Home > Kent > Deal > Queens Arms Queens Arms
Date of photo: c1955	Picture source: www.dover-kent.com
The Queens Arms was situated at 145 High Street. This pub was present by 1839 and had closed by 1965.
From the memoirs of Philip Robinson:
My grandfather was the landlord of this inn from about 1885-1895. My father, Mr E F Robinson took it off him and continued as tenant from 1895-1916. This was an inn and as such, bound to provide accommodation and refreshment. Even on a Sunday, when the bar was closed for a few hours, as long as a traveller could prove he came from over 3 miles away, he could claim refreshment. The inn was of fairly small frontage but great depth, most of the rooms leading off a long central passage. In the front was a bar and living room, almost all in one, with just a curtain between. No seating in the bar. On the other side of the passage in the front was the tap-room,·w:hich had a large table and some chairs for the convenience of people who would like to sit down. This was, however, seldom used, and was latterly used as a sitting room when the family appeared. Mother and father were both between 20 and 21 when they were married and took over the inn, and whilst there, seven children were born. A small scullery with no sink or water laid on, was at the back of the bar, though this lack of water was remedied later. From the scullery, steps led down o a cellar which ran under the two front rooms and partly under the pavement. lhis was earth-floored and held stock. Moving towards the back of the house, on the left of the passage, was the lodgers' mess room. This was at a rather lower level, two steps down from the passage. The floor of this was covered with sea sand. Further down the passage at the rear of the buiiding were two dormitories, one on either side. At the back was a big cobbled yard with outhouses and lavatories. ln the outhouses was a sink, a huge copper for· boiling clothes, a water butt and tap, also lockers for the lodgers to keep perishable food in etc. There was also a coal and wood store. Coal, incidentally, was £1 per ton. From the back yard an alley the stables belonging to the inn. stables being in Duke St. During the tenancy of our family, no horses were stabled, but they were let to Mr Harry Hayward, a boat­ ouilder, whose house was in Middle St. 'i'he mangers and hayracks were still in position in 1916, as far as the writer knows. Mr Hayward built good boats and was helped by his son. The writer felt very proud when at times he was allowed to assist in "clinching" the copper nails. The normal price for a 14 foot punt, as used on Deal beach in those days, was £12. Incidentally, on the outhouses, was a fine growth of House leek, or Semper vivum. The living room of the family was adjacent to the bar, creened from it by a 3 ft wide matchboard partition, and the rest by a curtain. All conversation in the bar could be' heard in the living room. This room was about 10 x 9 feet and in it we lived. There was not much furniture because there was not much room, a table, a few chairs, a bureau, and a couple of big cupboards on the wall. A naked gas jet, and a coal range on which all cooking was done and water heated. In the everling when we were ready for bed, we washed in a big bowl on the table, and then in our night­ dresses we had to walk through the bar, amongst the customers, into the passage, from whence a staircase led up to our bedrooms over the front of the house. It amused the customers and we didn't think it unusual, for we had grown up with it. Lodgers' Mess Room As mentioned before, this room was at a lower level than the passage, a large room about 20 x 14 feet. The floorwas wood and was kept clean and fresh with ·sea sand. in general charge of this room was my father's deputy, a man who kept order. He kept it tidy, tended the fire, kept the kettles filled with water. Also sometimes he would wash clothes for some of the lodgers and probably act as cook if required. The room was furnished with two big wooden tables made of elm, 4 wooden forms and a few chairs, utility, not comfort, being the keynote. There was a huge cupboard in which the lodgers kept their stocks of tea, sugar etc, also the commnunal crockery. Incidentally, the tables and chairs were scrubbed every night by the landlord after the bar was closed, probably about 11.15 pm. There was a large open grate which burned coke and was generally kept well stoked up, for on this the lodgers cooked all their meals. Coke was 4d per bushel at the time of which I am writing. On the hob were usually kept boiling two big iron kettles holding a couple of gallons each. There were also two large oval iron cauldrons which were used for soup making, and a large iron frying pan with which most of the cooking was done. Basins for drinking, also cutlery and crockery were supplied. The lodgers cooked and ate alll their meals in this communal mess room. Dormitories The dormitory on the right of the passage held 12 single beds, six a side with a wooden table down the centre, there were also chairs and chambers supplied. Iron bedsteads, some bed stuffed with oat chaff and some with feathers, the usual number of sheets and blankets as required. lncidentally when my mother and father took over, they increased the number of beds. My father bought a sewing machine and my mother spent the first few days making sheets from unbleached calico. Upstairs there were 4 bedrooms for lodgers, double beds for married couples, and one with a single bed. There were three bedrooms over the front for the family, which were locked away from the lodgers quarters. My father was mindful of fire precautions, for in my parents' bedroom was a home made rope ladder, which would fasten on to hooks on the wall under the window sill. The rent of the inn paid to the brewers (firstly Messrs Bills and then Messrs Thompson, the Walmer Brewers) was £16 per year, also rates and taxes. Prices for Lodging A bed in a dormitory was 4d per night. The single room upstairs was 6d per night, and double rooms 8d per night. Bar Prices Beer and porter drawn from the cellar by engine was 2d per pint. Old ale and bitter which had to be brought by hand from the cellars - old ale 4d and bitter 3d per pint. My father was noted for his old ale, probabiy because he never tapped it under 3 months, and preferred to keep it longer before sale. Some folk swore by it for stomach trouble, and people used to come for it from Walmer and Kingsdown. Gin, rum and brandy was sold over the counter at 1/- per ½ pint. The normal call over the counter was for two pennyworth of any spirit. Very little bottled beer was kept, except for a few customers, to whom my father delivered. There was also a big stock of clay pipes which were given free to customers on request. These pipes cost 1/­ per gross and were made by Mr Harrison who lived in Beach St just at the back of the Port Arms. Shag tobacco was 4d per ounce, Woodbines 5 for ld. Brimstone matches were bought from the shops at 2d per dozen boxes. Opening Hours From 7 am to 11 pm weekdays. On Sunday 12 noon to 2 pm, and 6 pm to 10 pm. but if a traveller came along on Sunday he could be served at any time. There were some early morning callers on weekdays, who came in for twopenny worth of rum and a ha-porth of milk. Also sold in the bar were big round hard, crisp biscuits. These were about 5" diameter and were made by Mr Selth, a baker on the South corner of Coppin St and Middle St. These were of the texture of a ship's biscuit, and eaten with a piece of cheese and a glass of bitter, were very tasty. This was often called for at the bar. My father had a long day. He opened the bar at 7 am. By 9 am all the lodgers would be up, and he would turn down all the beds in the dormitories, open the windows and clean and sweep up. My mother, in the meantime, would have got the breakfast, the children to school, and the usual housewifely duties, at the same time tending the bar. During the rest of the day my father would serve at the bar. My grandfather would sometimes come in from 10 am to noon whilst my father looked after his allotment, which was situated at the level crossing near the Potteries. We always kept a punt on the beach at the opening near the Pilot House, and sometimes he would go off fishing for a couple of hours, when grandfather came down. I generally went with him when it was school holidays or on a Saturday. I would dig the bait the day before. Of interest to a younger generation is the fact that one could always go opposite the Coastguard Station at low tide, whether at ''Springs" or "Leaps" and dig plenty of common lug. No need to go any further North. At the Equinoxes, the writer has dug lug off Farrier St. During the evening, my father was always busy at the bar till 11 pm, when it was cleared and the door closed. The bar would be locked up and my father would then scour the tables and chairs in the lodgers' mess room, and then to bed. A woman came in once a week and washed sheets in the outhouse, blankets were washed in the summer. I About dinner time quite a few people would come in for jugs of beer to take home, and there were some regulars to whom my father delivered jugs of beer or porter, most days. At 11 am or thereabouts on most mornings, there were regular customers for a "schooner" of bitter, in much the same way as coffee is now taken. These regulars were mostly nearby tradesmen. L can remember two butchers corning with their aprons on, a greengrocer, a baker and a blacksmith. Just a short chat and away to their business again. In the evening, the patrons would be the usual callers with some of the lodgers. Lodgers These were a real cross section of the corrnnunity. Some were regulars who made their homes there. Amongst these were 5 Deal boatrnen - Torn Kemp, "Chummy" Hayward, "Shoreham" Shelvey, "American" Dave Foster, and Torn Buttress. Also among the regulars were 4 farm labourers and 3 fish hawkers. Also ther were those who made their living from the fields and country in general, ie water lilies, and the different spring and summer flowers such as primroses, cowslips and king cups; also blackberries. In the winter one man used to get the sharp thorns from the blackthorn..In the evenings he would scrape off the black covering and sell the white spikes to the local butcher, who used them for spiking the price tickets to joints. 1he scrapings of the thorns were used to make a palatable brew which they called Jerusalem tea. The writer has watched these thorns being scraped, many times, and once tasted the brew, but after this passage of time cannot recall the taste. The transient lodgers were of many kinds. Among them being painters, who followed the towns around, where there was plenty of work. Also hawkers, who peddled baskets of haberdashery and probably stayed only a few days. Also travelling tinkers and china riveters. These seemed to come about the same time every year,and generally had a handbarrow. It was as if they had a regular round in this part of the country. Especially in the surrnner months there was usually an organ grinder staying there, one Italian stayed a year. These also would usually come round yearly at about the same time. There was a German string band which usually came in the summer, a sextet, \,hich played in the streets and must have gained a fair living. Also a regular one summer was a harpist named Prospero, who played in an otchestra having a surmner season on the pier. During the summer months there was an influx of travelling pea pickers, and the occasional fruit pickers in the autumn. There were three different saw-sharpeners. The lodgers who were out all day generally made a good breakfast and evening meal, mostly fried. For 3d in those days one could get a fair amount of bacon or meat pieces and these with an onion made a tasty meal. with bread and a pot of tea they were well fed. In the auturnn, herring and sprats were a cheap and satisfying meal, when one remembers that when plenty of herrings were being caught, they were hawked around the town at 48 for 1/-, sprats 4d a 100, or often given away for a helping hand in heaving up the boats. My father reckons that at these times there were easily 1000 sprats a day being cooked. Sometimes in the winter, when times were hard, a most excellent jug of soup could be had at the soup kitchen in Brewer St. My mother has also made a huge cauldron of soup for the needy ones. The regular lodgers were, without exception, orderly and hard working. At the time of which I write, Deal had 4 lodging houses, generally fairly well filled. The Queen's Arms, Noah's Ark in Ark St, the Jolly Sailor in Western Rd and the Maxton Arms in Western Rd. In the beer cellar under the pavement was an arched vault or passageway leading both North and South, but after some 8 yards either way, this was bricked up. What lay beyond no-one seemed to know. Under the dormitories at the rear of the building was a huge cellar extending the width of the building. 'l'his had an earth floor and a chimney breast at either end and was approached by steps leading out of the lodgers' mess room. Again I could never find out if this had ever been used. In the alley leading into Duke St there was a rain water well or tank, with a pump. Also in the yard was another well or tank covered by a stone slab, with no pump. In the opening between the Inn and the present garage was a coach builder's premises, the owner's name being Burgess. ln the days of which this was written, the business slowly deteriorated and the premises were taken over by a firm of mineral water manufacturers named Souter Mackenzie. in the adjoining cottage on the North Side lived old Mrs Nancy Budd and her invalid husband, the grandparents of those well known Deal boatmen - George, Uarky and Bill Budd. I suppose no description of licensed premises at this period would be complete without some mention of dutiable goods. Tobacco could be bought in our bar. My father would buy cake tobacco at 2/6 per lb, this was called Yankee Cake and as the name implied, was iri flat oblong cakes. These went 13 to the pound and they were sold for 3d each. There was also shag in packets, and cigars with 50 in a box. Hy father well remembers a Canterbury man coming in one day with about half a bushel of tobacco and cigars in a sack. He was taking it back to Canterbury to raffle for Xmas. My father joined the army in 1914, and with some assistance, and my eldest sister, my mother carried on till 1916. it then became more than they could manage, and they gave up the tenancy.
Samantha Robinson (July 2023)
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