The Waggoners at Ayot Green

Mrs Eleanor Cliffe was licensee in 1937. By the 1950s the volume and speed of the traffic using the Great North Road made it to dangerous to use the front door of the pub. Entry was therefore by a rear door, which also provided easy access for those customers coming straight off the golf course. (Truly the nineteenth hole) At this time there was no bar as such within the pub . Drinks were purchased at a hatchway in a corridor just inside the rear entry door. Drinks would be taken into a small ‘snug’ to the left of the now sealed off front door or into a larger room on the right. Dominoes and cribbage were popular pastimes for the regulars. There was a large open fireplace there. The licensee was Jack Cliffe and later the licence passed to his daughter Clara Cliffe (image above). When Clara had to go to hospital in the late 1960s the pub was run on a rota basis by the customers, including Ferd and Ann Fitt, Clara still being the licensee Read full article

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Pub in and around Lemsford

When The Great North Road ( see Map) went through Lemsford it is said as many as 150 coaches a day. Carriages and wagons would pass through the village daily. All the inns would have offered food and drink for the travellers. Accommodation would be provided if required. Wheelwrights and blacksmiths were available to service the wagons and horses. Stabling for the horses would also have been provided. Read about ,The Pubs in the Parish of Lemsford

Why was the 1800s the golden age? This was the time before the railways formed the principle transport to the North. The principle transport was the stagecoach. In 1836 over 340 routes were licensed to travel to and from London. Most coaches 4 passengers inside and 11 on the roof, nearly all had distinctive names and operated from Inns in and around the city of London. Map on the left shows all the Pubs in th Parish including the ones long gone.....Read more about The Golden Age of Lemsford'

Stan Borries Lemsford Village History(Publications) Stan Borrie was a founder member of Lemsford Local History Group. He produced most of the research for the ‘Pubs of Lemsford Parish’ and published a booklet for the group. He died in 2010 and is sadly missed. The image shows him with his wife Marion outside Cress Cottage in the Village Read about ,The Pubs in the Parish of Lemsford