Alma Tavern

The Alma Tavern, a beer and lodging-house, used to be at 95 All Saints Street. It was named after the Battle of the Alma in the Crimea in 1856. In 1859 Belville Tyrrell, a cordwainer, a maker of fine shoes, was landlord.

In the 19th century there was a social distinction between a cordwainer and a cobbler (between a shoemaker and a shoe repairer). One evening in the 1850s a stolen chicken was exchanged over the bar for 6d [2½p] and a half-pint of beer. In 1859 the landlord was summonsed for the unlawful sale of beer out of hours. By this time the Alma had two bars: a tap room and a public bar and was a favourite haunt of hop pickers from the hop fields located around the town including what is now Alexandra Park.

In the 1860s Belville Tyrell employed a boy with a mule and chaise to take customers home at the end of the evening. Arthur Broocks was landlord from 1896 until 1900 when the Alma was taken over by Frederick Eastland, a labourer, who worked during the day to supplement his income. He charged 6d a night for a bed. The Alma closed for a year in 1906 until Arthur Broocks took over again in 1907. It closed finally in 1908 after which Arthur Broocks ran it as a general store between 1921 and 1926.

Images

• Images
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  1873 Map All Saints Street and Tackleway

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  All Saints Street c1910

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  95-All-Saints-St-1910