Sorry this is so long… I’ve totally self indulged but hope some of you will find it interesting 
My mam, Thora, my stepdad, Jim, his mother, ‘Gran’, our dog, Jip and myself moved into the Masons in 1971. It was a Whitbread pub and almost derelict at that time.
On entering through the front door, there was a short straight passageway and immediately off to the left, a small ‘lounge’. Next along were stairs to the upstairs flat with our own bathroom and toilet at the top right, believe it or not, these facilities also doubled as the Ladies. It was never a good arrangement and I well remember having a bath during evening opening when a customer knocked on the door asking me to ‘please be quick’!
At the end of the downstairs corridor was a back door which looked out onto a 6ft high stone wall alongside which the train line ran. It was here our dog, Jip, was buried after getting run over outside the pub. An outside passage off to the left led to the Gents which my stepdad, Jim, hosed down every morning but which never entirely got rid of the smell. There was also a covered store with a large arched door leading onto the front street. This was used for empty bottles and bins.
Going back through the back door to the left was our private ‘kitchen’ . The room had a coal fed black cast iron fireplace and a large walk in pantry. There were three windows, one looking down the outside passage to the Gents, one, high up in the wall looking onto the railway line, and one, a frosted window, between the kitchen and the bar… again, not very private. A flight of rear stairs led up to the bedrooms. The kitchen could have been no more than 8ft wide by about 12ft long but it was the heart of our home before the pub was modernised in 1973/4.
Leading back towards the front of the pub were a second and third door, used to access the open plan rear and front bars which were connected by a long side space. In the centre of the long side wall was an old round wall clock (which I still have) above an open fire which the ‘old regulars’ sat around. Needless to say those drinking at the bar chose to stand opposite the fire too.
Alongside my mam and Jim, the Dodd sisters, Mary, Bernie, Pat (and sometimes Vera) served behind the bar and I remember Jimmy (Jado’), Vincent and Dennis Dodd drinking in the pub, as well as Con Conlin, Tommy?, Malcolm and Cecil Best, who had the butchers next door. Bart, Brian, Ray and Billy Bottle, the Herdman’s, the Pratt’s and Harry Cheesman and his wife were all our customers too. The ladies darts team were loyal to the pub and their attendance always made for raucous nights as did a full house on Bank Holiday weekends.
Although the fixtures and fittings were in disrepair and a makeover was long overdue, the Masons had a reputation for serving good beer, having friendly staff and no trouble. This continued after it was renovated….but that’s another story
Thanks to Sue for sharing these memories
