Thursday 12 August 2010

Foresters Arms, Gyffin

Foresters Arms, Gyffin in 1901

A reader of the blog contacted me after seeing my post about the Pubs of Conwy and kindly supplied an old photo of the Foresters Arms on Llanrwst Road in Gyffin, Conwy which, back in 1901, was run by her Grandparents, William and Charlotte Olive (nee Davies) Roberts, they also had a daughter called Olive. If anyone has any more information about the Roberts family at the Foresters Arms, in the early 1900s, please do leave a comment or email me and I will pass it on.

Writing this post reminded me of a story in a local guidebook about the Foresters Arms, namely that it was permanently shut down as a result of being the only Pub in Britain to open on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral in 1901. However, this appears to be nothing more than an 'old wives tale', as it stayed open until 1903.

I also remembered that I had taken a photo of a gravestone in the Churchyard at Gyffin, so I dug that out and it read that Elizabeth Williams, of the Foresters Arms, Gyffin, had died in 1899 at the age of 73. Could the Roberts family have taken over the pub then?

Nowadays, the Foresters Arms is a private house. Have a StreetView look at it if you like by clicking here.

Update - November 2010: Here is the Foresters Arms in 2010. The lady in the 2010 photo is the Grand daughter of the Couple in the 1901 photo:

Foresters Arms in 2010

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you might be right that my grandparents took over from Elizabeth Williams in 1899. They were married in August 1899 and my Grandfather listed his occupation as publican. My grandmothers father and mother were Hugh and Anne Jane Davies from Conway. Any further information greatly appreciated.

BB said...

£179,950 if anyone is interested

http://fletcherpoole.com/PropertyDetails.aspx?property_ID=1071

christine said...

ah! you are such a wealth of information! A while back my son was playing in the river here in Gyffin and unearthed loads of old bottles, most of which bearing the words "Ind. Coope ltd"
And now i know why!

Kingmaker said...

Is Ind. Coope still in business? My GreatGrandfather had a pub in Manchester with Groves and Whitnalls - now Whitbreads I understand (?) - anyway, were the old "river" bottles full or empty? (Of beer of course!)
"The Kingmaker"

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