Blunham: Pubs: The Queen's Head

Blunham Pubs : The Queens Head

By Bill Exley

The Queens Head - c1900 - 1910

A quiet tranquil scene of The Queens Head and Blunham Village square, around the early 1900's - Note the childen's Victorian clothes and adjoining cottages, leading up The Hill and West to the village of Great Barford then Bedford eight miles away. The second cottage up from the Queens Head was occupied by a Mr Ben Sims, a coffin maker, also the Father of Albert Sims, a well known Blunham character and his son Alan .

The Queens Head Beerhouse, now a private dwelling was formely 5, High Street, overlooks the village square and St Edmunds or St James Church, the large corner building opposite was a shop owned by the Judd family. Today a plaque - 'The Ragged Staff' is near the door of the Queens Head so preserving our village history, as so Plaques at - The Oak Beerhouse along The High St - (91 now) , then going West up The Hill and old Post Office at number 12, then we have 2 and 4 High Street, two thatched cottages in the square opposite The Queens Head. - The Ovens (a bygone Bakery) and Battle Cottage both from 1699 by a plaque on the cottage wall. The large wall- sign of The Queens Head tells us it was Wells's Bedford Ales & Stout on sale at the time for the land workers. - c1895.

Any history of licensed premises in Blunham is complicated by the fact that there have been Two seperate Pubs / Beerhouses both starting as the Ragged Staff and later The Salutation, so I will keep them seperate to avoid confusion. - ( the Queens Head had three names )

It was probably serving up pints well ‘before’ 1846, but these records were not around to support this. It is interesting to see from my researches of Blunham Pubs, that some tenancies changed hands many times after only short periods, but there were exceptios. Some owners even took the previous name with them on a move, as regards The Salutation being renamed The Old Salutation, trying to keep their regulars not to leave them.

Farming was so labour intensive so needed many, many land workers, being reliant on man power before the advent of machinery. Most were regular drinkers due to the very nature of their work, using most of the 8 village ’Drinking - Holes’. They picked Brusell Sprouts, or Bruselling, by hand, in the season with freezing conditions or Potatoe crop harvests in season. This Beerhouse was formely The Ragged Staff, changing to The Salutation in 1786 and finally The Queens Head from 1847 to c.1926 when it finally called Last Orders Please

RECORD OF LANDLORDS & TENANTS

The Ragged Staff, later to be The Salutation during -

1786- 1846

Henry Usher sells The Salutation (then) for £345 to a Joseph Lovell.

1846- 1865

1st Licence - and renamed - The Queens Head

1847

Lovell sells the Inn to a Herbert, Albury Dunnage

1865-1869

- Beers are now supplied by Oliver Steed , Brewers of Baldock -

James Boness.

1869-1889

Robert Beadle

1889-1891

Eliz. White

1891-1893

William, John White ( 1yr . )

1893-1894

Records show a James, John Kither and Jane Arthur (Arthur Jane?) were also domicile

1894

William James Phipper (or Kither ?)

1894-1897

Sold to Charles Wells , Brewers of Bedford

1895

Wm. & Hannah Giggle . (Grandad and Grandmum to a Mr Brown, the Gamekeeper at Tempsford - Hall, - 2 miles away) -

1897-1904

Hannah Giggle ,Widow

1904-1908

John Burton

1908-1914

Now we have a Blunham Population of 603 - served by the 8 Pubs in -

1909

Herbert Currant, who later moves over to The Horseshoes, stays for 30yrs - (40yrs as a Landlord)

1914-1924

The Queens Head is sold by Chas. Wells to a father & son, - ‘both’ called Harry, Thom. Dennis. Later closes during 1926

1924-1927

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It now becomes a Police House, so for Local Interest, some Tenants from records researched.

PC Harry Ashton and family. - New ref - a 'Bygones' entry from a local Newspaper, dated - 08/03/1991 - Biggleswade Chronicle, by a Mrs King (nee Ashton) daughter and one of 11 brothers and sisters. - ref. this 1927 entry. - (copy to hand )

1927-1934

Pc Harry Whitemore then later PC Jack Frith & families

1934-1942

Henry, Stanley Green, (a Great Barford man)

1942-1957

Peter and Rosalie Davis , then later only one Occupier - Son ?

Oct 1957- 2000

THE ORIGIN OF A 'RAGGED STAFF'

The Ragged Staff - a name used by two pubs, led me all the way back to 1268 and the Coat of Arms of the Earls of Warwickshire. It is here we find within the Quarterings of this Shield ( Coat of Arms ) , a Bear and a Ragged Staff, (a ragged staff is from the branch of a ‘young’ tree stripped of its leaves). There was no village connection, as I first thought in the 1980's , but a nationwide usage within pub names, such as The Bear, Ragged Staff , Kings Arms, The Crown, The George, Queen Adelaide, The Queens Head, and the George & Dragon, all in common use. - The usage of this naming by a Public House, was to show some form of allegiance to the King / Queen as most of the Patrons would have served in one of the two World Wars .

o * O * O * o

Answer to 'Cell of Doom, ref. 15 in 'Misc & Mash' - The question the prisoner deduces is, " will you ask your mate, which door do I walk out of to my Freedom ? " - What ever answer he gets, from 'any' guard, he will Reverse it, so he walks out to certain freedom. . Assume he asks Gd/1 and say he is the truthfull one, he asks Gd/2 (the Liar) he gets a lie and our Gd/1 repeats the reply he got, to our prisoner, who now Reverses it, so walks out. So it must apply in the reverse assumption of guard choice. / Back to Misc and Mash , if Req .

Last Revision made this day by Bill Exley on : - 8th Mar-2024

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