Home > Essex > Loughton > Carpenters Arms Carpenters Arms
Date of photo: 1967	Picture source: John Cutting
The Carpenters Arms was situated at 99 Smarts Lane.
Local newspaper review by John Cutting, 1967
Forest Road, Loughton, came into existence around 1860 and six years after that date the land between the road and Smarts Lane was offered for sale by auction in plots for building. The site of the Carpenters' Arms was bought by a Mr. John Hall of Loughton who built there a beer house.
There is no doubt that the inn was put up to satisfy the needs of the building workers and craftsmen who were engaged on the development of the area.
It is interesting to note that John Hall obtained a mortgage from "The Temperance Benefit Building Society," and that, being unable to write, he made his "mark" on all the documents.
The original house was constructed very cheaply, the whole of the external walls being formed with timber framing clad inside and out with lath and plaster. There was no brickwork apart from the chimney-breast, nevertheless the building survived with hardly any alteration until 1965 when the brewers carried out a major reconstruction which resulted in the present attractive inn.
The area between the Carpenters' Arms and Forest-road was, in the past, known as "Do as you like yard." It was there, every evening, that "Fishy Jack" set up his fish and chip stall and carried on a roaring trade until late at night.
Coke braziers made from oil drums provided the heat while the fish and potatoes were fried in huge square pans. Prior to 1914 the price of a large piece of fish was 2d. while a portion of chips within the newspaper wrapping cost but a 1/2d.
To the yard each week came a knife grinder, while another tinker was a regular caller with a cart, from which he would sell pots and pans and practically anything else that the busy housewife of the period might need.
Another well known visitor to the yard was an itinerant Irishman known as the "Old man of Kent" who, in the early hours, would disturb the sleeping neighbourhood with a soulful rendering of "Rose of Tralee" until bribed to leave with a bottle of beer.
At a later date, a Territorial Army Drill Hall was built which today houses the business of a bedding manufacturer. The hall was also used by the local youth as a club and Bill Neville, whom I met at the inn, told me how he had received many a black eye while boxing there.
Bill, now a sprightly 76-year-old, remembers vividly the day he had his first drink at the inn. This was sixty four years ago at which time he was apprenticed to a butcher. On that particular occasion he was persuaded to drink a pint of strong ale.
Another character who often visits the inn is Harry Willingale, a former coal merchant, who recalls the days when his horse was stabled behind the Hollybush.
At one time quoits was a popular game at many inns and it is known to have been played in the area now taken up by the garden. The adjacent bottling store was once a habitable cottage and the original fireplace is still in position.
The present tenant of the Carpenters' Arms is George Martin who, together with his wife Beatrice, known as Beat, has been in residence for thirteen years. They are enthusiastic about the wonderful re-construction that Whitbreads have carried out there.
In order to increase the size of the saloon it was necessary to remove completely the original chimney-breast and to construct a new staircase. To preserve the character of the original inn, timber beams were incorporated wherever possible.
The walls are lined with natural oak and half timber work and the same wood is used for the bar counter and display shelves behind the bar to retain a mellow atmosphere without being oppressively heavy.
The service facilities in the bar incorporate the most up to date beer dispensing and cooling unit with thermostatic temperature control.
George is proud that trade has increased considerably since the alterations were carried out, but he is even more proud that the inn is still a true local. To the Carpenters' Arms come the children and grandchildren of customers who first drank there in the early years of the century.
The elderly people in the area are not forgotten, and on the counter in the public bar is a jar into which contributions are placed throughout the year to provide them with parcels of groceries and a few luxuries at Christmas time. The generosity of the customers means a great deal to some of the old folk who would not otherwise be able to join with the poet who wrote:
"At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year."
Brewers: Whitbread and Company, Ltd.
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