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Picture source: Darkstar

The Red Lion was situated at 18 Church End and is now used as an Indian restaurant.

I have many happy memories of the Red Lion during the late 1950's and early 1960's when my great aunt, Sophie Cox (a well known local character!), was the licensee, having taken over from her late husband John. At the time I was just a schoolboy living in St Andrews, Scotland but for a few happy years I spent my summer holidays helping Aunt Sophie in the pub. Between the ages of about 11 to 14 I would take the steam train to Edinburgh and from there another train to King's Cross, often pulled by the famous Mallard or Flying Scotsman. From King's Cross I would go to Victoria to catch the Green Line bus to Bletchley then a taxi to Newton Longville, the whole journey done unaccompanied. Apart from mopping the Red Lion's quarry tiled floor and hosing down the toilets in preparation for opening time, by the tender age of 12 I was able to undertake all the cellar work - cleaning pipework, dealing with the 'ullage' and tapping the large wooden barrels. Tapping a new barrel was a real challenge because you only had one shot at hammering in the brass tap with a large wooden mallet - failure resulted in the pressurised beer spewing out in all directions! The only draught beers were mild and bitter, anything else came in a bottle. My aunt even let me serve behind the bar occasionally but she had to be careful in case a non-local policeman came in and threatened her licence. The main bar was far from luxurious with sawdust partially covering the quarry tiles and ageing wooden pews, chairs and tables providing the furnishings, a coal fire either end warmed the atmosphere during winter. A dart board, wooden skittles and small bar billiard table provided the entertainment. There was a smaller saloon bar on the opposite side of the main bar with its own entrance for those a little more gentrified. Upstairs was the large 'Buffs' (Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes!) room with a spy hatch in the door so that if I took up a tray of drinks they could check who it was. Occasionally, when the Buffs room was free there might be a wedding reception for which my aunt would do the catering and I, being young and fit, would traipse up and down the stairs with trays of food or drinks. At other free times it was my play room, complete with Masonic paraphernalia! Some of the local characters that I recall who were regulars at the time and who made the Red Lion such a quintessentially typical village pub were Old Arnold, Alfie, Joe King the farmer and Percy the boilerman. I don't think anyone knew how old 'Old Arnold' was other than he was in his 90's. He sported a luxuriant Kitchener moustache and he had his personal seat on the pew between the bar and the fire - woe betide any stranger who sat in it! Joe King (and his sheepdogs!) was a local farmer who had taught me to ride on one of his horses. My aunt had had two pairs of satin bloomers specially made - one pair red with a black lion embroidered, the other pair were black with a red lion. I well remember on one occasion Joe King came in and said to my aunt "Wuddo Sophe, what you got on tonight?" at which my aunt lifted her skirt to reveal the black bloomers and to which she replied "I'm in mourning for a dead cock!"! Percy cleaned out the steam boilers at the local engine depot and would come in to the pub straight from work covered in black soot. He always had a glass of vinegar to sharpen his thirst before embarking on his evening's drinking. And then there was 'Coatsy', a large rotund woman who was a close friend of my aunt's and who often helped out at busy times. Adjoining the Red Lion was a grocery shop run by the Bridges and on the other side of the green (now almost entirely car park) there was Pollards the butchers. Of course, the Red Lion had competition in the form of another pub, The Crooked Billet, which has, sadly, outlasted the Red Lion and remains open to this day. The last time I was in Newton Longville was for the funeral (in the village church opposite the pub) of my uncle, Geoff Wheeler, who had taken over the tenancy of the pub after our aunt passed away. Alas, on that occasion the Red Lion was no longer a pub but a Thai restaurant which had seen better days. Ironically, I was later to retire to Thailand where I remain to this day. I doubt if there are many, if any, left who might remember the Red Lion as I remember it.

Richard Wheeler (August 2022)

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