Home > Warwickshire > Rugby > The Woolpack The Woolpack
Date of photo: 1980	Picture source: Rod Williams
The Woolpack was situated at 55 Union Street.  This pub opened in 1874, closed in 1979 and was demolished in 1980 as part of the general redevelopment of the area. Home of the Rugby Corinthians Boxing Club. Flats have now been built on the site.
I was a pupil at Rugby School between 1967 and 1972 and I have happy memories of the Woolpack. As pupils, even though of age we were not allowed into pubs and it was a serious school offence to get caught, leading in some cases to expulsion. That said, the school rule was to a considerable extent disregarded by pupils both of age and under-age. During that period the Woolpack was a haven for those who enjoyed loud heavy rock music, i.e. most of the pupils of Rugby School. It was also the era of war-surplus trench coats bought from Army and Navy stores. Clad in obligatory trench coats and putting their Combined Cadet Force training to good use to shin down drainpipes and to crawl through shrubbery and other cover to escape unseen, a number of Rugby pupils would leave the confines of their boarding houses on Saturday evenings after dark in the two winter terms to go for a drink in the rear bar of the Woolpack. There was never any problem getting served. Customers, whether locals or Rugby schoolboys, would sit around the three walls of the rear bar, the fourth (internal) wall being the bar and listen to rock and "hip" music on the jukebox. The two tracks which were played repeatedly were "Weavers Answer" by Family and "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart. The pub was often raided by the police but they always let the Rugby pupils go out of a side door, sometimes with a quiet suggestion that they get back to their boarding houses. There was also a disco above an outbuilding in the yard to the side of the pub but as there was an admission charge and as very few boys had female companions away from home, this was not usually patronised by pupils! Perhaps surprisingly given the spirit of the times, there was little evidence of drug use or supply; beer was the poison of choice. I am sorry to hear that the pub has been demolished but the era I describe is already somewhat ancient history even if the memories remain warm.
Neil Cutler (October 2016)
I frequented the Woolpack between 1963 and 1969 after which I bought my first house in Bulkington as I worked at Jaguar Cars Coventry. We had an apprentice band called the Cataracts who played at the Woolpack as well as at Lutterworth, Clifton Inn and Clubs to. Roger Meakin on vocals and guitar, Mick Pearson on lead gtr, Johnny Armitage on drums and a bass players whose name I forget. Through the Cataracts we had Cliff Bennet & the Rebelrousers and Chris Farlow when he had his hit “ Your Out of Time Baby”
Ian Crawford (April 2018)
I remember the Woolpack in Rugby as THE place to play if you were a local band. If you got a gig at the Woolpack, and they liked you, you'd Made it!! This would have been in the seventies. The inside was all decorated with mural paintings of famous rock/pop artists. I played there two or three times I think, and felt wonderful that I'd played drums with a band at the Top venue in Rugby for rock bands. Ah, those were the days!
Terry Reynolds (April 2020)
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Name	Dates	Comments
Alan Flavin	1969-closure	I used to work at the Woolpack, first for Sid Gleadow. Who it turned out, to be an old friend of my mum and dad! Until Sid left to take over The George at Kilsby. The new landlord was Pat keane, with his wife Moira I worked for Pat for about two years.