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Picture source: James Bradshaw
The Adam & Eve was situated at the junction of Queens Road and Greenham Road. This pub was demolished in 1976 to make way for road widening.
From the Newbury Weekly News, September 23 1976
The chink of beer glasses was heard for the last time on Thursday night at the Adam and Eve public house, Newbury. For the pub has now closed pending its demolition to make way for the Sandleford Link Road. Customers past and present made their last farewells to the pub and presented landlord Mr. William Smith and his wife Barbara with a carriage clock and a bouquet. Mr. and Mrs. Smith took over from landlord Mr. George James 10½ years ago. Their previous, and first, pub was the Swan at Kingsclere, which they ran for four years. Before then Mr. Smith was a taxi driver, living in Newbury. ife in the Adam and Eve has not been without incident. Mr. Smith can remember the Saturday lunchtime when, after extra heavy rain, the inadequately drained road released all its surplus water through the pub's front door. The bars and cellars were completely flooded with a river of water which flowed straight through. Some customers stayed on to help clear up the mess, and by nine o'clock that evening the Smiths were able to open again for business. Ever since then, they have kept a supply of sandbags ready to pile up against the door in the event of such an emergency. Mr. Smith knows little of the pub's history, but assumes that it must be over 100 years old. For soon after he took it over he read in the NWN's "Old Memories" column for 80 years ago of one landlord who went to live in an ark, which was towed by manpower up to Greenham Common. The Smiths will be retreating to a more comfortable dwelling, for they have their own house in nearby Queen's Road. And their faces will still be seen behind local bars, for they will be doing relief work in the area from now on. "We've enjoyed being here and had some good staff, especially Margaret who had been here a long time," he said. "We are sorry to lose all our old customers and we have made a lot of friends since we came here."
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Other Photos
William & Barbara Smith, publicans, 1976