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Picture source: Neal Buckley

The New Inn was situated at 818 Manchester Road. This pub closed in 2012 and is now used as offices for a financial services company.

I got this story today from my mum; she’s 103 years old but her memory is still pretty good. Her father, Thomas Arnold Hamer, born 1887 and known as Arnold, lived in Castleton.  In his mid-twenties, around 1912, he contracted the flu twice in a six week period. This left him with severe loss of hearing (he was to wear a hearing aid for the rest of his life). At the time he was engaged to be married to an Alice Fisher. Alice lived at the New Inn, where her father was the landlord. My grandfather's doctor recommended that a warmer climate might help his hearing, so he went to Australia but continued to exchange letters with his fiancée. He returned to Castleton two or three years later after, and because of, the outbreak of the First World War. During his time in Australia, Alice sadly died of throat cancer. Knowing she was dying and that he would be coming back to England, she recommended that Arnold meet with Ada Lord, also of Castleton, whom she knew. Arnold and Ada eventually married and they lived happily in Castleton for the remainder of their lives. My mum said, “Of course, women weren’t allowed in pubs in those days, so Alice stayed upstairs”. She is convinced that passive smoking from living above a pub contributed to Alice's throat cancer. I’m not sure whether that is true, however!

Rick Beck (March 2025)

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Other Photos

Picture source: Jim Murphy