 The Gun Inn...... date unsure. |
This website created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
The Gun Inn...... date unsure. |
PRE WAR AND POST WAR AT THE GUN INN
Copyright Valerie Martin 2002
1930
The Gun Inn was run by Albert Greenhill. The Square had become rather a dangerous junction outside the Gun Inn and a new route for traffic was becoming necessary.
c. 1934
The inn during this period was rather distinctive being partly covered in creeper. The publican was Ernest Rowley c. 1934 - 1946. The inn became the headquarters of the cricket team who used the room upstairs for meetings; also the annual dinner was held there.
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The hunt proceeding up School Hill from the Gun Inn c. 1935. Probably on their way to the Muntham area. |
1939
The Findon bypass opened and traffic ceased to regularly pass the Gun Inn.
1943
During the Second World War between 4,000 and 5,000 soldiers from the Canadian Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders Regiment were encamped in the area. Some were stationed at Cissbury Park and Muntham Court in Nissen hut accommodation under the trees. They were engaged in battalion exercises around Findon in readiness for shore defence at Worthing and along the coastline. Their nearest pub was the Gun Inn.
One evening in June, a large group of officers poured into the Gun Inn to be greeted by Nellie Skinner nee Walls, the barmaid —
"My, there are a lot of you Glens here tonight — up the Glens".
"Up the Glens" they responded.
This was a battle cry that was to be heard throughout the beaches on D-Day and across Europe as the troops advanced. The chorus is still in use whenever The Glens are gathered together.
click on thumbnail to enlarge
c. 1943 — A photograph of the guys from the Stormont Dundas Glengarry ....... (outside Muntham Court?)
On May 24th 1996, a group of Canadian war veterans returned to Findon for a commemorating ceremony. They went to look for traces of their 1942 encampment at Muntham in the rain. Later they unveiled a memorial badge and plaque mounted outside the Gun Inn. Unfortunately, the event was marred by being a dismal wet day but it did not dampen their spirits.
 The Gun Inn in the 1950s side by side with the Village House. |
 c. 1965. John Linfield (ex-Findonian) now living in Horsham, says the the van in the photograph looks like one belonging to the late John Milner from Lyles TV family at Findon Valley. He says that John Milner drove them to race circuits, mainly Brands Hatch, or stock car racing at Arlington, with two up front.... and about four in the back (covered in blankets and any other old bits and pieces left in the van). He and his chums then paid for two people.... and shared the cost between the six of them! |
c. 1951
Peter D. Hatchwell was "mine host" at the inn.
c. 1954
JACK STANCOMBE NOW LIVING IN HARROGATE EMAILED ME
IN JANUARY 2008 TO SAY...." I had a friend who's father kept bees near Findon. Every year a group of bee
keepers used to hire a lorry, load all the hives onto the back and move the lot
down to the New Forest area to the heather. On one such occasion my friend and
I were standing on the back of the lorry leaning against the stacked hives as we
drove along. The last pick up had been made and the men decided they were
going to call at the Gun Inn for a drink before driving down to Hampshire.
We pulled up outside the pub and the adults went inside. Not wanting to be
left out we decided to go in as well. We jumped down and boldly walked into the
bar. What we had not noticed was that our pullovers at the front where we had
been leaning against the hives, were covered with bees. I suppose the sight of
two small boys walking into a busy bar at about 10pm is surprising enough but
being smothered with bees added a certain excitement to the proceedings".
 The Gun Inn pre 1957. |
1957
Alan Wyatt arrived as the Gun Inn Licensee with his wife Pam. During his tenure the restaurant was redecorated and two murals depicting scenes from the First World War adorned the walls. The wall murals were later wallpapered over during redecorating in the first half of the 1970s when the room was turned into the public bar. See my article entitled Mystery of the Murals.
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The Gun Inn in 1959 |
For Christmas in 1963, Alan Wyatt celebrated the past one hundred years by using a drawing of the Gun Inn depicting the scene in The Square in 1863 on his greeting cards.
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The Gun Inn in 1863. From a Christmas card sent by the publican, Alan Wyatt, in 1963. |
1964
Jane was Alan and
Pam Wyatt's daughter and it is said that in 1964, when she was eight years old, she had a pet cow named Poppet.
The animal lived in the stables next to
the inn (perhaps where the horses for coaches were stabled in years gone by).
Alan Wyatt and his family left the Gun Inn
in the Autumn of 1968.
1968
Alan Wyatt left the Gun Inn in the Autumn of 1968.
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The Gun Inn pre 1970. |
Between the 1970s and 90s, the management of the Gun Inn changed hands many times and I am, therefore, unsure of the landlords.
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The Gun Inn pre 1970 |
 Gun Inn c.1970 |
1984
There was excitement at the Gun Inn during the days when 22-year-old fork lift truck driver, Paul Edwin Kepner, lived at The Oval in Findon.
In October 1984, he claimed in court that the Gun Inn licensee had insulted him and for some time had been picking on him in the public house. He said he had tried to ignore the landlord but one night admitted to drinking seven or eight pints and after a darts match at another pub, he returned to the Gun Inn. He alleged that the licensee insulted his fiancee (who was expecting a baby), and an argument ensued.
The court later heard that Paul Kepner went home to The Oval for a knife and on the way back to the public house he stopped at the Findon Fire Station and asked them to call the police. He then went to a telephone box in the Horsham Road and rang the police telling them that there was likely to be a disturbance at the Gun Inn.
When the police eventually arrived at the Gun Inn they found Paul Kepner brandishing a 9 inch blade bread knife in a menacing way.
They questioned him about the blood on his hand and as a result he was charged with causing criminal damage to the telephone kiosk.
In court Paul Kepner pleaded guilty to smashing a pane of glass and was ordered to pay a £50 fine for carrying an offensive weapon and £17.66 compensation. The Worthing magistrates ordered that the bread knife should be destroyed.
In March 1987 the headlines in the press were "Boss bruised in scuffle". A row over wages ended with Paul Kepner (a painter and decorator) challenging his employer in a fight because he felt he was being underpaid and was not paid for working overtime over the Christmas period..
The employer was Charles Costello..... who had been called upon at 2 a.m. in the morning......and subsequently suffered bruises and a swollen eye from an ensuing scuffle. It was reported at the time that the defendant invited Charlie into the road to "have it out". Charlie initially agreed, then changed his mind. Paul picked up a milk bottle and Charlie struggled with him and eventually snatched it. Paul Kepner aged 24 at the time, pleaded guilty to assault and causing actual bodily harm. He was fined £60 and ordered to pay £140 costs.
1988
The brewery laid on a special party for the staff and handed over prize vouchers worth £100 in March 1988. A plaque was also presented congratulating the pub on its good service and th way it was run. The Gun Inn came first out of seventeen Whitbread Solent pubs in the area. The licensees at the time were Sean and Nicola Finnigan.
1998
In November it was announced that the new owner of the property known as the Gun Inn would be Nick Hajigeorgiou Nick . He announced that he planned to spend £100,000 on refurbishing the building and promised to protect its historic character.
Findon High Street, looking north in August 2001. The Gun Inn can be seen
peeping through the trees.
In April 2004 the Gun Inn shot into the news once again.
The sleepy Findonians united. Some inhabitants were demanding enforcement action over an unauthorised chimney rising over the Gun Inn in the centre of the village conservation area.This was as a result of a planning cock up. It has been described by some as "a monstrosity" and was said to pump out a real stink and noise by day and by night too.
Nick Hajigeorgiou the Gun Inn's landlord was reported as saying that the offending chimney was the result of a condition clause having been overlooked by his architect and builder. This was no excuse and he was asked by the Planning Department to put the matter right.
The locals in their turn said the condition details were never submitted and they were left for six months with a huge "Tetra-like" chimney on top of the extension.
It sounds a bit of a joke but Nick was advised to put a trellis around the chimney to soften the impact.
| 3rd August 2005 Valerie, A genuine, wooden, historical pub with beautiful hues of
leather brown benches, floors and pillars installed hundreds and hundreds of
years ago, and pump taps (the first i had ever seen) lining the bar,
regimented and noble in appearance, like those old soldiers from over the
centuries that no doubt would of graced the Gun before going off to the
continent. A lowered roof to accomodate those from past ages, and walls
gently bumped with chips and dents, each holding a story of a jolly merry
night at public house. |
Continue if you would like to read Gun Inn Memories.
This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
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