Pubs Guide
Disclaimer – These were personal comments reflecting the town in the late 1990s. Things have improved in leaps and bounds. It's unfair to judge a place today on personal recollections from 25 years ago. The content below is now written in the past tense and venue names removed. If you were there at the time, then you'll recognise the places. If you weren't there, then you only need to know that Goole has vastly improved since this page was written.
In the 1990s, Goole had two types of drinking establishments. The first kind were those which were too loud and full of school-kids drinking alcopops, people fighting and slappers in short skirts. These were to be avoided. The second kind were pubs and clubs where you go for a quiet drink and decent atmosphere. These were recommended and prevailed in Goole.
The focal point on a Saturday night (usually for all the wrong reasons) was Aire Street. This was locally called Blood Alley due to the number of fights, although the trouble could usually be avoided.
There were many clubs in Goole, however these weren't clubs in the usual sense of the word. These were members clubs, usually working men's or unions, which served cheap beer, had dodgy decor, and turns of variable quality. There was one nightclub, Flappers - this should have been avoided at all costs.
The following guides could be used to plan your evening entertainment.
Unlike a lot of larger towns and cities, all the pubs in Goole were original and had their own unique charm. (The first "chain" pub was the arrival of a Wetherspoon's pub in the old Midland Bank). The following venues were a selection of the drinking establishments in the town centre.
| Top Five Drinking Venues in the Town Centre | ||
| Venue | Comments | Suggested Drink |
| XXX | Although this is an Aire Street pub, it's a safe one to go in. Moves up a place as it's open all day. Serves a nice pint with guest beers and the locals are always willing to chat to you. Has also won several CAMRA awards. Especially noted for the suspended ceiling which has gaps in it where you can see the original ornate ceiling. | Pint of Speckled Hen |
| XXX | One of the best pubs in the town and it's got a website. The beer and company are always fine and it's a popular pub yet still manages to keep the idiots out. Especially noted for the quiz on a Sunday night and the silly sewing machine tables they have. Its only downside is that the landlord's from Hull. | Pint of Worthington's |
| XXX | Once the best pub in the town, but has lost its crown in recent years. Used to be famous selling local brews such as Thorne and Samson but these tend to be of variable quality. Traditionally the pub to start the drinks on a Saturday night. | Anything in a bottle |
| XXX | More of a creche than a pub. Do not go in here if you are over 16, like draught beer or value your eardrums. | Any alcopop |
| XXX | I can't see the attraction myself but dozens of teenagers each night can't be wrong, can they? | Can of Carlsberg Special Brew (shared between five) |
There were traditionally only five or six pubs that were busy in the town centre on a weekend. If you timed it right, every pub seemed packed. However if you set off too early or too late, then it seemed like a ghost town. As well as the central pubs, there were other pubs, with as much character, slightly off the beaten track. Here were some of them.
| Top Five Pubs outside the Town Centre | ||
| Venue | Comments | Suggested Drink |
| XXX | A large pub out of the town centre. Infamous for its monthly discos, football team, wedding receptions and (surprisingly) a picture of a Viking by its entrance. | Pint of lager |
| XXX | A nice pub split into two rooms. | Pint of bitter |
| XXX | Always a busy pub. This pub has the benefit of having the riverbank for its beer garden. | A large whisky |
| XXX | One of the few pubs in town to remain open all day. This pub has made an effort to try and change and attract new people by creating an Irish bar and having various karaoke nights. | Pint of Guinness |
| XXX | One of the few remaining pubs in the docks (at one time there were dozens). Has interesting photos of the docks on display and even used to host a late night disco, the Inferno, on a Saturday night. Make sure you don't drink too much or you'll fall into the docks. | A diet coke |
The following pubs were found in the outlying villages. There usually served good food as well as drink.
| Top Five out-of-town Pubs | ||
| Venue | Comments | Suggested Drink |
| XXX | A very nice country pub on the banks of the river. Has an excellent range of food and a popular quiz on a Wednesday night (the winning box is always number 2). | A glass of wine |
| XXX | Large rural pub on the banks of the River Derwent about ten miles from Goole. Especially noted for its games room. | Half of diet coke |
| XXX | A bizarre shaped pub next to Boothferry Bridge. The first pub you see after a hot summer's day on the East Coast. | A cold lager |
| XXX | Typical local's country pub and now the only pub between Swinefleet and Eastoft. | Pint of guest beer |
| XXX | Not the most glamorous of pubs, but provides a tranquil rest when catching a train back to Goole. | Pint of John Smith's |
Normally you had to get a taxi to Hull, Doncaster or York to find nightclub entertainment. When the locals found out where you were from you might be attacked. To get round this, people tried to open nightclubs closer to home with varying degrees of success. In the old days the main topic of conversation in the Lowther at 10:30pm on a Saturday was "Are you going to Kilpin or what?". However both Kilpin and Flappers since closed. This table showed the available choices.
| Top Three Nightclubs | ||
| Venue | Comments | Suggested DJ Song |
| XXX | Wins by default as it's the only proper nightclub in the town. | Frank Sinatra |
| XXX | Not really a nightclub, but it has a 2am licence on a weekend. This is worth going to visit if only for the bizarre sight of seeing people queuing to pay to get in. | Techno, Techno, Techno |
| XXX | Slips down a few places because it's now derelict and burnt out. Some may say this has improved the place. | Disco Inferno |
Don't forget to wash down your beer with a kebab. As with most towns, there were many chip shops open only during the day and traditional pizza places during the evening. Goole has come a long way. The first pizza place started deep-frying in the late-1980s and by the late-1990s McDonalds opened by the motorway junction.
| Top Five Fast Food Places | ||
| Venue | Comments | Suggested Food |
| XXX | The usual mix of kebabs, burgers and pizzas, but they're open later than the others are. | Nan Kebab |
| XXX | It's a sad fact of life, but Goole no longer has a sit-down curry house. This is a good substitute, but you'll have to eat at home. | Chicken Jalfreizi |
| XXX | Consistent crap | Whopper Meal with a Zinger Tower burger |
| XXX | The original and the best. | Spicy potato special |
| XXX | Typical Chinese Fayre | Sweet and Sour Chicken |
In its drunken heyday, there was a ridiculous number of pubs within the docks themselves.
Courtesy of The Sobriety Project, Review of the Year 2004
Postcards
Visitor Comments
Posted by Vicki on 24/06/2001
I am trying to determine when and where the Duckles pub or Duckles Brewery was located. As I can't find mention of it, I'm guessing it has gone out of existence. I heard someone visiting from the US once had taken a picture of it - must have been in the last 50 years. Thanks.
Posted by Alex on 05/07/2005
I used to sail to Goole from Selby and loved the Macintosh and the Lowther - oh and Dock Tavern. Few pints then new pilot then on to sea. Wonderful town.
Posted by Andy on 15/07/2005
Goole is a vastly underrated place, I'm sick of hearing locals putting it down. I know of many people who have moved here from elsewhere and they say how great it is.
Posted by Kerry on 03/11/2005
I have been away from Goole for nearly six years now. I remember Friday nights were the highlight of my life back then when we used to regularly trawl Aire Street and then Flappers. To be honest now, after living in a big city, I can say back then it was ace but I couldn't imagine it now.
Posted by Rik on 07/11/2005
I have only been living in Goole for about six months, but I love it. It gets a lot of slagging off. However I would live here any day. The whole town has such a so close and friendly atmosphere.
Posted by Jessica on 16/11/2005
I think it's out of order when people make really bad comments about Goole. I was born and raised there. I moved away when I was eighteen because I moved to university, which I am now in my third year. I still go home during to holidays, and yeah when people ask me where you from and 90% of them say "where's Goole?!" They even take the mickey out of the name. Yes I will I admit that it hasn't got the greatest of names and you get fights and drunks on the street! (I have seen it all!), but hello?! Take a good look around you! It happens everywhere you go. I live in a small town in Devon now, and I can't say it's perfect.
My friends and family still live there, if it was that bad, then why do people stick around? I'll be home at Xmas and I can't wait!
Posted by Peter on 10/03/2006
I've read all these comments and some are fairly true, but you are out of date now. Goole isn't such a bad place no more. You get the odd people hanging by the train station and the lads out in the cars. Just like any other place you get the bad and good areas.
Posted by Geoff on 23/03/2006
I notice the Peacock is a featured pub and back in early 20th Century my granddad Frank Storr was the publican. My Mum (Enid) lived there and used to look out of her bedroom over the docks. I don't know the exact dates but it would have been in the 1930s.
Posted by Pedro on 29/03/2006
J. Stanley took over the Peacock pub from Storrs and was licensee all through the war years. My brother took grandad (an old sailing ship mariner) in for a pint in 1946. Mrs Stanley put down her knitting to pull the beer on which grandad picked up the knitting and proceeded to knit a few rows saying "I used to knit socks when at sea". Grandad was Whittle Brown Cawthorn.
Posted by Geoff on 21/04/2006
I took my mum back to the Peacock for the first time in probably 70 years. Her dad Frank Storr was the landlord. Mum remembered her childhood there. Many thanks to the present landlord for buying a round on the house it was much appreciated.
Posted by Cee on 29/03/2006
I would like to say that most of you are right about the comments you make about the night life in Goole, but over recent years it has got a lot better. When I started going out it was a rough place, but now it is ok. I have a fairly good time most of the time when I go out now with the addition of some new places (Bar Oasis, Jailhouse, the Goods Office, etc.) and might I just say the DJs are better too, Hartleys is a good night for your cheese where you have DJ Shumba and DJ Daz - who might I say is fit (whohoo) but married (dam) - and the Jailhouse is best if you want your dance music, although DJ Mif does get side tracked sometimes and starts playing cheese - but that's cool.
All the staff in these places are pretty cool too, whereas in some of the others they can be a bit arsey - these are a good group of people. Goole has really changed over the last few years and I think that we have to thank people the like of Arthur Wilder who owns Hartleys and Oasis and people like Chris who has the Jailhouse for introducing these places to Goole and making it more up-to-date.
Posted by Geoff on 23/04/2006
You used to get a good pint in the Lowther, "Bass" I think. I used to play a game or two of snooker in there with my dad and some of his mates after they'd docked (he was a pilot).
Posted by Pedro on 05/05/2006
1 doz bottles of McEwens beer 7/6. Beer in the pubs of Goole at that time was 10p a pint. Ah happy days!
Posted by David on 08/06/2006
I left Goole in 1991 and although I would never move back full time, I enjoy my frequent visits back to my home town. Goole, like anywhere has always had its problems. I still remember Friday nights out and how busy the Aire Street Strip could get. I miss some of the old pubs such as TC's, Tavern Hotel, Station, is The Mucky Buck still there? I remember when the Peacock become an Irish bar for a while. Don't have many nights out in Goole now but I think I'll have to call up some old friends and have a night of memories.
Posted by Eric on 24/07/2006
The one pub I recall visiting regular in Goole was the Old George, Market Square. On a lovely day you could sit outside and watch the local talent(?) go by. Nice pint too, shame about the yard though.
Posted by Maggie on 07/09/2006
hi to the people that no me. ive not lived in goole now 4 6 yrs and i miss the place . i used to always love drinkin in the pubs u carnt meet nicer people . its not a s**t hole .
Posted by John on 15/10/2006
On the third postcard down on the right-hand side, top of page is my grandfather with his bicycle, shopping bag on handlebar, taken about 1950-52. He's Harry Cork, former seagoing engineer on Bennets boats and eventually engineer on the steam engines in the "Buzzer House" providing the hydraulic power for the bridges in Bridge Street. His fireman was Percy Morris.
Posted by Hamish on 09/03/2007
Anyone out there who remembers "Melodies" pub and can they tell me what the actual name of the place was? Melodie was the name of the publican at the time in my time - Hughey and his very pretty wife. Does anyone know what became of them? Great people!
Posted by Pete on 23/04/2007
Tony Melody, the actor, occasionally pops up on TV (getting on a bit now). His parents had this pub during the war. The real name was the Railway Hotel (Hartley brewery), until Ivy took it over. The Wheatsheaf was next door (Hammond brewery).
Posted by Hamish on 24/04/2007
There was also a "Railway Tavern" about mid-block on the main street know among us seamen as "Charlie's place" but long gone now. I was over there in 2004 and spent a few nostalgic hours in Goole, had a couple in the Vermuyden looking for a couple of old shipmates, George Cannon and Billy Guy. Billy did a very good impression of Frankie Lane, in Melodies in his younger days.
Posted by Pete on 24/04/2007
Billy Guy still around gets in the Crescent Club. Billy still has his collection of Frankie Laine records.
Posted by Pedro on 29/08/2007
Hughie and Mary sadly both passed on. Hughie retired around the 1970s built a dormer bungalow on Rawcliffe Road. I used to drink with him in the Vikings hotel and reminisce about the good old days. I left the area around 1989 on my return in 1999 I was informed that Mary survived him by a few years. Happy days sometimes.
Posted by Hamish on 01/09/2007
Thanks for that Pedro, Hughy spent most of his time in the bar area as barman while Mary (thanks for reminding me of her name) looked after the singing room? With another waitress, nice girl, older than us sprouts though, very small feet (nothing grows in the shade). Both were great friends of mine, but in retrospect, we were only around twenty years old while Hugh must have been in his late 30s at the time we were there, the waitress must have been about 35 or so. Billy Guy would be in full voice with his "take off" of Frankie Laine, and he was quite good, dependent of course on how many pints one had had. Great old days!
Posted by Wendie on 04/07/2007
I am visiting Goole for the very first time this weekend. After reading various comments about this port town I am quite alarmed. Is it that bad, really? Also, I have a Brummy accent, will I get beaten up?
Posted by Jade on 13/08/2007
We live in Goole, it isn't the best place, but it's not as bad as you think. The pubs aren't the best, but they are ok, you can have a good night if you're with the right people. If there's fighting it's with the locals who have a problem with each other, people don't usually start for nothing (well you come across the odd knob head but it's like that everywhere). The pubs have got much livelier. There's are a mixture of pubs which provide different music and people. Don't diss Goole until you have been! Coming from the Goolies who live here!
Posted by Tom on 13/11/2007
I got a few laughs from trawling the site. My dad kept the Sydney in the 1920s (now gone). Don't knock Goole - it's not pretty but it's a place to savour!
Posted by John on 20/02/2010
Does anyone have any old photos or information about The Sydney Hotel in Aire Street where my great-grandfather Joseph Heptonstall worked in the late-1800s? One of Joseph's descendants married one of the Smiths who worked at Goole Grange Farm or Potter Grange in the 1930s. The world has changed a lot since then, I believe the Sydney has been pulled down. The farm has been burnt down and we don't know what has happened to Potter or is it the other way around? It would be good to see what these places used to look like. Thanks.
Posted by Geoff on 01/02/2008
Can someone please tell me where the Dock Tavern was (is)? Thanks.
Posted by Pedro on 01/02/2008
Dock Tavern, South Street, Old Goole, known locally as the "Middle House". The "Bottom House" was the Mariners Arms renamed "first and last". Both pubs have had recent facelifts.
Posted by Geoff on 01/02/2008
Thanks, I thought this might be the pub that my uncle Albert Storr was landlord of in the 1950s. It was certainly in the Old Goole area but I thought it was on Bridge Street.
Posted by Pedro on 01/02/2008
If he (Albert Storr) had a son Norman then he had the Crown Hotel in Ouse Street. If it is the same Storr then I seem to think his wife was nee McDermid or McDermott. I used the pub in the 1950s. Would you believe it was the first pub I ever saw in Goole serving pub grub behind the bar? They had a deep fryer serving hotdogs, burgers and such.
Posted by Geoff on 01/02/2008
Pedro once again thanks, yes he did have a son Norman who sadly died aged just 41. Albert's wife Ada was nee Ford. They had another son Trevor whom I have lost touch with.
Posted by Geoff on 02/02/2008
Further to my earlier question re the Dock Tavern, I have now found out that my uncle Frank was the landlord around 1945/46. He became terminally ill with MS during which time my granddad Frank Storr ran the pub. Uncle Frank died in 1946, I never knew him as I was only one when he died.
Frank previously had a shop (he was an electrician) which sold electrical equipment, I understand the shop may have been on Bridge Street.
Posted by Wilf on 14/02/2008
There was an electrical type shop in Bridge Street at the Dutch River end opposite side to the gas works. Can't remember the name but do remember he repaired radios around the 1950s.
Posted by Geoff on 15/02/2008
Wilf, it was 18 Bridge Street, it was my uncle Frank Storr's shop, and he did repair radios. I do not know what he called his shop but I suspect it was "Frank Storr Jnr Electrical Engineer & Contractor" as per his invoice details. He had in those early days a telephone No. 275.
But it was a bit earlier than you say as Frank died in 1946 and had ceased business to run the Dock Tavern sometime before that following an injury sustained while installing lighting on Goole Docks. It is possible that someone took over his shop in which case your date of the 1950s could be true.
Posted by Wilf on 15/02/2008
Geoff, I was an apprentice fitter and turner at the shipyard from 1948 to 1953 and I remember one of the draughtsmen, Alan Franks, from the yard used to help with the radio repairs on a very part time basis, so that was after your uncle left. I can't remember which side of the Vermuyden the shop was located.
Posted by Neil on 31/07/2008
Albert Storr/Ada were my grandparents. As a lad in my early years I used to go to the Crown Inn with my father Trevor. I cannot remember my granddad, he died when I was very young. My uncle Norm died in 1976.
Posted by Geoff on 01/08/2008
Neil, it's great to hear from you, please e-mail me, we can exchange loads of info. My mum Enid (Albert's sister) is still alive she will be 90 this year.
Posted by Ginaroo on 02/02/2008
My boss Mike is the best in the entire world (Royal Hotel).
Posted by Geoff on 02/02/2008
My uncle Arthur Storr married Enid Driffill in 1939 at the Station Hotel (Manager A. W. Stafford). The reception bill was as follows:
Posted by Patricia on 13/02/2008
The Wheatsheaf pub was run by my great-aunt and uncle Elizabeth and Richard Langton in the 1940s. Inquests were held in one part of the pub. My great aunt and uncle also ran a chippie on Burlington Crescent.
Posted by Patricia on 28/06/2008
Does anyone know of or have a photograph of the Railway Tavern public house which was situated at 62 Boothferry Road (now Dorothy Perkins). My relation Jack Watson ran it for many years and the pub was known by this name around the town. All the old photographs I have found do not go up that far to clearly see it.
Posted by Hamish on 01/07/2008
Had many a good pint in the "Railway" in the 1950s. However the landlord was "Charlie' at that time, Maybe Pedro could fill in the years before "Charlie"?
Posted by Patricia on 01/07/2008
Charlie Hailstones did run the Railway Tavern pub in the 1950s, he took over from L. Marshall (1940s). My relation J. Watson had the pub from 1908 to the 1940s.
Posted by Pedro on 05/07/2008
The older people of Goole, even in the 1950s, referred to it as "Jackie Watsons". It was great little pub I'm sure would still be open today but for fire regulations. The large concert room opened into a small garden which required an exit into Stanhope Street to conform with safety but I'm led to believe the garage owners at the rear refused this and consequently it had to close. Charlie was a foreman joiner at Goole Shipyard and had the Crescent Working Men's Club in Victoria Street prior to taking the Tavern.
Posted by Dave on 14/07/2013
Not lived in Goole for 30 years but The Railway Tavern comes to mind. Was it Thursday nights in the back room when the groups were on? At the end of the night Charlie used to walk in and stick five fingers up for them to cease playing in five minutes time.
Posted by John on 30/08/2008
Night out in Goole thirty years ago. Start Old Goole Working Men's Club; then Marshland; then New Bridge; then Vermuyden; half pist now; across to Cape of Good Hope, see Chris bless him now deceased, good landlord; then to Dock Tavern and Bottom House; just thrown up feel bit better; down to Royal; to Macintosh; throw up again; down to George; then to North Eastern; really pissed now; across to Station Hotel; sorry too pissed; start scrappin' if u can lift ur arms. Locked up or crawl home. Memories! It was a cracking place in the 1970s.
Posted by Allan on 21/11/2008
I remember Goole as a good place back in the 1960s. The Dock Tavern was one of my favourite pubs, I was on Goole pool for a time, sailed on a few Stephenson Clarks ships
Posted by Bob on 26/11/2008
Dock Tavern aka Middle House, haunt of the "Dock Fairies" in the 1960s!
Posted by Mick on 09/01/2009
My grandfather met my grandmother at the George IV (now Old George) pub. My grandfather was a seaman on many local ships. My mother used to love telling the story of how her mother screamed when she thought she had discovered a body in a linen drawer/cupboard in the "George", but this turned out to be a regular who had been placed there to "sleep it off".
Posted by Corby on 08/02/2009
Here's a rare one for the pub collection. In the 1871 census my great-great-grandfather John Singleton Cook, a retired mariner, ran a pub in George Street, Old Goole called "The Hope".
Posted by Corby on 09/02/2009
Many years ago, when I was old enough to know better, five friends and I, one Christmas Eve, set off on a challenge to have a pint in every pub in Goole (24 of them at the time). The best pint in town was Bass best mild in the Lowther, which was a good liner for what was ahead. How far we managed we never knew. However someone took me home and left me in the outside loo blotto. Lucky for me, our neighbour in Malvern, visiting for a drink, almost sat on me. Her screams woke me up and I believe possibly saved my life.
Posted by Hamish on 11/02/2009
I have a similar story, three of us were well into our cups in Melodies one "market day" and in our infinite bleary wisdom decided to change venues and visit Charlie in the "Railway" on Main Street. Well in those days there was a "bank' of public toilets on Bridge Street whose doors opened right onto the pavement, and one of the crowd (whose name shall remain undisclosed) decided to stop for the call of nature. Well the two of us carried on to "Charlies" had another couple (which we in no way required) and because our buddy had not shown up, decided to retrace our steps and look for him. Well on getting to the "loos" here he was, sitting there fast asleep, pants around his ankles and the door wide open with all the passing traffic (bikes) of Bridge Street having a good laugh
Posted by Ken on 02/03/2009
We often came into Goole for coal and our first pub was just outside the top coal berth. In the evening we went to a cafe, I believe was called the Copper Kettle, then with the girls we would go to Melodies. Our galley boy on the ADAPITY was Johny Mapplebeck. My best girl, Audrey Frome, worked in a food shop along the main street. That was back in 1954/55
I have lived in New Zealand for 43 years but I still think Goole was one of the best ports in the UK.
Posted by Diana on 24/07/2009
I remember going to the Blackmiths Arms in Hook in the late-1960s/early-1970s and having a great time at the Friday night discos. My friend Maureen (nee MacMaster) married the publican's son. I left Goole in 1972 and immigrated to Australia. I've never been back. I also remember twins Rodney and Derek Norris who I went to school with. Great times, great memories.
Posted by Ian on 07/10/2009
Always enjoyed full board days, no fun nowadays.
Posted by Hamish on 18/10/2009
Full board days. In my day it was known as "market day".
Posted by Hamish on 24/12/2009
Just as a matter of interest, which is the favourite ale house for Goolies at lunchtime, Christmas Day? I remember years ago a very pleasant session in Charlies "Railway" on Main Street, long gone now though.
Posted by Ian on 26/01/2010
The Buchanan on Weatherill Street has and still is the favourite place to be on Xmas Day, for me and my family. Best pint of Tetleys in and around Goole.
Posted by Eli on 09/07/2010
I seem to remember, in the second half of the 1970s, the Station Hotel was one of the places to wind up your efforts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The beer on offer was not to everyone's liking and we all took to drinking bottles of strong "Special Brew" lager. Every window sill was three deep in empty bottles and all the tables were also full. Within days the brewery got the message and that particular brand of lager became available on draught. Never one to shirk a challenge, the North Eastern over the road enticed us to stay a bit longer by dishing up a draught cider which we nicknamed "Loopy Juice".
Long gone are those youthful days. Blimey, what a time it was. If you were there, you know. The jukebox blasting away in the corner of a jam-packed pub, dominoes clicking, the air blue with cigar smoke and blokes nipping out to the bookies.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
Posted by TheOffshoreFoot on 16/07/2010
I lived in Goole for three years whilst Drax B was being built and I found the town and pubs great. I also worked as a doorman at room at the top (toppers); I remember working with a guy called Paddy Varley, a big amiable guy. I also enjoyed drinking at Ivys Bar down at the docks, a great wee bar with no frills but loads of charisma. I remember the day I left Goole, I had been drinking in Ivys and the furniture van picked me up outside her bar. I rolled my motorbike up into the van, said my farewells and set off for Scotland. Ten minutes later I realised I had left my new crash helmet in the bar, so we turned round to get it, only to find Ivy had filled it with soil, planted a flowering plant in it and hung it up over the bar. Oh, happy days.
Posted by Beasley on 25/07/2010
Early-1970s, just off Bridge Street, anyone remember how good the Wheatsheaf was when George and Doreen had it? Andy took over and kept it going too!
Dockers coming in after their shift and drinking the barrels dry, as was the style, at the time… Smaje's betting shop next door. Lost and won small amounts many a Saturday afternoon (discreet lock-ins). I remember the 73 cup final. Leeds v Sunderland. Flippin' eck, it had to be a lock-in, it kicked off at three… A verbal wager was thrown across the bar between Stan and Chummy. Chummy gladly accepted the ball of a screwed-up fiver which Stan chucked at him when Sunderland scored.
You couldn't make it up…
Posted by Technobrit on 19/10/2010
My brother remembers visiting Goole in the late-1950s (our mam being a Goole lass) and seeing a pub where the parents would go in, it had a cannon on a ledge over the door.
Posted by Tom on 25/08/2012
The cannon over the Hotel entrance was the Lowther Hotel at the end of Aire Street. I believe the cannon was stolen some years ago. The street had many pubs in it including the Macintosh arms, my dad's local.
Posted by Pippa on 23/09/2012
After a wait of 42 years, The Lowther cannon again sits on the portico over the front door. Howard and Julie have had a replica canon made as close as possible to the original. Makes a change to see something rebuilt for once.
Posted by Hamish on 04/03/2011
I can't help in the evaluation of the new modern day Goole as my first sight of the place was in 1949 and way back then the "Goolies" had not been "long out of the trees." They had acquired the habit of wearing wellies thought and also mastered the ability to ride a bike, in fact Goole in those days was just a mass of cyclists, and a pedestrian took one's life in ones hands just to try and cross the road.
As far as drugs went back then, the only drug really was on "full board day", the day the pubs never closed, where it was a prerequisite to be able to remain upright until around four pm, and it happened once a week. You can imagine the danger of a ""half" drunk sailor trying to cross Bridge Street at around five pm (rush hour back then) to get back to his ship, not that the sailor was in any danger (drunken man's St. Christopher looked after him) but to the cyclists, a pile up of around thirty four, broken chains, bent wheels, skinned shins, etc. you get the picture. But I digress, the only drugs back then in Goole were a good pint of ale, and the pretty girls.
The only way us sailors "got our own back" on the hordes of bikes was dependent on the tide times. Nothing I enjoyed more than was to be aboard a ship making its way out of West Dock across Bridge Street at five pm when the bridge would be swung open, and put a stop to the masses all rushing home to get their "tea".
Posted by James on 12/09/2012
I used the Buchanan a lot as a teenager around 1972, when Sid was the landlord. It was a good starting off point, meeting my cousin and good mates, before going to discos mainly at Scarborough, also York, Doncaster, etc. Always remember a good atmosphere with the jukebox blasting out and us having fun. There was the odd fight, but that's life. I moved to Scarborough in 1974, so my visits got less frequent;
Posted by GPM on 11/10/2012
I have lived in and worked in a lot of towns and cities in the pub trade over a good number of years. Two of those pubs being in Goole, The Peacock and The Steam Packet back in about 1998-2001. So nobody can tell me any better than what I know, Goole has its fighters and you will find 99% of the time it is caused and fuelled by drink, just like it is anywhere else. Goole is, when you take the time and trouble to get to know it and its residents, full of great folk and characters.
I have seen and lived and been and still are great friends with quite a few of them (they know who they are). Goole let me tell you is no better or worse than most places in England and I have been, lived and worked in some right shit 'oles. Not been for a while. Thanks for the good times (great times) Hoggy and Helen, Stoth, Polly, OJ, Brush, Dave Franks, Trace, Diane, Dion, Polly and Katie, Webbo and Trisha, Bobbie, Bert, well I could go on and on.
Posted by Jim on 24/04/2013
Goole has always struggled for nightclubs. In the early-1970s we had to travel to Hull, Doncaster, Wakefield and York for discos though mainly to Scarborough, as I had a relative there where we could spend most weekends. A great time.
Posted by Bill on 01/10/2014
The earlier mention of night clubs in Scarborough reminded me of one of the additives that used to heighten our pleasure. In 1968 when California was discovering LSD, we discovered a cheaper and legal psychedelic substance. It was a cough mixture called Dymaril(?) - half a bottle of which produced the most agreeable hallucinogenic effects. It became so popular amongst us youngsters working there for the summer that I believe the local chemists completely sold out. Obviously haven't touched a drop since.
Posted by Anna on 26/07/2013
Does anyone remember me doing discos in The New Bridge? They were great nights and always full and lots of fun. I have been DJ-ing around Goole since 1973 when I started at the Dock Tavern in "the dark room" as it was called back then. Late nights as usual and fights broke out and someone ended up through a window then the cops turned up to sort this all out.
Posted by Keith on 08/04/2014
Does anyone know where all Goole's Breweries were? Thanks.
Posted by Norman on 15/04/2014
There was a brewery at West Cowick - it was purchased by the Hull Brewery Co. and was used for storage, I can remember delivering many loads of cigarettes to the old Brewery. It was taken over by Snaith brewery.
Posted by Keith on 15/04/2014
The brewery in Goole, I think, was Heptonstalls. It was sited opposite Lidl on North Street where the Gibraltar Flats are now. C&F Eastons building firm occupied this position after the brewery closed. They was also Cowells on Carter Street and Shorts on First Avenue, but I think they only bottled beer.
Posted by Norman on 16/04/2014
The rather large building in Forth Avenue was called the Carabine Building, I have seen Cod Bottles with that name on a bottle, the first bottle shown to me was found on the riverbank at Laxton. My sister has the other one. The person who gave me this information about the Carabine Family has passed on, he was born in Fourth Avenue and lived to be 84. Has anyone got any information about the Carabine Lemonade Co.? Thanks.
Posted by Margaret on 13/06/2014
The old brewery at West Cowick was Hartley's. I worked there just after leaving school in the mid-1950s. It was, as you say, taken over by Hull Brewery from Hartleys.
Posted by Bill on 11/10/2017
My dad was a regular in the Conservative Club (Carlisle Street) in the 1960s and 1970s, where he enjoyed good company and a game of dominoes. I seem to recall that the downstairs bar was off limits for women but they may have been allowed upstairs. I wondered if anyone knows how long this "men only" rule persisted? Thanks.
Posted by Bill on 30/10/2019
Anyone remember the "cocktail bar" which was on the top floor of the former Station Hotel in the mid-1960s? Surprisingly there was a complete absence of cocktail drinkers - but the bar was always staffed. Because of its discrete location it was the ideal venue for underage drinkers such as myself and my mates (they served Double Diamond beer as well as cocktails!). The Sydney Hotel bar was also quite accommodating to underage drinkers; we used to pop across from the Parish Youth Club for a pint - mind you the clientele was a bit dodgy.
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