New Inn

Above postcard, circa 1921, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. Despite its name, the pub can trace its history back some 550 years. A 1463 document states that John and Alice Kempe leased a "messuage called Newynne" from Abbot Thomas of Sibton Abbey, which owned land in the area.

With the coming of the railways and the opening of Hayes Station in 1882, the pub began to serve an increasing local population and started to cater for travellers. Formerly pretty much just a rural beer house, the pub needed to up its game and with the nearby "Sun" and "Alma" closing their doors in the late 19th century, a modern pub was built, which opened in 1898. This version of the pub served Hayes well for some 30 years, before its owners (the Hambro Estate) put it up for sale in 1931. Curiously, the pub was purchased by Birmingham brewers, John Davenport & Sons, which lost little time in submitting plans for a total rebuild. In 1934 the building was demolished, being replaced with a much larger, half-timbered "brewers' Tudor" baronial house, offering letting accommodation, as well as dining and function facilities. It was this version of the pub which took a direct hit in the Luftwaffe's 1940 Blitz and was totally destroyed.

When this photograph was taken, the pub was something of a rare beast for time, operating as a free house, with licensee, E Davey at the helm.

Above photo, 23 April 1937.

Above photo, pre 1940, kindly sent by David Rowe.

Above photo 2009 by Ewan Monro Creative Commons Licence.

Above photo of bar 2015.

Above photo of dining area, 2017.

Excerpts from http://www.bbc.co.uk

From Wartime Childhood memories, by Bill Margaret.

One night ‘The New Inn’ at Hayes took a direct hit and the publican, Fred Mallows, was seriously injured and severely burnt. He was eventually taken to The Queen Victoria Hospital at East Grinstead, Sussex to be treated by the eminent New Zealand plastic surgeon Dr. Archibald McIndoe, who had achieved such wonderful results when treating the badly burnt and injured pilots who later became members of the famous Guinea Pig Club. Fred was a close friend and once he was conscious he kept asking for my Father, so my parents went down to East Grinstead to see him. Fred was worried about the Inn’s security during his absence. He wanted to give my Father the keys for safety as he did not trust any one else with them. He did not realise that the Inn had been completely flattened by the bomb, there was nothing left to secure. It was early days in his recovery, he was very sick and so they could not tell him that there was nothing left to lock up, so they took the keys for him until he recovered.

Civilians were at the far end of the ward and my poor Mother had to walk the length of the ward past all the extremely injured and pain-ridden airmen doing her utmost to smile encouragingly at them as she walked by their beds at the same time describing the scene to my Father sotto voce. Eventually Fred was released from Hospital but managing a rebuilt ‘New Inn’ proved too arduous a task for him and so he then moved to ‘The Royal Oak’ at Charmouth in Dorset where he remained as publican for several years. We visited him there in the early fifties. When I revisited the pub in 2001 some of the locals still remembered him, which is either an indication of his memorable personality or of their drinking habits over the last fifty years!

From the https://hayesandconeyhall.org.uk  3 June, 2015.

NEW INN ‘MOTEL’ PROPOSALS UNVEILED.

Proposals have been submitted for motel-style accommodation at the New Inn in Station Approach.

The planning application for twelve ‘letting rooms’ in a separate building to the pub, envisages the project being built to the rear, on the Station Hill/Ridgeway side of the site.

The views we’ve received so far range from outright opposition in principle, to concerns over specific aspects such as the size, location, traffic issues, loss of trees and effect on the street scene, among others. Some are supportive of a prominent local business seeking to enhance its viability, but many still take issue with aspects of the proposals as they stand.

We would expect the proposal to come before a planning committee towards the end of this month.

The application to vary the licence for The New Inn was heard this morning. The hearing was attended by Cllr. Neil Reddin and also representatives from the Hayes Village Association and Wickham Common Residents’ Association.

Following representations from those present, the committee agreed to allow drinking only with a meal for the final hour (11pm to midnight) on Sunday through to Thursday – the existing licence already allows opening until midnight, though the current owners only usually serve alcohol until 11pm.

It was also agreed to allow drinking in the outside areas (including the back garden) only until 10pm.

The applicant had already agreed to change their proposed closing time of 00:30 back to the existing midnight, and the committee allowed the serving of (non-alcoholic) refreshments until midnight.

The licensee expects the refurbishments to be completed on the ground floor (the new restaurant and bar area) in time for a mid-June opening.

We anticipate that the plans for the upstairs function room will require a separate licensing application, following a planning application.

From the https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk By Stuart Stone, 2 November 2017.

Pub landlord sentenced for religious hatred on flight.

Air rage: landlord Joseph Breslin scrawled religious hatred on armrest.

The former landlord of a group of south London pubs has avoided jail after admitting two charges of racial and religious aggravated harassment and one of religiously aggravated criminal damage while on board a flight in July.

Joseph Breslin, 36, previously of the New Inn, Hayes; the Fox and Hounds, Carshalton; and the Baskerville, Croydon – the latter two of which both closed their doors earlier this year – was charged after he passed Muneera Al-Gahtari and Salem Omar Shamlam a note that read “death to Allah” on a Qatar Airways flight while returning from his honeymoon in Doha.

The note, which also included a racial slur, had to be translated for the recipient couple upon landing in Heathrow because English wasn’t their first language.

Breslin – who has since lost his personal licence to sell alcohol – was also spotted scrawling on an armrest five minutes before the plane was due to land after reportedly becoming “fed up” at service.

Breslin, who had previously been involved with learning disability charity Mencap’s activities in the Bromley area, avoided jail time as a result of what Recorder Bruce Holder QC described as the “immense benefit” he had offered his local community, the fact he was under personal and professional stress, and the deep remorse he showed for his actions, which were deemed to be out of character.

He was, however, handed a community order to complete 160 hours of unpaid work, ordered to pay the airline £3,604, which included £983 in damage costs, for making the seat unusable, and also £300 prosecution costs.

Offensive and inflammatory​.

While passing the sentence, Recorder Holder said: "You had, according to the evidence provided by the Crown, been complaining in the earlier part of that flight about the service, and your mood was not good.

"And as the aircraft landed, and was coming to a standstill at Heathrow, it was noticed that you had scribbled something on the armrest of the seat.

"The words simply said 'death to Allah'. Before that aircraft came to a halt, you were disobeying the seat belt sign, which was still illuminated.

"You got up, walked around to other passengers who, you complained, had in some way given you offence, and put a piece of paper on the table between them.

"Fortunately, English wasn't their first language. It is difficult to think of a phrase, particularly these days, more offensive and potentially inflammatory as those words.

"Coming, as they did, from a grown man who should know better."

From the http://www.newsshopper.co.uk By Sutton & Wandsworth, 1st November 2017.

Pub landlord wrote 'Death to Allah' Islamophobic note on flight.

Joseph Breslin at Isleworth Crown court where he was sentenced for scrawling "death to Allah" on his armrest on a plane.

Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA.

A Hayes man who wrote ‘Death to Allah’ on a plane’s armrest and an Islamophobic note to two Arabic passengers has been spared jail.

Business class passenger Joseph Breslin, 36, was onboard a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to London Heathrow when he vandalised the plane by scribbling on the seat, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

Meanwhile, the note said: “Death to Allah. F*** the rag-heads.”

He dropped it between two people on the flight while cabin crew who witnessed what pub landlord Breslin wrote on July 8 were "shocked", the court heard.

Although fellow passengers Muneera Al-Gahtari and Salem Omar Shamlam could not read English, it was when the note was translated to them that they felt terrified.

The damage caused to the armrest was around £983, and the total cost to the airline – in addition to not being able to use the seat – was £3,604.

Prosecutor Ravinder Johal said: “As he left his seat he approached two other passengers and placed a note on the table between the two seats.

“It was clearly provocative and designed to elicit a response from those two Arabic complainants.”

Breslin, who was returning from honeymoon with his pregnant wife, was seen writing on the armrest in pen by a flight attendant after the plane had landed, and seen dropping the note by another.

Jeremy Wainwright, defending, said the defendant was "extremely remorseful" and a "pillar of the community".

Breslin sobbed in court as character statements written by several people were read out by Mr Wainwright and how he subsequently lost his licence to sell alcohol.

He was sentenced to a community order and ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.

In addition, he has been ordered to pay £3,604 in damages and £300 towards prosecution costs.

Judge Recorder Bruce Houlden QC said Breslin had been complaining earlier in the flight about the service onboard, however nothing in his actions were justifiable.

He added: “It is difficult to think of a phrase, particularly in these times, more offensive and more inflammatory than those words coming from a grown man who should have known better.”

But the judge said he could spare Breslin jail because of his good character, and added: “I have no doubt that you have been of immense benefit to your local community.

"I accept too that you are remorseful.

"It is clear that you had just got married, you were bringing your wife back to the country. She was pregnant.

“Your business was under strain. And that was something that was very much on your mind.

“And you had recently given up smoking. For a number of other reasons, you were under considerable stress.”

Breslin, of Station Approach, admitted to two counts of racially or religiously aggravated harassment and one count of racially aggravated criminal damage.