The Four Crosses, Cannock, summary

 

        So, lots of interesting stuff at The Four Crosses, a big place with a huge car park and lots of rooms. It could be a goldmine, but it will take a massive investment which is unlikely to happen in the current economic climate and it's a shame. I'd love to see it restored to it's former glory. I'm not even sure that the building is still there. You can see it on Google Earth but who knows how old the pictures are on there. But, let's hope someone sees the potential and takes it on. It would be a crime if it were left to crumble.

        Normally, if a place is closed we would take a couple of beers and toast the place outside, taking a picture to commemorate the event but we were able to go one better here as we'd been let inside. We'd taken a bottle or two and were able to take this picture behind the bar.

        Please excuse the miserable face, it's natural. Our thanks to the manager (who's name we can't remember) from the Brewery (which we can't remember) for getting us in and to Alan, the caretaker who turned out to be a decent chap in the end (he even gave me a glass as a souvenir of our visit).

                                Cheers!

The Four Crosses, Cannock, part 2.

        Before we travelled to Cannock we had done a bit of research on the Four Crosses and discovered that it had a reputation for being haunted. In fact, I believe it had featured on TVs Most Haunted programme, although it's something I've never seen, and I think they used to hold some sort of ghost watch thing there. We asked Alan and he said that the cellar was the place to see (though he'd never seen a ghost himself), so that's where we headed next.

        As you can see, not much down here,

        And very low ceilings, I'm only 5 feet 5 inches tall (that's 1.65 metres to you young uns). But then in one corner we found this,

        Now I don't believe in all this tosh but if I did, I'm not sure how confident I'd be of success using a Ouija board that somebody made out of an old pub table and a felt tipped pen. Just sayin'.

        Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745), Dean of  St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, visited The Four Crosses and was so taken aback by the landlord's wife's foul temper that he allegedly scratched a rhyme on a windowpane which read,

                    "Why hang four crosses at the door

                 Hang out thy wife, thou needs no more"

which is supposed to be still there, but we couldn't find it.

        Back outside though, we did find a couple of interesting things carved into the timbers. One was, presumably, the date the pub, or at least that part of it, was built.

        And the other was part of a poem by Thomas More, In Mortis Diem Omnibus Incertum (The day of death which is known by no one)

        It reads,

           FLERES, SI SCIRES UNUM TUA TEMPORA MENSEM

                 RIDES, CUM MON SIT FORTISAN UNA DIES

           which translates as

        You would weep if you knew that your time was one month,

     You laugh when perhaps there might not be one day left to you.

        or in modern language,

If you knew that you only had one month to live, you would weep, but you don't know. So you laugh, yet you might have less than a day left.

        Cheerful bugger, wasn't he?

                                            Cheers!

The Four Crosses, Cannock, part 1.

        On the 25th November 2015 we went to Cannock to visit The Four Crosses which became an important coaching house in the latter part of it's history. But to get there we had a bit of a journey ourselves.

        The Four Crosses is closed and has been for a while so we were expecting to just go and have a beer outside and take a couple of pictures. But my son, Clint, found a phone number for the pub and gave it a ring. The phone was answered by a chap called Alan who confirmed that, yes, the pub was closed, he had been installed there as a caretaker and was doubtful as to whether it would open again. My son then explained what we were doing and asked, politely, if there was a chance that we could call in for ten minutes, have a quick look round and take a couple of pictures. It was a resounding no. He was under strict instruction not to let any one in or even discuss the place in detail. So, that was that.

        Except, it wasn't. My son then decided to rind the brewery that owned the pub (unfortunately, neither of us can remember which brewery it was). He eventually found the manager that was dealing with it and explained to him, then asked, politely again, if there was any chance we could go and have a look round and take some pictures. 

        The answer came straightaway, "Of course, no problem. when do you want to go? I'll tell Alan to expect you and let you have the run of the place" Result!

        So, here we are on our way!

        And here I am outside the front of the pub.

        It's a big old place and with lots of interesting architecture (not that either of us profess to know anything about architecture, it just looks good). We made our way round the back and found the way in.

        No, not that, this,

        Anyway, we knocked on the door a couple of times and, after a short wait, a guy opened the door. This was Alan, and we both got the distinct impression that he wasn't best pleased that we'd gone over his head and he now had to put up with us.

        But, Hey ho!!!

        After a while he warmed up a bit and he told us that since the place closed there'd been several people interested but it never went anywhere. One company wanted to turn it into a hotel (it has quite a lot of bedrooms) but one of the biggest obstacles was the fact that the doors to the bedrooms were not fire rated and, because it's a listed building, they wouldn't be able to change the doors ( I don't know the rules for listed building works, but you would think there would be a way round that, a compromise, maybe. Better to make changes than let it rot).

           Here's a few pictures of the inside,

        As you can see, nice fireplaces, lots of oak beams and all the furniture still in place. There's also a few interesting things on the walls too.

        This is a picture of what was supposed to be a military uniform found in a trunk in the attic in the 1950s. The jacket is made of velvet and the trousers are buckskin. It was made for a boy and dates to the 1850s. It's now in a museum.

        This one tells the history of some of the other inns on Watling Street, most of which no longer exist.

        Well, it's getting late and I've probably done enough for tonight. It also seems quite tiring doing it on your own or maybe that's just my age. Anyway, I'll attack it again tomorrow but for now,

                                Cheers!

The Bear Esher, Summary

 

So, the evening didn't go quite as planned which means the only information I can supply has been gleaned from the tinterweb.

        The Bear is an 18th centurycoaching inn and a Grade II listed building, It was a staging post for the London to Portsmouth coaches and the local posting house and was reportedly used by Lord Nelson. It was originally called The Bear and Ragged Staff and was built on the site of the Earl of Warwicks hunting lodge. It was also called the Brown Bear during it's coaching days. His crest included a bear. There has supposedly been a pub here since 1460. In the dining room there are a pair of huge jack-boots. These were, allegedly worn by the post boy who drove the fugitive French king, Louis Phillippe to Claremont during the revolution of 1848. It is also said that a section of the French Royal household put up at the Bear.

        And that's all the history I can give you. The only thing left to say is that it's a very good pub with very nice staff. I just wish we'd gone on a week night when it might have been less busy or that we were more disciplined with our alcohol intake!

        Nevertheless, it's a great pub and I would recommend it to anyone. That's all I have I'm afraid so until next time,

        Cheers!

The Bear, Esher, Part 2

The Bear is just across the road from the pub we were in and is an imposing looking place situated right in the middle of town. I, being a Numpty, accidentally deleted some of my photos so I've borrowed one I found on-line (apologies to anyone who has copyright - I will remove it on request).

The Bear

    We went in through the front door and I realised we'd probably spent too much time in The Albert. The Bear was rammed. And if we thought The Albert was cliquey, this didn't look as if it was going to be any better. It was full of twenty-somethings who looked like they all worked in the city and were letting their hair down. Lots of champagne and fancy dress for some reason! I couldn't see us getting many stories out of them (and it turned out I was right).

    I'd been in touch with the manager, Chris, and told him we were coming. He'd said to make ourselves known when we arrived so, we made our way to the bar, ordered a beer, and asked the young girl there if we could speak to Chris. She said he was very busy and I explained that he was sort of expecting us so off she went. A minute later she returned with a young man who said "Can I help you"? I said "Are you Chris"? He said "No". He was Chris's assistant. I thought "this is going well". So I explained again that Chris was expecting us and we'd really like to speak to him. He said he'd go and see if he was free but that he might not have time to speak to us as he was really busy, and off he went. 

    I was seriously considering going back to The Albert.

The Bear seemed OK, but definitely a lost cause as far as local stories go. It was a drinkers pub, but not a community pub. Everyone was there with their own mates, and had no intention on mixing and a mingling. Its a Friday night pub. Plenty of hustle and bustle, decent atmosphere, just lacking in a little....spirit? I dunno, but I imagine next Friday night there'll be a whole new set of faces...

Chris Turned up, Looked like my old boss, which was a good and bad thing... (Good, as, with my old boss, We started off fine, but bad, because things with my old boss soon turned sour, hopefully, the same wont happen with Chris)

Yep Here was Chris............and he didn't have a clue who we were..........for a second or two. He asked if he could help with a bewildered look on his face until I explained who we were and why we were there. Then the penny dropped and he changed instantly! He couldn't have been more welcoming. He explained though that, as it was a Saturday night and it was a big eating place, he hadn't got a lot of time right then but, once the place had died dowm a bit (if it ever did) he'd come and have a chat. He did say that it was a nice change for people to turn up just to see the pub and not ask for anything. We'd only been there 5 minutes and I wouldn't dream of asking for free stuff! After I've spent all night and a fair bit of cash I might ask for a glass or something as a souvenir but not as soon as I walk in. Apparently some ask for freebies before they get there, cheeky feckers!!

       Anyway he asked the girl to get a couple of beers and handed them over saying to enjoy the night and he'd see us later. So, although we'd already got a pint, the barmaid turned up with two Brooklyn lagers, 5.1% and it was bloody lovely! I seem to remember we drank it all night. 

        So. we walked around the pub and had a good look but the place was absolutely packed with young people who were very loud and very boisterous. everyone seemed to be having a party. Which meant it was very awkward trying to take pictures and, sadly, in the end, we didn't get any decent ones of the inside of the building.

        There was absolutely not one seat to be had inside so we retreated to the patio, which was very large with lots of tables and chairs, but they were all occupied. We found a corner to stand in and spent the next hour and a half or so talking amongst ourselves and doing one of my favourite things, people watching. 

        Then a table became vacant and we rushed to get it at the same time as a couple made a beeline for it, and that's how we met Andy and Carol. They were a nice couple and were on their own. we thought this was the chance we were waiting for to get some local gossip about the pub!

Carol, Clint and Andy

        Wrong. They didn't live in Esher and were visiting friends or family and couldn't tell us anything about The Bear. It turned out though that Andy lived in London and one of his local watering holes is one of the pubs that we have yet to visit, The London Apprentice, Isleworth (just hope it's still open when we get to it) so, hopefully, we'll get to meet him and his good lady again.

        In all this time the beer had been flowing thick and fast and I, for one, was starting to slur my words a bit. And I'd got the munchies. I was starving. Can't remember how long it was since we'd eaten but the lack of food and the abundance of alcohol was having a very detrimental effect on my ability to think. And talk. And stand up straight. We had definitely spent too much time in the Albert.

        So, after a brief discussion we decided to get a chinese and call it a night. This was a shame because it meant that we didn't get a chance to talk to Chris, the manager. But I felt it was the right thing to do as I wasn't really capable of holding a serious conversation with anyone. I could talk bollocks, as we all can when we've had a fewl but that wasn't why we were there. I felt really bad about it afterwards, because Chris seemed genuinely interested once he realised who we were and why we were there and I hope we didn't offend him with our disappearing act, especially as he'd been so welcoming. We tried to find him to explain why we were leaving but the place was still bouncing and he was nowhere to be found. So we got our food took it back to the hotel and slept the sleep of the drunkard.

        Well, I think that's enough for now. As I said, sorry it's all me but if my son thinks I've missed something or remembered it wrong I'm sure he'll add a bit.

        More soon. Cheers!

If anyone's still listening?

Well, I suppose I owe you an explanation. We haven't written anything for over four years and we have 5 pubs to write about, plus, we haven't finished the write up about The Bear, Esher.

    This is partly because we got idle or complacent about keeping the blog up to date. We were still visiting pubs but were indisciplined about keeping up with the write ups.

    But the other part of it is that my darling wife was taken seriously ill in April 2018. So ill that I had to give up work to care for her. This meant that Ye Olde Innseekers got put on hold.

    Well, after four difficult years, in May of this year, my wife finally lost her battle and passed away. It's been a difficult time for both of us.

    But, life goes on, as they say, and we feel ready to take up the quest again. Hopefully, it will help us both, occupying our minds with something.

    So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to try and catch up with the blog and bring it up to date. Unfortunately, because the visits were 4 or 5 years ago, some of the details are a bit fuzzy, but I/we will do my/our best. I worded it like that because a lot of the blog will probably be written by me alone, because there is a lot to do and my son, Clint, is extremely busy with work and family commitments so can't always make the time to come here and do it. 

    Whereas, I have plenty of time, so it looks like the lions share will be down to me. I apologise, in advance, if this means it's not as entertaining as it might be ( my son thinks he's the funny one) but time is short as we hope to be visiting TWO pubs in the near future and I want to get as much done before then,

    That's all from me for now, more soon,

                                        Cheers