With thanks to Ray Leeden in West Vancouver 

 

Ray Leeden's Beer Pumps

 

With thanks to Ray Leeden in West Vancouver 

One of the largest and most fascinating pieces of Whitstable memorabilia occupies pride of place in the home of Ray Leeden... in West Vancouver, Canada...

  

 

It comprises the beer pumps from a well known local pub.... and the story of how Ray acquired them is even more fascinating.....

  

Hi Dave,

Here's a poser for you and your readers/viewers.

The beer engine shown in the photo above came from  a pub in Whitstable. They are a magnificent set of porcelain and brass handles with brass spouts set on a polished pewter base. The sink is also pewter (unpolished) and the pumps, which can just be seen behind the sink, are also solid brass.

The plaque on the pewter base is that of J Constant, the beer engine fitter of Whitstable....

  

 

Apparently the pumps were put into the pub when it was built in 1864. They were removed from the bar in 1965 when the premises changed to pressure beer and the landlord, tired of cleaning them every day, dumped them in his back yard.

From that day, I constantly nagged him to sell them to me. Then, on 4 April 1969 (Good Friday), I told him that he had to sell them to me soon as I was emigrating to Canada in August and I just had to have the pumps. He said, "That won't get my bloody garden dug". I said, I'll dig it for the pumps." He said, "You're on".

Now, the pumps live happily in West Vancouver, Canada, and remind me of the many times I supped a cool one from them. They're just like an old friend from my old home town.

I hope you enjoyed the story. When you want confirmation of the pub and the landlord, drop me a line.

Regards, 

Ray Leeden

West Vancouver
Canada

  

Well, none of our readers managed to identify the pub... despite the photos appearing in our weekly Chat Column. Bearing in mind the sentimental value involved, I plumped for the Wall Tavern and its sizeable garden! Later, Ray let us into the secret. It was actually.... The Sovereign in Victoria Street. The landlord and landlady were Laurie and Muriel Beadle. 

The pub continued until a few years ago but it has now closed. It was an unusual establishment because, unlike most other pubs in that locality, it was a "mid-terrace" rather than a "street corner" property. Sadly, we don't have a shot of the building but we do have a photo of the pub sign (taken in the year 2000)...

   

  

The article on Ray's pumps didn't just fascinate our regular readers, they also attracted the interest of The Pewter Society... because the maker/fitter ("J Constant") was unknown to them. If you don't already know, I can tell you that "pewter" is an alloy of three to nine parts of tin and one part of lead. In later times, it was tin with a little copper and antimony (a brittle bluish white element). Pewter had quite a connection with the drinks trade as it was also used for beer tankards.

If we take a closer look at the plaque, we get a a more detailed description of Mr. Constant's  work...

   

 

  

He was a "practical plumber, beer engine fitter and repairer". If anyone can provide further details, please get in touch. 

We would like to express our thanks to Ray for taking the time and trouble to share this piece of local history with us.

   

If anyone can add to our photo collection, please let us know!