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Picture source: Roger Hillier

The Mint Arms was situated at 83 Buckland Road and closed in 2007. This pub has now been demolished.

I lived in this pub from 1954-1956, from the ages of 4-6, and I remember it quite well. My parents (Jack & Betty) were resident bar staff, employed by the then owners, Spike & Eva, who had a son called Michael, who was in the army, and had a BSA motorbike. The pub was quite large back then - it had a private garden and its own large kitchen garden, tended by a Mr Leopard, and a chicken run. We had lots of fresh vegetables - and eggs - and I was taught to wring the chicken's necks to provide our Sunday lunch! There was also a small 8 hole putting green - you could borrow clubs and a ball from the pub - and a tea room and lovely public garden, much used by the bus crews on break who terminated their route at the pub. Next door (to the north) was a field, which was home to a retired cart horse. I was allowed to ride him sometimes! I had friends who lived round the corner in a big old house - one was a little girl called Sally, who I think caught polio - but we moved away to London before I heard any more, and I don't know what happened to her. I used to play with her brother, and we would explore the surrounding countryside with some of the local lads. I saw my first grass snake in the woods one day! I started at Kingswood Primary school in April 1955, just down the road from the pub, where I remember a boy called Alan James Salter, and a very kind headmaster who kept an eye on us all. We used to read Jack & Jill books. I think it is still there, though the pub was demolished. In 1968, I went back to visit, and found Spike & Eva still running it. I don't know how long they continued, but I'd imagine they retired in the 1970s.

Stuart MIchaels (August 2022)

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Other Photos

Picture source: John Parkin