Raising a glass to revival of village’s pubs

Not long ago, there was nowhere in Petham to grab a pint - but now that’s all changed...

Last week we reported the welcome news that the Chequers Inn, in Petham, has finally reopened after three years closed. Residents will be toasting the return of the pub - as not long ago there was nowhere in the Canterbury village to grab a pint.

It was all very different from the 1940s to the early ‘80s, when Petham boasted three pubs. Down the road from the Chequers in Stone Street, there was Slippery Sams, which opened in 1938 - although the Grade Ii-listed building itself dates from around 1450. It was named after Samuel Jackson, a notorious smuggler who lived there in the 18th century. He bought the farmhouse aged 20 and it soon had a warren of tunnels underneath, used for storage and hiding places. Sam earned his moniker after escaping from Maidstone Gaol by covering himself in axle grease and slipping through a small window to freedom. But in 1760, after shooting and killing a Revenue officer, he was hanged and gibbeted for two days at the age of 30.

Slippery Sams was used by East Kent Coach ‘mystery tours’ in the 1950s as a refreshment break but closed as a pub in 1981.

Another Petham pub was the Duke’s Head, in the heart of the village. It first welcomed punters in the 1840s but sadly closed around the year 2000 and

is now a house. In 1870 the local press reported that landlord James Webb met with an accident on his way home from a cricket match. He broke his hip climbing over a stile and had to wait for others who were at the game to convey him home in a cart.

When the Chequers closed in August 2019, the village lost its last pub. But in May 2021, Louise Preston applied

for a licence and opened the Petham Pint micropub at her Stable Lodge B&B. At first, it had to operate in the courtyard, due to Covid rules, but since last summer, with business steadily increasing, the front room has been pressed into service too.

■ Pictures and information used with kind permission of Paul Skelton, of dover-kent.com.

This picture from circa 1900 is believed to show retired sailor Bart Graham, who died outside the Duke’s Head after he was trampled by a horse while trying to break up a fight

Left, Steve Mchugh and Paula Gilbert, new owners of The Chequers; right, the courtyard of the Petham Pint micropub

Slippery Sams in 1949 Picture: Tim Timpson / dover-kent.com

Beer festival at the Chequers in 2010