Town’s pubs will need a helping hand

As more and more licensed establishments reopen this week following the green light from the government, many have returned to support their favourite haunt or their regular social hub after the establishment has been closed after many months in lockdown.

One has to feel sorry for those whose livelihoods have been vastly affected by the pandemic which will sadly mean many pubs up and down the country will never reopen again.

The coronavirus situation has petrified many, but in the safest way possible these businesses can still be supported.

It’s imperative to follow the safety guidelines set out to protect yourself and those around you and indeed those that run the business.

That said, these are very odd times which the majority of us have never experienced before.

The pandemic has seen things happen for the first time, and it’s all been something of a learning curve for all of us.

With regards to some of these public houses, they have had to utilise their space in the best way possible to safely distance customers to allow them to enjoy themselves in the safest environment, but it’s not been easy, that’s for sure.

Looking back at some of the town’s long-lost pubs, one can only take a guess at how they would have coped with the current rules and regulations.

The town’s ‘pubs of the past’ were all different shapes and sizes, with some as small as our front rooms or lounges, where others were spacious and could be better adapted should they still exist in 2020.

This week, Remember When takes a look back at another trio of the town’s lost pubs which disappeared in both the 1970s and 1990s.

Many thanks to Robert Mowl, the late Richard Filmer and A.J Davey for this week’s pictures.

Do you have any photographs or slides of old Ashford you would be willing to loan me, to enable them to be scanned for possible feature in the Kentish Express?

Please don’t delay, get in touch!

Email me: rememberwhen_ kmash@hotmail.co.uk

1975 - The Zodiac at the Tufton shopping centre was said to be a replacement for the two public houses that made way for the said shopping centre - namely the Wellington Hotel and the Coach and Horses. Upon the upgrade of the shopping centre in 1989, which saw a name change to County Square, the public house closed as it was not part of the shopping centre’s future

1976 - The Castle Hotel/The Castle was one of the town’s oldest coaching inns at the time of its closure in 1997. The one-time hostelry owned by Kent brewer Shepherd Neame was a long-standing hub for the biker community up until the time of its departure, when it was snapped up by the Halifax to become its new banking premises