In April 1996 I wrote an article titled The Fox Fled to Easington. It was about the decision in the late 1920s by local brewers Hunt Edmunds to quench the thirst of people nearer to home in this growing suburb.
The only way the company could open the Easington Hotel was by transferring a licence from the Fox, a small Market Place tavern that only really had a brisk trade on Thursdays. This happened at the beginning of December 1929.
Ten years later a sim
ilar situation arose in Grimsbury. On this occasion Hunt Edmunds had acquired a site for a new development at the junction of the Middleton and Daventry Roads. Market research had suggested that there was substantial support for a fully licensed house that would not appear 'too pubby' and which would have three separate bars together with seven bedrooms for people needing overnight accommodation. As in 1929, there were no spare licences and the intention was to remove the one held by the Plough in Cornhill.
This inn had once been popular with village carriers (more than 40 in 1831) and was the 19th century home to the game of Quoits. However, it seems likely that, in common with the Fox, the level of patronage had dropped considerably by the 1930s. In contrast, Grimsbury was a growing suburb at that time. On the evidence of a comparable licensing appeal in Carlisle there was a strengthening opinion that drinking facilities should follow population movements.
Locally the decision concerning the application by Hunt Edmunds was the responsibility of a licensing committee whose members ranked as people of importance in Banbury and who were at the very heart of the control of affairs.
The chairman was the mayor and bookmaker Horace Lester. His home 'Sunloch' in the Middleton Road was close to the proposed site. Mrs JA Gillett was a Quaker and so unlikely to be sympathetic to the brewery's request. JT Mawle had an ironmongery business with particular interest in agricultural engineering. The other members of the committee were William Potts, editor of the Banbury Guardian, and Theo Clark, a leading Baptist and former mayor who belonged to one of the most notable families in corn milling.
The case before them had to be seen in the context of both corporation and private housing development.
Between 1936 and 1939, 152 new homes had appeared in Grimsbury. The Banbury Guardian and the Banbury Advertiser of the day were full of advertisements for Grimsbury Manor Estate where Messrs Wardyard and Co Ltd promised reservation of a house for weekly payments of 12s 11d (65p).
Clerks working for Hunt Edmunds were dispatched to several different streets but notably East Street, School View and Avenue Road. The outcome strongly supported the application. More than 500 people from 277 houses were in favour of an additional fully licensed public house and only 28 were against. When James William Berry, one of the clerks, said he had knocked on most doors in East Street the mayor wryly observed, amid much laughter, that he had not come knocking at his home in nearby Middleton Road.
In support of the favourable figures, Hunt Edmunds representatives pointed out that they were not seeking a new licence, merely the transfer of an existing one. Additionally they actually owned the proposed site. Plans for its development had already been presented and approved by the Town Planning and Ribbon Development Authorities who may or may not have received very different proposals for tennis courts.
The bulk of the opposition to the construction of a new public house came from the Temperance Guild represented principally by the Rev George Gifford, minister of the Methodist church in West Street, Grimsbury. Their argument rested on Banbury's reputation for a high number of licensed premises.
When all the arguments had been presented and evaluated the committee came down in favour of Hunt Edmunds. This was not the end of the story, however, as war intervened; American service personal occupied the Blacklock Arms shortly after it had been built and it was not until after the end of hostilities that the brewers' dream came true.
At the opening ceremony in 1950 the first pint was pulled by Arthur Biddle (landlord of the Waggon and Horses in Butchers Row) and the first dart thrown by the Rev Carpenter, vicar of St Mary's Church.
In 1967 Hunt Edmunds properties were sold and Mitchell and Butler acquired the Blacklock Arms. It was a popular local and this was demonstrated especially in March 1984 when the brewers decided to close the pub prior to modernisation and refurbishment.
Regulars were barred from all facilities during the conversion work, a move that angered them so much that hundreds of people signed a petition complaining about the way they had been treated.
The Blacklock Arms remained a favourite with local people. Latterly as Buffalo Bill it faced strong competition in the shape of the Pepper Pot and the Toby Inn. It can be no surprise to the people of Grimsbury to learn of Tesco's interest and intentions for the site.
