The New Inn Crowd

A Memory of Drayton.

My parents, Ron and Mary Grant took over the New Inn at Drayton in 1957. Prior to that they had the Royal Pier Hotel at Sandown, on IOW. My sister Suzanne came over with them. I joined them the following year, as I had enrolled at the Catering College in Portsmouth and needed somewhere to live! So began a very happy period of my life....
The New Inn was a great centre for the young element of Drayton. I was 17 years old when I first moved there. It was to the New Inn that one would go to hear about up-coming weekend parties and to meet new and old friends. Here are just a few of the names I can remember - there were more but the memory grows dim over the years! - Ladies first! Anne Alsop, Gillian Brewer, Jackie Hutchins, Pat Deluce........and more! The boys: Mike Reynolds, Tony Holford, Ritchie Freeman, Mike Johnson, Peter Hann, Alan..... If any boys or girls remember me please contact me on rolandgrant123@btinternet.com. I'd love to hear from you. Gillian and Jackie keep in touch and its fun to share some of the memories from those happy times of yester-year. Much has happened to all of us in the intervening years. No doubt some things good and some not so good!!
To give you a very brief resume: After leaving catering college, I worked at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, then at the Hotel Scribe in Paris. I have managed hotels in the UK and overseas. I have also managed contract catering companies and owned a restaurant in Oxford. For the latter part of my career, I was a management consultant and a partner of a Marketing & PR agency.
I've been married twice: first to Selina (BEA Hostess) and then to Lucy (can't seem to get it right!) and since 1990 have been single. I have one son, James (the eldest) and three daughters; Julia, Jessica, and Poppy the youngest who will be celebrating her 21st birthday on 21st February - happy birthday Poppy!
I now live in a small cottage on the South Downs just outside Arundel in West Sussex. I love sailing and manage to get in quite bit from Spring to Autumn. I enjoy walking. My Brother-in-law Michael Weaver (Suzanne's husband) and Geoff Smith, my old friend since school days on IOW, and I walked the 72 mile coastal path round the Island. We did it over nine sensible legs, with each leg ending at a suitable pub, so that we could mark the day's achievement with good ale!
I shall stop now, so's not to bore you rigid.
Do get in touch
Roland

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