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From an email received 26 February 2020.
The licensee of the George and Dragon, at least in the summer of
1953, was EITHER Joan Allen nee Hale, OR William (Bill) Gwyn (or Gwynn
or Gwynne).
(I say ‘at least in the summer of 1953’, because, as a schooboy, 11
years old, I spent my Coronation Holiday staying at the George and
Dragon at a time when the licensee was as I have stated. The Coronation
was on Tuesday 2 June 1953, so the holiday would have run from Monday 1
June to Saturday 6 June, if it was for one week. Saturdays were
included, then.)
Most likely, that licence ran from 1952 to 1954, but that is just a
guess.
Joan Allen nee Hale is, still, at the age of 99, my aunt (my mother’s
sister).
William (Bill) Gwyn was a friend and occasional employee of my aunt.
While I was there, a film was being made nearby. The director and his
family were staying at the G&D, and one of the outbuildings (or a
garage) was used to store their film kit overnight. During that filming,
I was taken with them to visit a hopfield, being picked by cockney
families on holiday. From ‘British films of 1954’ on the web, I have
found that, in 1954, a ‘family’ film was released called Adventure in
the Hopfields, and I am fairly sure that that was it.
My mother showed me how to fish for tiddlers, using a jam jar on a
string, over the side of the bridge. I believe that the bridge has been
re-built since then.
I have seen the black-and-white picture of the G&D, on your website,
from 1954. It is exactly as I remember it, from 1953.
I remember watching the Coronation on a television set in the bar. It
was only the third television set that I had seen – and only the second
that was actually showing a picture.
Bill Freeman. |
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