Famous folk at the Green Dragon

Today we are quoting from a book called ‘Forever England – The Life of Rupert Brooke’ by Mike Read. This was published in 1997 by the Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd ISBN 185158 995.

For those not familiar with Rupert, he was the poet who wrote ‘The Soldier’.

IF I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field  that is forever England.
There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air, 
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away, 
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less 
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; 
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

The sad fact is that Rupert became a victim of World War One in 1915 – a death due to a mosquito bite rather than enemy action. His corner of a foreign field is on the Greek Island of Skyros.

However, we can be cheered a little by knowing that Rupert experienced the pleasures of The Green Dragon in Market Lavington. Here’s an extract from the book.

Extract from book, Forever England

This was in 1908 – and what a gathering it was. For a while, The Green Dragon was the place to be for people of a philosophical bent. It must have been some get together with Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey, E M Forster, G E Moore and Desmond MacCarthy. Oh, and young Rupert Brooke, as well. The flies on the wall, if there had been any, must have had a fascinating time.

Some things change and others don’t. Visitor to ‘The Dragon’ will still get similar views and who knows, it could be bitterly cold outside. But the food certainly will not be ghastly.

For the record, Rupert fell out with this rather Bohemian group and suffered a breakdown as a result.

He was just 27 when he died, His poetry, or some of it, lives on.

Advertisement

The 1998 Arts Trust event

We feel sure some of this event must stick in the memory for quite a few folks. We are not quite sure what Scalextric car racing has to do with the arts, but by heck this course looks magnificent.

Participants in the 1998 Arts Trust event at The Green Dragon.

This event was held behind the Green Dragon where there was space for this grand four car circuit. As we can see, other stalls and events were taking place outside.

We are sorry to say we have not got any of the people here named. Can anybody help us with that?

The four competitors appear to be concentrating hard on their cars. The faces show determination. They surely enjoyed playing with such a grand set up.

Alex J Martin

We know very little about Alex Martin except that he was a landlord at The Green Dragon and we have a little sign which was, presumably, above the entrance door to this fine old inn at one time.

Wooden sign to tell us that Alex J Martin was a licensed victualler

The style of writing – essentially a plain and simple sans serif font, does suggest second half of the twentieth century and we can, indeed, find A J Martin listed in our 1966 directory.

Highlighted entry in the 1966 local directory

There was a different landlord on the 1964 electoral roll so we have a pretty good idea of when Alex arrived but that really sums up our knowledge. There will surely be regulars at ‘The Dragon’ who can tell us more about Alex J Martin

Market Lavington High Street in 1957

We have a rather good photo card today, looking roughly east, from the Market Place and along High Street in Market Lavington. The card was purchased on 5^th August 1957 so may have been taken in an earlier year.

Market Lavington High Street in about 1957

On the right hand side we see The Green Dragon. Back then, of course, it had the porch which went right across the pavement – and very splendid it looked. We also note the enamelled Wadworth sign for Northgate Beer. We also see a sign up for the Hotel car park. What we don’t see, in this shot from 57 years ago are cars, apart from one parked up away in the distance.

The left hand side of the road is of interest. We could start with that school sign – the old one showing the torch of learning. We don’t think that symbol would convey any meaning to today’s youngsters.

And where was the school along there?  Probably it was in the Parish Room. We know that Mrs Elisha taught her infants in the Parish Room – there not being enough space in the main building. There was a class, too, in the old Quaker chapel further along High Street.

The first building on the left was Harry Hobbs’s shop. He has a sign out for ice cream.

Old school sign and Harry Hobbs’s shop

 

We can’t read what brand of ice cream it was.

The purchaser of this card recorded the date of purchase and then a whole series of dates on which he had ‘seen’ it.