Kentish Express Ashford & District
Former pub landlady’s family shocked by blaze
The granddaughter of a pub landlady who died after a blaze in the 1970s has described her family’s shock after seeing the pub being devastated by fire once again.
Paula Ballingall-Lawson read about the fire at the Hooden on the Hill pub in Willesborough Lees on Sunday, November 27, and said it has brought back memories of her grandmother, Norah Ballingall, who was a landlady there.
The Grade II listed Hooden was formerly The Rose Inn, and was run by Norah and her husband Norman between the 1950s and 1970s.
But Ms Ballingall-Lawson has described her family’s tragic connection to the pub, where Norman died of a heart attack in the bar in 1973, and where Norah suffered lung damage after breathing in smoke after a fire in December 1979.
She said: “She was a widow before she died and had lived in the pub from the 1950s. The fire had been caused by a tea towel which she had left over an electric heater. She lost most of her belongings.
“She was taken to the old cottage hospital and had lung problems. She never recov- ered and eventually contracted pneumonia and died. My father grew up in the pub, and has never been back there. He has recently had major heart surgery, so we didn’t want to tell him about the latest fire.
“He had been serving with the Royal Marines in Italy and got the call to return and see her in hospital. It was really close to Christmas at the time.
“He has wanted to return since, but couldn’t do it, it just brought up too many bad memories. We’ve always thought it might be haunted by our grandparents’ ghosts.”
Ms Ballingall-Lawson was born five years after her grandmother’s death and lives in Portsmouth, but says she does have some jewellery which Norah had saved from the fire.
She was told of the connection by a family friend who still lives in Willesborough, and says the recent fire has brought up the memories.
Last week, current landlord Howard Lapish told the Kentish Express it could be well over a year before the pub can reopen, but vowed to restore the popular pub for its patrons.
‘We’ve always thought it might be haunted by our grandparents’ ghosts’