Public Houses

The Red Lion

For a great number of years the Red Lion was not only physically in the centre of the village but it was also the centre of the village's social life as there was no other public meeting place. However, with the increase in car ownership over recent years, other outside activities have become more easily available and the appeal of the village pub has suffered some decline.

Records show a Mr William Acomb Thornham was a publican in Broomfleet in 1868 and again in 1881. In old photographs of the Red Lion, the name board shows the name of Mr Thornham, and he must therefore have been the licensee for that period at the Red Lion. He had a large family and stories are told of how early on a summers morning his children would run naked from the pub to get washed in the beck which ran alongside Bridge Farm at that time.

Mr Harry Pitts, who also worked as a butcher, followed as the landlord from 1881 to 1897.

Mr Thomas Tindill then began his long period of 52 years as the licensee from 1897 to his death at the age of 86 years in 1949.

At the turn of the last century the Red Lion Public Inn was a little cottage standing to the east of the present building. The present building dates to around 1910 and was originally built as three cottages. Later, the two east end cottages were made into one building by John Smith breweries and this became the Red Lion, with the remaining cottage being let as a residence and the older cottage reverting to a dwelling house. The last person to live in this old cottage before it was demolished in 1957 was Mrs Alice Skinner.

At one period there was a Red Lion Recreation Club. In February 1924 they had their first dinner, which was held in the large upstairs room of the Red Lion (this room was over the years always called the "club room") and attended by 30 people. The secretary was Mr A Beckinsall and the club arranged outings for its members. One example was an outing to Blackpool in June 1925, when 24 made the trip.

Mr and Mrs Tindill celebrated their golden wedding in August 1949, shortly before Mr Tindill's death. Mrs Tindill then became the licensee and ran the pub alone for a further year. In October 1950 she retired from the Red Lion and went to live with her daughter, Mrs W Leaper, at Broomfleet House. During the time of the Tindills' tenancy, the Red Lion remained unconnected to mains electricity and the beer was served from a jug that was filled directly from the barrel

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Mr and Mrs Whitehead moved in as tenants to John Smith breweries and were the licensees for seven years from 1949 to 1957. The Red Lion was connected to the mains electricity shortly after their arrival and beer pumps were installed in the early 1950's. Mr Whitehead was a keen sportsman who encouraged the darts and domino teams from the pub. He was a member of the village cricket team that played in the Howdenshire Leagues for a few years. They had a son, Noel, who married Freda, a girl from an old village family named Gelder, and they remained in the village after Mr and Mrs Whitehead moved away.

Mr and Mrs Gordon (Bob and Pat) became licensees from May 1957, when beer was 1s 1d per pint (approximately 5p in present day coinage). When they took over the layout of the pub on the inside was as it had been after being converted from two cottages. The long room at the front served as the bar area, with a small room at the back, and the remainder being living quarters for the licensees. The bar's serving counter was only about six feet long. During the 1960's the layout of the inside was altered by opening up the small room at the back and installing the pool table, and also putting in the current " L " shaped bar. The toilets were replaced with a new extension as at present.

The pub at that time was very sports and games minded and had two men's darts teams and two ladies darts teams that played in the Howdenshire leagues as well as domino and darts/domino teams made up of men and women. With the coming of the pool table and the forming of pool teams competing in the leagues, the interest in darts and domino teams waned.

Although the Red Lion was very popular and well attended, Mrs Gordon commented that the profit as a tenant to the brewery was never sufficient to make a good living wage and a " second " wage had always been necessary. Mr Gordon had a number of other jobs for a period of time. As a service to the village the Gordons also sold ice-cream, and when Mr Wilson retired from the shop at the west end of the village they took over his the newspaper trade. For a number of years they also acted as a distribution point for medicine for the village, as the butcher (Kirk's) van, on his visit to the village on a Wednesday and on a Friday, would deliver the medicines from the doctor to the Red Lion. Some were to be collected, whilst others were for Mrs Gordon to deliver to the homes of the ill.

Mr and Mrs Gordon purchased a plot of land in the village and built the house called `Graylags' into which they moved on retirement from the Red Lion in June 1983.

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In 1983 Mr and Mrs Clayburn purchased the Red Lion from John Smiths Ltd and became the licensees of a " Free House" (not attached a particular brewery). Mr Clayburn had been a butcher before he took over the Red Lion and Mrs Clayburn was a midwife, a profession she continued whilst living in the village. They did not stay for long and sold the Red Lion in 1985.

The present licensee Mr Melvin Robson, with his mother and father, purchased the Red Lion from the Clayburns. They made the gardens at the rear available for touring caravans. Mrs Robson died in 1998 following a long illness, but her husband and son are still in residence. Beer is now sold at around £1.80 per pint, which is reasonable compared with other present day outlets, but when compared with the 1957 price of 5p shows how much the cost of living has risen.

Other Alcoholic Outlets

In the 1830's there was a public house of sorts at the Lock Farm and at Marr Farm that sold ale to the men who were involved in the construction of the railway around that time. Later, there are records of an inn at the Lock in the 1850s and into the early 20th century.

It is said that at the early part of the last century beer was sold from various houses in the village, but it is uncertain which these houses were. It is also unknown whether they brewed their own beer or purchased it to sell on.

Mr Fredrick Shuttleworth is shown as a beer retailer from 1905 to 1913. As he was also a shipbuilder, his premises were at the end of Landing Lane on the west side of the canal, where there was a shipyard that made and repaired barges. Mr Albert Woodall, who is shown in the records as a beer retailer/publican from 1919 to 1929, would appear to have taken over from Mr Shuttleworth at the Landing.

There are no other records of inns within Broomfleet's boundaries. It is to be assumed that as the population of the Landing dwindled it became impractical for it to have its own pub. The Red Lion remains open each evening, and it is to be hoped that the new generations of villagers will help to revive its importance as a centre for village social life.

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