Public Houses, Inns & Taverns of Wivenhoe

From "The Autobiography of Sir John Martin-Harvey" by Sir John Martin-Harvey (Sampson, Low, 1933):

p. 6: 'Long rows of steam and sailing yachts would be lined up for the winter in the soft mud, alongside The Wall, and their crews, with little to do after the season was over, yarned round the bars of the "Rose and Crown" and "The Shipwrights' Arms".'

p.8: 'There stands old Jack Gardiner upon the threshold of "The Rose and Crown", whose answer to your morning salutation will imply a courteous correaction, "Good morning to =you=, sir". Backwards he will turn for the liquid refreshment which his nature demands, and more frequently as the day draws to its close - forwards he will seldom be tempted to essay. Once, to be sure, he was lured to London by a 'daily excursion' ticket, but, terrified with the turmoil of Liverpool Street, he remained rooted to the up-train exit from that station, a butt for the wit of little gutter devils, till the railway took him back to rest at eventide in the secure haven of "The Rose and Crown". "Never no more, Mas'r Mart'n," said he, "Never no more."

'And here, swaying and lurching between this crutches, for he had list both legs, swings old Billy Cole. Down and out, my father set him up with a donkey and cart to carry parcels between Colchester and Wivenhoe. To see Billy, his donkey stabled for the night and the reward of merit squandered at "The Black Boy," roaring drunk, his red eye-balls fixed and flaring, navigating his legless trunk uphill on the starboard tack, in a stuff east wind, was as gruesome a sight as even a Robert Louis Stevenson could hope to describe.'

p.16: 'How companionable it was, as I lay awake in my bedroom o'nights, to listen to the gruff voices of old sea dogs, singing their songs in the bar-parlour of the "Rose and Crown" across the way; to hear the door open and their "Good night, Bill," "Good night, Tom" float up to me, as their great sea-boots unsteadily crunched up the narrow lane below.'

John Martin Harvey was born in Wivenhoe in 1863 and died in 1944.

Provided by Chris Goddard

Premises Pic? Text?
Anchor, Wivenhoe No Yes
Anglesea Arms, Wivenhoe No Yes
Beehive, Wivenhoe Cross, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Black Buoy, Black Buoy Hill, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Brewery Tavern, Wivenhoe No Yes
Falcon, High Street, Wivenhoe No Yes
Greyhound, High Street, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Grosvenor Hotel, High Street, Wivenhoe No Yes
Horse & Groom, Wivenhoe Cross, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Live & Let Live, Wivenhoe No Yes
Park Hotel, High Street, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Red Lion, Wivenhoe No Yes
Rose & Crown, The Quay, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Sailor's Return, Wivenhoe No Yes
Ship at Launch, Wivenhoe No Yes
Shipwrights' Arms, West Street, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Station Hotel, Station Road, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Union Flag, Wivenhoe Cross, Wivenhoe Yes Yes
Woolpack, Wivenhoe No Yes
Yachtsman's Arms, Wivenhoe No Yes
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  • And Last updated on: Thursday, 25-Jan-2024 16:04:34 GMT