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Axe & Compasses following a fire, 1914	Picture source: Ena Bowles (granddaughter of Walter Tiller)
The Axe & Compasses was situated on Croydon Road, closing in 1937. The above photo shows the pub following a fire in 1914. This old thatched pub was L-shaped and you can see the collapsed thatch in the centre. The publican, Walter Tiller, and his family had to live in an out house during the rebuild. The new pub (see below) bore little resemblance to the old building. Walter Tiller was sent to France during WWI, contracted TB in the trenches, and subsequently died at the pub in 1920 following treatment at Papworth Hospital.
We are the current owners of this building. My husband’s family (Soles) have been here since 1921 when his grandfather became the Landlord, ( Francis Gregory ) The original pub burnt down in 1915 and was re built in its current form in 1917, the Phillips brewery of Royston closed all its pubs in 1956 that is when Francis Gregory Sole bought the pub as a house (Renamed Casa-Mia) he died in 1978, his son Eric then moved in with his wife, we have been here since 1992.
Christine Sole (December 2013)
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Other Photos
Picture source: Ena Bowles
Publican, Walter Tiller, outside pub, c1909	Picture source: Ena Bowles