Rovers Pubs.

Jul 12, 2015 20:13:58 GMT @roscoe said:

Ah I didn't realise that fair play to him. No I meant the archer, just one of those rumours from when it was closed I expect. I wonder if the lack of true rovers pubs is due to our nomadic existence. I remember the pubs from Our trumpton days, full moon and fleece, but I wonder what the main pub was from the Eastville era? Queens head or that hungry horse perhaps.

The White Swan was the main pub at Eastville in the days of the Tote End. Obviously other pubs were used as well but not to the same extent, e.g. the SWART (South Wales Railway Tavern), The Black Swan, The Sugar Loaf, The Greenbank, Merchants' Arms. The Old Fox.

In our latter years at Eastville, the White Swan shut and became the Unigate Dairies Club or something like that, so the other pubs got a share-out of those who had regularly used it. The Greenbank became a "Rovers" pub on Saturday match days and was frequented by many Tote Enders for a regular card school. Paul Gerrish, the landlord was a staunch shed, indeed his brother had once played for t'other mob, but he was genuinely proud of what he termed his Rovers fans, as we drank by the gallon yet never once caused him any aggro. He had some idiots in there once who were soon chucked out and he asked why they could not be like "you lot", i.e. his regular Rovers fans. The Greenbank did not open until later on evenings though, so there was a further share-out of fans for evening games. I belonged to the group who chose the Sugar Loaf for that purpose.

I guess that the Black Swan picked up trade after the White Swan closed, so that may be why John Kayes used it for a couple of his Tote End reunions, but I never classed it as a Rovers pub.