the Elm Tree.

Threaded within the details of the pubs is something of Guildford’s proud brewing tradition, past and present. He says: “I have long been interested in the breweries that operated in Guildford from the 19th century and into the 20th century right up until the closure of the biggest, Friary Meux, in 1969, and the one I can remember!

“Interestingly, from a drinker’s viewpoint, go back a couple of decades or so and the range of beers (particularly real ales) was rather limited in Guildford when the ‘big four’ UK breweries dominated. In the main it was either Courage or the rebranded Friary Meux beers one had to sup. However, you could get Gales Ales if you went to the Seahorse at Shalford, so that was often worth a trip out.

The inside of the Plough in the 1890s. It’s now a bar called Thirty3 Hertz.

“But since the changes that came about following the Government’s break up of the stranglehold on pubs owned by the large breweries and their products, means that there’s now a much wider choice of all kinds of beers and lagers. Added to that we now have some fantastic local micro and craft breweries right on our doorstep. These include the Surrey Hills Brewery, The Little Beer Corporation and of course the ever growing Hogs Back Brewery.”

Following an appeal to readers on the Dragon earlier this year for memories and stories of Guildford’s pubs over the years, David received some excellent replies, all full of nostalgia. Some of these are also included in the book.

Inside Wetherspoon’s Rodboro Buildings, a place where Dennis Bros made its very early vehicles.

The evening at the Keep pub on Wednesday, October 19, starts at around 7.30pm with David giving an illustrated talks about pubs featured in the book – from the White House at the bottom of the High Street to Rogues (formerly the Sanford Arms) in Epsom Road and those in between (including the Keep, once the Two Brewers), plus some of his village favourites such as the Drummond Arms at Albury, the William IV at Little London and the Good Intent at Puttenham, to name but a few.

The White Hart at Wood Street Village in the early 1900s.

He will also talk about those long-gone breweries and a few of the pubs that have also disappeared. During the evening he will also be selling and signing copies of Guildford Pubs at £14.99 (or £15 for cash!).

Everyone’s welcome at the Robin Hood in Sydenham Road!

To get an idea of numbers attending, if you plan to come could you please add a quick reply to the box below or email David at drosedragon@gmail.com or post a message on Guildford Past & Present facebook page.

If you can’t make the launch, signed copies can be order from David direct at the above email or on 01483 838960. The book will also be available in local bookshops, at Guildford Museum, Ben’s Collectors’ Records and via the usual on-line shops.

A glimpse of the White Horse at Shere in the 1900s before the mock timber framing was added.

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