Pints West 92, Winter 2011 - Bristol & District CAMRA

PINTS WEST
The first of them opened in 1860 when Gladstone, then chancellor
of the exchequer, introduced changes to the licensing laws. Many of
the new off licences were taken out by grocers and bakers seeking
a new form of income. This remained a characteristic of many off
licences until well into the twentieth century. Even off licences that
offered little apart from beer and cider – both bottled and in casks –
and cigarettes, also had jars of sweets displayed on shelves behind
the counter. A visit to the offy for a packet of sweets on the way home
from school was part of the daily routine for thousands of children.
The photographs reproduced here date from the 1950s. They
recall a time that many will remember – but which has gone forever –
when off licences occupying premises no bigger than your front room
served real ale straight from the barrel for you to carry home in a jug.
Andrew swift
This off licence, in Lypiatt Road, just
off Whitehall Road in St George – by
the Red Lion – is now a private house.
The New Inn – an off licence
despite its name – was at 11
Queen Street, off Two Mile
Hill in St George. It was also a
bakery at one time but is now a
private house.
The Park House, on the corner
of Thornleigh and Oak Roads in
Horfield, now a private house.
Inside the Park House in Horfield
– George’s Beers, Players Please
and a magnificent assortment of
sweets – plus a stool set invitingly
at one end of the bar.
Inside the Malthouse at Westbury-on-Trym in the late 1950s, with three
barrels of beer – including Simonds IPA – behind the counter. Simonds
amalgamated with Courage in 1960. The Malthouse was very much a
grocer’s as well as an off licence with ham and cheese cut to order. Note
the two-handled cider mugs hanging from the ceiling.
The Pig & Whistle off licence
on the Gloucester Road stood
at the corner of Hatherley Road.
It remained an off licence until
comparatively recently but is now
part of Bristol Tools.
Inside the Mechanics Arms on Forest Road – the archetypal off licence –
barrels of beer, jars of sweets, cigarettes, crisps and very little else.
The Nursery stood at the junction
of Thistle Street and The Nursery,
just off North Street in Bedminster,
near the Hen & Chickens.
Although most off licences have long
gone, a few have been converted to
pubs. The Severn House on Severn
Road in Weston-super-Mare – also
known as Hansons for a time – got an
on licence in the 1970s, was renamed
the Waverley in 1994 and is now one
of Weston’s top real ale pubs.
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