The place of Ipswich in the development of themed hostelries

In 1804, in north London, a tavern was built in the style of a Swiss chalet becoming, ultimately, Ye Olde Swiss Cottage. As a consequence it gave its name to an underground station and a geographic area. This was at a time when the tentacles of the London conurbation were reaching out northwards into the area which eventually became known as ‘Metroland’. The building of ‘Swiss chalets’ was a vogue of the Victorian era. In Peasenhall, the local community hall is built in this style; the owner of a firm of local agricultural engineers who had holidayed in Switzerland, wanted to look out of his Suffolk home at a Swiss chalet.

During trips to the Hendon area of London in the early 1970s, Ye Olde Swiss Cottage became a place to visit occasionally. In 1975, after travelling from York to London independently, it became a useful rendezvous and place to stop for the night.

In 1965, the Running Buck on St Margarets Plain, Ipswich began construction of some wooden lodges behind the main pub buildings. The new area was opened as a restaurant and bar in January 1966 with a Scandinavian ambiance, and rapidly became a ‘go to’ place. I can recall going there to meet friends returning from college and university, and a current  work colleague took his soon to be wife there for a restaurant meal. It would naturally create a good impression. It was quite something and unusual for the times.

Eventually, it became Cindy’s night club, finally closing its doors in 1993. Subsequently, it was bought by the Bethesda Church, who sadly demolished the lodges and constructed a church centre. The centre  was opened by the harmonica-playing Manfred Mann singer and radio presenter Paul Jones in 1999.

Also, in the mid 1960s, a German themed  restaurant and bar, The Old Heidelberg Inn was opened in Upper Brook Street, near to the Lucania Billiard Hall (another ‘sport’ I could never master or see the point of) and the Cock and Pye public house. The Heidelberg became a favourite late night rendezvous for myself and friend Dave; he travelling on his Lambretta to meet me in the Bishops Hill area, after we had taken our respective girlfriends at the time home.

Later on, at the time of the successful lunar landing and walk by Neil Armstrong, The Man in the Moon was opened in 1969 in the Crofts area of Ipswich, and is still going strong today.

On a trip to the north-west of England, before visiting Liverpool and going on a ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, we visited Rochdale, home of Gracie Fields and the original ‘Rochdale Pioneers’ Co-operative Shop in Toad Lane. After an afternoon visit to the tented arena of the acrobats of the Chinese State Circus, we were looking for an evening meal, and stumbled  upon ‘The Alpine Gasthof’ incongruously situated amidst an area of Victorian terraced houses. I believe the Gasthof  may have been built in the 1980s. The meal was very competitively priced (i.e. much cheaper than in Suffolk) and very good in a superb atmosphere. I can also recall a visit we made to The Swiss Centre in London around 1982, but this was a restaurant within the Tourist Centre, and not specifically a hostelry.

At the moment, therefore, apart from those outlined above, my research has not found any earlier examples of themed bars/hostelries. Do any members of The Society know of others?

Although themed bars are becoming more of a vogue these days, I believe that Ipswich in particular was instrumental in their development in the United Kingdom. Perhaps, another first for our county town.

Graham Day

[Some readers may recall when, in 1984, The Running Buck became ‘Canes’ – another themed pub/club with a dubious requirement of female staff to wear skimpy school uniforms (we understand). The Kingfisher on Hawthorne Drive was rebranded as ‘Kings’ at around that time, with lots of chrome and plastic in the bar. –Ed.]

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