Home > Hampshire > Hedge End > The Maypole The Maypole

Picture source: Keith Willsher

The Maypole was situated on Lower Northam Road. This pub was demolished in the late 1990s and replaced by care accommodation.

Source: Matt Paul

Though I was only around five at the time I have quite vivid memories of the Maypole in Hedge End as my mum was a barmaid there. It was a big place and I guess set up for coach parties as it had a big dining room and a restroom for the coach drivers which is where I would often spend Saturday lunchtime while mum worked. I got the impression from mum that it could get a little lively of an evening. Years later she told me the landlord had a shillelagh on a shelf above the main bar, which also had a pull-down grill, if there was trouble the grill would be closed and any hands on the wrong side would get a rap on the knuckles from the shillelagh to ensure compliance.

Chris Taylor (November 2022)

My father ran the Maypole as a manager between 1970 and 1972. He would have stayed longer but he died with a brain haemorrhage. The Maypole was an unusually large pub for its day and I learned to drive in its car park it was so big. My dad was offered the pub as a promotion after turning around a rough pub in Eastney Portsmouth. In those days most pubs were drinking establishments and there was relatively little catering like there is today. Brickwoods the brewery had at that time no interest in the food sales and allowed my dad to keep those profits and was only interested in beer sales. Which was quite a surprise to my father as this pub was well geared up for catering with a commercial kitchen and a large party room. Although my dad only ran the pub for two years or so he did make himself fairly wealthy out of the catering, something that wouldn’t happen today because breweries now know catering makes most of a pub's profits. Indeed, most pubs these days are really restaurants in disguise.

Ray Stokes (December 2023)

Do you have any anecdotes, historical information, updates or photos of this pub? Become a contributor by submitting them here. Like this site? Follow us on Make email contact with other ex-customers and landlords of this pub by adding your details to this page.