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© Copyright David Anstiss and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

The Hop Inn was situated on Hoppocket Lane. This pub was built in 1955 as The Hoppocket Inn. It replaced an earlier pub on the site that was destroyed in WWII.

In 1975 I was a long haired hop picker working at Pearson's Green. My mate and I walked in to town but missed our train and went into the Hop Inn for a quick pint before the next one. The locals weren't very pleased to see us but we promised we'd have just one and move on. The Police were looking for somebody who looked a bit like me that night and they came into the pub and called me out to have a word. Everybody stood up and cheered when they saw me being led out, I turned and held my arms aloft with a big smile. I never got served in there again! (even though I was not the bloke they were looking for). But I always have a fond memory of the place.

Colin Wood (May 2014)

I was for several years the brewery’s district manager of this pub. Circa 83-87. I recall it was quite well known as a centre for competitive boules - pétanque. It had upwards of 15 pistes and hosted visiting teams from as far away as France. The pub was a tied managed Courage pub. There were sometimes daytime customers who worked in the hop marketing board next door some of whom dry hopped their ale with product that had caught in their pockets. The reference to hop pocket of course being to the very large hessian sacks the hops were conveyed in.

Kevin Saunby (July 2022)

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