Childhood Memories Great Bardfield 1969

A Memory of Great Bardfield.

My late parents were the landlord and landlady of the Vine public house. I was just coming into teenage years. Friends came from the base who lived in the village. The pub itself was refurbished in that year, meaning all 3 bars were revamped. Although the pub was being worked on, it was always busy, with the local USAF from Wethersfield using it. In the summer of 1969 we even had a July 4th celebration. Just up the road, was Maggie's Tea Rooms, and next door was Bardfields first antique shop, owned and run by wendy and colin. the year was of course 1969.

The main customers, of whom only one I can recall who used the vine, were characters like London George, a 'gentleman of the road', in the 'public bar', where the juke box was, and of course the dartboard, which drew in his friends and was where they met every evening.

The saloon bar is all remodernised as one sees it now 40 years on, but then maybe you would find the bar itself busy with USAF off-duty personnel who were propping up the bar, they mostly drank pints of Double Diamond ale or Harp lager. Most looked forward in going home to the USA, but some ended  up being sent straight on to Vietnam.

As for myself, I was invited to join the Bardfield players that year, and to join in the annual panto held at the village hall, which was 'Mother Goose'. Bardfield always was a family community orientated place.

Finally, when my parents left the Vine, their last night was very emotional one, and the local regulars who used the pub all gave my parents a highly emotional farewell.

I have no photos to prove any of this, as my parents are both now deceased and all photos were lost when my elder brother sorted their effects, but memories one can ever forget. Long may Great Bardfield never change.

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