In the years before strict licensing laws and when many households simply ‘brewed their own’, it was possible to throw open your back door, your front door or your front window and sell a mug of what was needed. This makes older pubs which are no longer doing business very difficult to pin down; Hickling appears to have had 7 (or maybe more) public houses – much of the activity coinciding with the busiest years for the canal.
The following listings aren’t complete but give some idea of dates and landlords and landladies (click on each heading to go to the detailed page for each pub):
(built in 1804)
The Navigation landlords and landladies:
- 1844 – 1872? – Mr J Shipman – After his death his widow, Hannah Shipman, continued; at some point she was joined by their son, Charles Shipman (perhaps around 1864). They were predominantly farmers. Listings refer to Hannah and Charles Shipman at least until 1872.
- 1873 – WY Spriggs – (referenced here in March 1873; no precise detail)
- 1877 – Mr John Glover – (referenced here in September 1877; no precise detail)
- 1879 – Mr Richardson – (referenced here in January 1879; no precise detail)
- 1879 – Mr Lamb – (referenced here in October 1879; no precise detail)
- 1884 – Mr George Lamb dies at The Navigation; 28th July 1884
- 1885 – 1904 – Mrs Sarah Lamb
- 1903 – Mr Harry & Mrs Sarah Parnham – (see The Plough) seem to be living at The Navigation (Wadkin archive) although not as licensees
- 1904 – Sarah Lamb, Oliver Ginnever – transfer of licence from Sarah Lamb to Oliver Ginnever (August 1904)
- 1905 – John William Oates – temporary transfer of licence to John William Oates (January 1905); full transfer from Oliver Ginnever to John Oates (March 1905)
- 1907 – Rigley, Oates, Freeborough – transfer of licence from John Oates to John Thomas Freeborough (March 1907) and then to William Rigley (August 1907)
- 1908 – Alfred Walker – Following death Of William Rigley, temporary transfer of licence to Alfred Walker (January 1908) NB. Rigley sometimes spelt as Wrigley.
- 1910 – Mr Walker
- 1911 – Mr Spencer, Mr John Thomas Rowbotham – (census)
- 1912 – ceased as a public house
- 1920 – Mrs Cart bought by Mrs Cart for £300 and renamed, ‘Bridge View’.
Plough landlords and landladies:
- 1822 – George Hives – (referenced here in 1822, no precise detail)
- 1844 – Mrs Abigail Hives – (referenced here in August 1845, Dec 1846 and February 1863, no precise detail)
- 1864 – Mr Thomas Speed
- 1871 – John Speed – (referenced here in 1876 when the building was sold to Mr Price & referenced again in April 1878; no precise detail)
- 1877 – 1894 – Mr Arthur Price
- 1881 – Joseph Harris – (census)
- 1881 – July 1881: To Let vacant c. August; Large clubroom, bar-parlour, taproom, brewhouse, dairy, cellar, homestead, kitchen garden, good orchard, six stall stable, two loose boxes, piggery and other outbuildings.
- 1884 – Reference to a supper being held in the new room at The Plough
- 1893 – Arthur Price – Reference to death of Arthur Price (August 1893)
- 1895 – Mr Thomas & Mrs Elliott (referenced here in October 1895 & host and hostess Elliott’ in July 1896; no precise detail)
- 1897 – Mrs Richardson – licence transferred from Thomas Elliott to Sarah Ann Richardson (March 1897)
- 1898 – Mrs Sarah Pickering – licence transfer Sarah Ann Richardson to Sarah Pickering. Mrs Pickering married Harry/Henry Parnham in 1899 & then, according to Wadkin archive photographs, moved to live at the Navigation in 1903
- 1899 – Harry & Sarah Ann Parnham (previously Pickering) – referenced July 1899
- 1904 – Mrs Edgson – (referenced Host and Hostess Edgson, July 1904)
- 1905 – Elliott – Referenced Host and Hostess Elliott, July 1905
- 1905 – Sampson Cupit & Eliza Ashworth (Ashwell) – licence transfer (Oct 1905) Sampson Cupit to Eliza Ashworth. Ashworth also referenced July 1907, July 1908 (‘hostess Ashwell’ mis-spelling of Ashworth?). Ashwell also referenced in 1909.
- 1909 – Lewis Chambers – temporary licence transfer (October 1909) to Lewis Chambers. Still there for 1911 census.
- 1910 – Mr Chambers & Mr Joe Booth
- 1917 – 1923 – Mrs Elizabeth Ann Widdison – died November 1923
- Census 1921:
- William Widdison – Head – Male – 1867 – 54 – Nottinghamshire – Publican – Own Account
- Elizabeth Ann Widdison – Wife – Female – 1867 – 54 – Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland – House Duties
- Edward Mee – Adopted son – Male – 1902 – 19 – Nottinghamshire – Assisting Father In General Work – employed by William Widdison Publican
- Mary Alice Mitchell – Sister-in-law – Female – 1864 – 57 – Lancashire – None Valid
- 1924 – 1956 – Mrs Ethel M Armstrong – (Mr Armstrong died in 1925 and Ethel continued alone until 1956)
- 1956 – Mr Burton Timms
- 1959 – Mr Frank Hill
- 1978 – Mr R Burrows
- 1980 – Mr Taylor
- ? to 1997? – Mr Justin Collier – Sadly, Justin died very young whilst still landlord.
- 1997 – 1999? – Dickie Doyle – 18 months from July/Aug 1997?
- ? – Mr Chris Howard – (1999?)
- 2000? – Pete Thacker
- 2002? – Keith & Dawn?
- 2004 – 2007? – Mr Mark Nicholls (July 2004 – May 2009?)
- 2007? – Dave (?) – brought in by the brewery as an interim manager for a few months.
- 2008 – 2010? – Mr Bill Sweet & Ms Penny Brown (Oct 2008 – ?)
- Closed – Sold by Scottish & Newcastle – no longer a ‘tied house’.
- 2011 – 2017? – Mr Bob & Mrs Sue Rook – (April 2011 – Sept 2017?)
- 2017 – 2019? – Nicola Thompson and Amelia – (March 2017 – May 2019?)
- 2019 – 2020 – Danny & Andy & Mr Jeremy (Jez) & Mrs Sarah Flacks-Wood – (July 4th 2019 – Aug 2020)
- 2020 – present – Chris & Kirsty – (August 2020 – present)
(now The Wheelhouse)
Landlords and Landladies of the Wheel Inn:
- 1822 – Mr Daft – (referenced here in 1822, September 1832, April 1834 and February 1840; no precise detail. Some unconfirmed reference to Joseph Daft and/or his son John, ‘wheelwright & publican’.
- 1840 – Thomas Hickling – (referenced here in May 1840; no precise detail)
- 1844 – Mrs Hives – (referenced here in January 1844; no precise detail)
- 1851 – Richard Parr
- 1853 – Mrs Eliza and Mr Tom Munks (victualler & shoemaker) – The Wadkin archives give two different dates here: 1853 and 1864 (unable to clarify, to date but Tom Munks is referenced here in August 1859 (no further detail))
- 1903 – Mr Munks – died here on January 30th 1903, age 76.
- 1910 – Mrs Munks – died & property offered for sale
- 1911 – Charles Munks – An Objection is served on Charles Munks at the Petty Sessions on the grounds that the licence is redundant on the basis that there are three other fully licensed houses and one beerhouse in the village.
- 1912 – Glen Harding – Bought by Mr Glen Harding & turned into a shop.
(Hickling Pastures – now Fox & Hounds Farm)
Landlords & Landladies of the Fox & Hounds:
- 1849 – William Armstrong – licence transferred from William Armstrong to John Wheatley (August 1849)
- 1881 – Anne Preston
- 1885–1894 – John Day
- 1898 – Thomas Morris – temporary licence transfer to Thomas Morris
- 1900 – Thomas Morris – (licence withdrawn for drunkenness on the highway, but granted again)
- 1901 – James Rowe – licence transferred Thomas Morris to James Rowe in April/May 1901.
- 1908 – George Henry Brown – licence transfer from James Arthur Rowe to George Henry Brown (who is also referenced in 1911).
- 1928 – The Birch family – (property ceased being a public house & became a working farm)
Location unknown.
First known reference is in August 1843: John Mann (farmer) is referenced here in 1843, 1846 and 1884 (tbc) – no precise detail.
- (Nottm Review 12th June 1846) – an inquest into the death of 10 year old Joseph Davies is held at The Wheatsheaf – he is reported to have accidentally drowned in the Smite – the inquest is “at the house of Mr. John Mann, the sign of the Wheat Sheaf, Hickling”)
- (Nottm Guardian 29th January 1852) – “All persons having any Claims or Demands against the Estate of John Mann, late of Hickling. in the County of Nottingham, Farmer and Victualler, deceased, are requested to send the particulars thereof to my offices and all persons who stood indebted to the said John Mann at the time of his decease are requested to pay the amount to me without delay. (By Order of the Executors) H Bruce Campbell, Solicitor, Nottingham, 29th January 1852.”
- (Nottm Journal 12th March 1852) – auction of the farm and effects of the late John Mann at Hickling (no mention of The Wheatsheaf). There is a report of a further sale of land belonging to John Mann in Gotham – land neighbouring that of George Hives (the Hives family are recorded as millers and publicans in both Hickling and Gotham – links still to be researched).
Late 1800s: The Pig & Whistle stood on the corner of Folly Hall Lane; the only remaining sign of it is a circle of trees which still remain. It was never licensed and burned down, possibly at the end of the century.
The Old Bowling Green Public House is referred to briefly as a ‘retailer of ales’ in a village history written for the May-Time Festival in 1975 but, until recently, it was thought to be just a story. However, an article in the Leicester Journal in 1835 refers to an auction sale of, amongst other things, a beer house, “known by the sign of the bowling green”.
The Windmill Inn
Reference is made to the Windmill Inn in 1847 but we have seen no other evidence of this public house and it may, therefore, be a mistake.
The New Inn isn’t within Hickling parish but there are references to Hickling business being carried out there and it was sited on the edge of Hickling Pastures. The Inn (complete with Dick Turpin legends) is now known as New Inn Manor and would have been on the edge of the major through route north to south for the area (A46/Fosse Way) – it now stands just to the east of the A46 Widmerpool road island.
The colloquially known “Beer-Off” was sited to the left of the picture (below) where the Home Ales sign can be seen. It was in ‘The Old Forge’ and, alongside the Post Office, operated as a small shop for the village.
This was a ‘beer-off’ or off-licence into the 1970s.