Lost Pubs from the WME Archives #41

This somewhat sombre series of bygone boozers just keeps on growing and growing, for every time I dip back into my archives I seem to come across another pub or two which are no longer operating. This time around I reflect on two Worcester casualties preceded by a trio of Warwickshire watering holes...

- The Dolphin -

Our starting point this time around is the hat-making town of Atherstone where Nick and I very much enjoyed visiting the New Dolphin back in September 2012. Back then it was renowned for the quality of its real ales, making it an essential Long Street calling point (the Old Swan and Black Horse were nearby, making for a nice little cluster in this corner of town). It closed down not long after we dropped in and has since been converted for general residential use.

- The Oak Inn -

Sticking with Warwickshire but moving across to the elegant streets of Royal Leamington Spa, we now encounter the Oak Inn in the days when it retained some Ansells branding. A grand-looking property, it stands on the fork where Willes Road meets Radford Road south-east of the main town centre, and had hints of salmon pink paintwork at the time of my picture. The building is still there having been taken over by Sainsbury's for one of their 'Local' stores.

- The Kingsholme -

Next up is Nuneaton and the sad sight of the Kingsholme, historically known as the Coach and Horses. It really grieves me when pubs are allowed to rot to such an extent that they become utter eyesores, and in this case the fabric of the place has been gradually decaying for the best part of twenty years. In its pomp this would have been an Ansells boozer with hints of Brewers Tudor which was a constituent component of the Abbey Run pubcrawl. Whether things can be salvaged from their current precarious state remains to be seen...

- Crown & Anchor -

To Worcester then for a mention of the Crown & Anchor on Hylton Road, a Marston's cottage-type affair which was not far from the River Severn and would also have been handy for the University of Worcester's St John's Campus. Boasting a conservatory, traditional skittle alley and a function room, it sounds like my kind of place but fell into disrepair after a prolonged period of closure. The last I heard there were plans to create flats here although I'm unsure what the latest situation might be - could it yet reopen as a pub? That seems unlikely.

- The Fox -

Finally for this particular post, we'll head to the other end of St John's to remember the Fox, a backstreet Banks's specimen which was located halfway along Pitmaston Road. Nestled in a run of tight terraced houses, I always liked its simply striped frontage tile effect and the sense it probably hadn't changed for several years. The vintage Banks's signs have been removed leaving the facade mostly as it was, and the site is now purely residential.