HEREFORD continues to be well-known for its pubs and clubs, but do you remember this pub crawl route from days gone by?

Keith Farmer remembered a route known as the ‘golden mile’ which comprised of the pubs in Holmer Road, Newton Road, Widemarsh Street and High Town

The crawl began at Starting Gate and comprised of the Bulls Head, Heart of Oak, Newton Inn, Racehorse Inn, Essex Arms, Oxford Arms, Victoria Hotel, Royal George, Wellington Inn, the Imperial and the Black Swan.

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Mr Farmer said: “My uncle, Charlie Parry ran the Oxford Arms where Widemarsh United met before a game and, as I was only 15, I had to sit outside while all my teammates sat inside.

“My uncle, George Farmer ran the Black Swan.”

P J Pikes also recalled the ’golden mile’, but his version of the run from 1967 also included the Golden Lion, Old Harp, the Market Tavern and Bulmer’s Vaults.

He said: “There had been others once.”

“The Raven had closed in the fifties, and the Wheatsheaf in 1965. The Royal George was also before my time, closed in 1957.

“Still, the Widemarsh Street Run was quite a formidable thing.”

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Dennis Addey, who was a soldier based in the county from July 1976 to February 1979, revealed that the servicemen had a pub crawl route of their own.

He said: “The pubs we used were the Pippin, which was a downstairs pub with a vaulted stone ceiling, Saxty's wine bar, almost next door, and the Market Tavern which was utilised by farmers on market day. We used to go there on Wednesday afternoon as they had an extended license until 4pm on market day.

“The Ulu bar, run by an ex-regiment chap, had a Borneo theme as he had served out there. The Booth Hall hotel main bar, The Grapes Tavern, just up the lane from the Booth Hall, plus the Kerry Arms and our main pub at the time which was The Hop Pole.

“The Hop Pole was run by Steve and Rose Tandy. He was on the local council and Rose used to work for ABC TV as was in Birmingham.

“Happy days in Hereford. I have been back a few times since, but things have changed.”