Is it farewell to The White Horse?

Perhaps it was only a matter of time before a proposal came forward to demolish The White Horse pub in Upper Stoke, but I’m still rather sad about the prospect.

A planning application was submitted to Medway Council (the local planning authority) on 8th June to demolish this old building and replace it with a number of dwellings. The summary advises the following:

“MC/18/1736 - Outline planning application with all matters reserved for the demolition of existing public house and outbuilding and construction of three detached four-bed houses with integral single garage and a pair of garages linked detached four-bed houses with associated parking and landscaping - White Horse Public House, The Street, Stoke, Rochester, ME3 9RT”.

I’ve mentioned The White Horse a few times on this website (click here, here and here for a few examples) explaining my links with the place.

I love old buildings so it’ll be sad to see The White Horse disappear from the Upper Stoke streetscape.

I hope I win the National Lottery this evening!

Click here to be directed to the relevant section on Medway Council's planning portal.
  

Who do you think you are?

My father came to stay for several days over the Christmas holiday and he was keen to take another look round the peninsula and the places where our ancestors lived and worked. And maybe do a little research too.

Having a quick look around Upnor High Street

With the BBC’s recent adaptation of Great Expectations, and its desolate scenes of the marshes, spurring our imaginations about how our ancestors might have lived, St. James’ Church in Cooling was the obvious place to start the tour. It’s always good to take in the views from the Church and imagine how different things would have looked in Dickens’ time, before the sea defences changed the landscape so much.

In Lower Stoke we took time to look at the building site that was, until a few years ago, the location of The Ship pub. The pub was run, from 1889 to 1901, by my great great grandfather Henry Spencer - one of my father’s favourite ancestors. I think it might have something to do with their shared experience in the victualling trade.

All the talk and memories of running pubs made my father keen to have his photo taken in front of one - so we opted for The Nags Head (opposite where The Ship once stood). The Nags Head is known for having played host to the famous painter and satirist William Hogarth, back in 1732. Hogarth stayed here, as part of a 5-day tour of Kent with four friends, before reaching the Isle of Grain (where he stayed another night) and then headed on to the Isle of Sheppey.

We then went up the road to Upper Stoke, to pay our respects at the grave of Henry Spencer (he of The Ship), which is in the graveyard of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. We also took a look at a gravestone which evokes thoughts about a time of great tragedy in our family’s history.

The ‘Watson children’ gravestone, nestled beneath the tree my father is pictured standing by, soberly lists the names of six children (all of whom would have been my father’s great uncles and aunts had they lived), who died in the space of a few short years between 1871 and 1882. The children were aged between 1 and 19, and there was also a baby just a few weeks old.

We then had a look inside the Church itself, where my father chatted to one of the church volunteers, who asked him his family name. Without prompting, he asked if we were related to an ‘old boy of Stoke’, who went by the nickname of ‘Stumpy’ Watson. My father almost passed out at the mention of ‘Stumpy’, as we have been researching him for a while with little success. We don’t know whether we are definitely connected, but have been trying to find out more about him. He was clearly a well known chap.

I then took a quick photo of my father outside The White Horse pub, also in Upper Stoke. His grandfather ran this pub very briefly from November 1904 to January 1907. The tale behind such a short tenure will have to keep for another time!

The last stop of the day, before heading back home for a cuppa in Hoo, was the Isle of Grain and the Coastal Park. I showed him some of the things improved by the work of volunteers over the past year or so.

Another really useful day out on the peninsula!
 

Then & Now - The White Horse, Upper Stoke

This week I’ve been looking at how the area has changed over the years, comparing recently taken photographs with a small collection of old postcards I’ve come across.

The last postcard shows the White Horse pub in Upper Stoke. The farmhouse belonging to Court Lodge Farm can be seen on the other side of the road, which is obscured by trees in a more recent photograph.

Do you have any old postcards or photographs of the area? Would you like to share them on this website? Please get in touch using the contact page.
 

The White Horse (1904 to 1907), Upper Stoke

Long before researching my family history, I always had a love of country pubs. Not just because they are where you find the best quality real ales, but because of the sense of history and community that they normally evoke, where people know each other’s names and everyone is welcomed like a local.

My father owned a country pub for a few years near Canterbury and other relatives have been connected to different pubs over the years. My mother's grandfather ran at least three pubs and his father worked in a rural brewery.

So it came as no surprise to discover a longer history of pubs in the family!

I’ve discovered links on my father’s side to a couple of local pubs. The Ship Inn at Lower Stoke, which I have mentioned before and The White Horse at Upper Stoke. I talked about my links with The White Horse in another post, but I thought I would add some further information about the time my Great-Grandfather was the licensee.

My Great-Grandfather Herbert Watson (pictured above) became the licensee of The White Horse on 11 November 1904. The licence was transferred from a William Bradley.

Herbert was joined by his wife Maud Lilian (nee Spencer) and their three young children, Gladys (b1902), Dorothy (b1904) and Mary (b1906).

Herbert and Maud remained at the pub until 1 January 1907, when the licence was transferred to a James Rayner. I’m told the reason Herbert and Maud left the pub was because of financial difficulties, but precise details are not known. They left with only a tin-box of personal belongings seeking a fresh start in Dover. They went on to have eight more children, between 1909 and 1924. One of whom was my Grandfather!

 

The White Horse, Upper Stoke

A few photographs of the Pub.

Family members gathering outside the The White Horse in Upper Stoke, which I think was probably taken during the 1950s, and then how it looks today.