Times are hard. In fact, we’re down to our last half-Crown. The Crown in Bransford Road closed down two weeks ago and I heard yesterday that The Crown & Anchor in Hylton Road has got the builders in: whether or not it re-emerges as a pub is still in doubt. That just leaves the once famous old Crown Hotel (and Posting House) that also shares its name with Lloyds No 1 and so is just half a Crown. It’s a far cry from the old days when we – Worcester that is – were rich in Crowns: aside from the three mentioned here, ‘Worcester Pubs Then and Now’ lists another seven in the City’s one-time overflowing treasure chest of pubs: Crown, Droitwich Road (1780-1979); Crown, Friar Street (pictured – 1820-1938); Crown, Pump Street (1760-1860); Crown, Tallow Hill (1850-1943); Crown & Anchor, Lowesmoor/Silver Street (1790-1962); Crown & Canton, ‘St Andrews ward’ (1760s); and the Crown & Sceptre ‘near The Foregate’ (1700s).
The way things are going, how long before we’re totally destitute? I don’t think the barred (oh, sorry, that’s me!) ….er, Bard will mind me lifting one of his more memorable phrases: ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the Crown’. Sad.
(Left) The Crown in Friar Street – now a blinds shop. Group member Ian Stallard tells me the little girl in the pic, landlord’s daughter Dorothy, still lives in the City, aged 94. What about the little lad determined to get in the pic… first floor window? (Courtesy Ian Stallard)
Bob Backenforth 