The Prince Albert Inn is located at the top of Walkley Hill, not far from Rodborough Common. The four gabled stone built corner pub has altered very little since the beginning of the 20th century when it was enlarged by the Stroud Brewery architect P.R. Morley-Harder.
Saturday 25th March 1905 – Difficulties of the Licensing Act – Novel application at Stroud: A novel application was heard at Stroud on Friday, under the new Licensing Act. The Stroud Brewery Company sought to obtain a full licence for the Prince Albert Inn, Rodborough, offering to surrender the existing anti-1869 licence they now held for the same house and the Star Inn licence, Town Hill, at the monopoly value to the County fund. Mr Hyett, chairman of the bench, suggested it would be wise to eliminate all question of surrendering the Star. Mr Heeds, for the Brewery, pointed out they should surrender the Star withot compensation conditionally on the full licence being given.
The bench said they could not accept the offer from a financial point of view, but they could not accept it as an inducement. Mr Hyett remarked that a difficult point arose on which they ought to have the opinion of the High Court. For compensation, hotels and public houses stood on a different footing. Were they to take the same principle for monopoly value?
Mr Heeda replied that the premises, which would be rebuilt, would not carry an hotel licence. The monopoly value should, he argued, be the difference between the value of the premises as they stood and the new licence. The Bench refused the application.
Gloucester Citizen, Saturday 25th March 1911 – Gloucestershire Licensing Committee: The application of Mrs Amelia Blanche Barton Cullimore, Prince Albert Inn, Rodborough beerhouse keeper, for the removal of the publican’s license from the Golden Fleece, Rodborough, to the Prince Albert (which is already licensed as a beerhouse), in the same parish, was adjourned until Tuesday, 4th April, as the 21 days which must elapse between the grant of the license and its confirmation had not expired.
Gloucester Citizen, Monday 29th April 1912 – The Prince Albert Bowling Club: The opening of the Rodborough Club will take place on Thursday next, the 2nd May, with a match with the Stonehouse Club. It is expected that Sir Alfred Apperley will preside and bowl the first wood. A tea will be provided by the Club, and all members are cordially invited to be present. The opening ceremony will be continued on the following Saturday, 4th May, with a match at the Stroud Bowling Club, at which all members are invited to be present.
In a 1930 advertisement the Prince Albert Inn offered ‘teas and light refreshments at short notice.’ P.G.Poole was the landlord at the time who supplemented his income by hiring out his ‘high class’ Wolseley saloon for weddings and other social functions.
In May 2001 an attempt was made at the Prince Albert Inn to beat the World record for eating pickled eggs. Painter and decorator Julian Partridge took on the challenge to raise money for charity. He had to eat 50 pickled eggs in three hours to smash the record, but could only manage 30. However, he did raise £400 – an eggcellent attempt!
On the night of Wednesday 6th July 2005 an electrical fault caused a fire to break out at the pub. The building suffered severe smoke damage and much of the bar area was destroyed in the blaze. Fortunately, no one was injured. The pub reopened on November 24th 2005.
The Prince Albert regularly features live music – Glenn Tilbrook, former Squeeze frontman, played there on Friday 9th December 2005.
Stroud News & Journal, July 2005 – Alert residents help rescue six people from pub blaze: Quick-thinking Rodborough residents helped rescue six people – including three children – and a dog from their local pub after it was almost engulfed in a terrifying blaze. Landlady Charlotte Lyster, 37, and her three children, togrther with their au pair, her boyfrend, and pub dog Jasper, escaped through upstairs windows as the blaze took hold at the Prince Albert just after midnight on Wednesday 6th July.
Seeing the smoke, locals grabbed a stepladder and placed it at the side of the building so the family could clamber to safety. “At the moment I feel very lucky,” said Charlotte. “I went upstairs at about 11.30pm and was almost asleep when I heard people shouting outside. I thought I’d better look, and as I got out of bed the room was filling with smoke which was coming up through the floorboards. I didn’t really feel that scared – my first thought was to get the children out.”
Polish au pair Joanna Konka and her boyfriend Olly Playne, both 25, bundled Charlotte’s youngest son, nine, out of the window first. “We had all been asleep so we were finding clothes in the dark,” added Charlotte. “We all had each others clothes on by the time we came out of the window.” She also grabbed her dog, Jasper.
Prince Albert regular Tom Walker, 19, who lives just two doors from the pub said, said: “You couldn’t really see inside because the curtains were closed but there was a lot of smoke coming from the windows. It could have been a lot worse.”
The building suffered severe smoke damage and the flames, believed to have been started by an electrical fault, left much of the bar area charred and melted.
The Prince Albert is a widely acclaimed live music venue and has hosted some well-known artists including Chris Difford from the band Squeeze. The following ‘gig list’ gives an indication of the many talented performers, spanning a wide variety of genres, that have performed at the Prince Arthur.
Saturday 26th August 2000 – Adrian Byron Jones
Saturday 22nd December 2001 – Alan Burke
Saturday 9th March 2002 – King Rollo
Friday 29th March 2003 – King Rollo
Saturday 11th December 2004 – Patsy Gamble (Stroud saxophonist)
Thursday 24th November 2005 -Adrian Byron Jones
Saturday 16th August 2008 – Bluebyrd (Jazz)
Friday 12th September 2008 – CuckooRow (Stroud based Folk band)
Tuesday 23rd September 2008 – Hungry Hill (Canadian band)
Tuesday 18th November 2008 – Kent DuChainne (Mississippi Delta music with his 1934 National Steel Guitar)
Saturday 13th December 2008 – Ceilidh Joe (female singer-songwriter)
2nd January 2009 – CuckooRow (Stroud based Folk band)
14th April 2009 – Martha Tilson (Folk singer)
12th May 2009 – Brass Monkey (with folk legends Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick)
Tuesday 16th June 2009 – Chris Jagger
Saturday 5th September 2009 – Keith Allen and Pablo Cook (spoken word – comedy night)
Saturday 26th September 2009 – Rory Ellis (Australian singer)
Saturday 3rd October 2009 – Bridget and the Big Girls
Thursday 31st December 2009 (New Years Eve with The Mockers)
Saturday 18th January 2010 – Bela Emerson (Electric Cellist)
Tuesday 16th February 2010 – Mabon (Celtic instrumentals)
Tuesday 23rd February 2010 – Harry Denford (London comedian)
Wednesday 27th January 2010 – Steve Knightley (of Show of Hands)
Tuesday 9th March 2010 – Jenna Witts (singer-songwriter)
Monday 22nd March 2010 – Los Mondo Bongo (Joe Strummer tribute)
Saturday 3rd April 2010 – Kill the Captains
Saturday 22nd May 2010 – Nadine Landry’s Foghorn String Band
Tuesday 19th October 2010 – Mike Peters (former frontman of The Alarm)
23rd November 2010 – Ruarri Joseph
Saturday 4th December 2010 – Alan Burke (ex Afterhours)
Saturday 18th December 2010 – Hot Feet
Thursday 31st December 2011 (New Years Eve with The Mockers)
Tuesday 11th January 2011 – Chris Difford (from Squeeze)
Thursday 10th February 2011 – Steve Knightley (from Show of Hands)
5th March 2011 – The Outcast Band
Tuesday 19th April 2011 – Arthur Ebeling (Rhythm & Blues)
Tuesday 24th May 2011 – Rory Ellis (Australian singer-songwriter)
Thursday 5th May 2011 – Les Triaboliques (“distressed string band music”)
Sunday 12th October 2011 – The Lazy Susans (Stroud based local Americana)
Tuesday 11th September 11th – Tom Billington (ex Indie Band Mohair)
Thursday 20th September 2012 – Marc O’ Reilly (singer-songwriter)
Saturday 29th September 2012 – Jed Grimes (North-eastern singer-songwriter)
Saturday 27th October 2012 – Radio Banska (World music jazz fusion)
Tuesday 6th November 2012 – Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman (folk)
Saturday 1st December 2012 – Laurence Collyer (aka The Diamond Family Archive)
Saturday 31st March 2013 – The Convulsions (‘Mod punk boogaloo’)
Wednesday 3rd April 2013 – Pete Roe (multi-instrumentalist)
Tuesday 26th November 2013 – Ruarri Joseph (singer-songwriter)
Saturday 23rd November 2013 – Rue Royal (Americana folk)
Tuesday 3rd December 2013 – The Woodwards (‘urban folk noir’)
Thursday 16th January 2014 – Le Skeleton Band (French post-rock)
Tuesday 4h February 2014 – Andy White (Irish singer-songwriter)
Saturday 15th February 2014 – Heg and The Wolf (‘fairy tales and folk’)
sunday, 9th March 2014 – Samantha Lindo (‘self penned soul and gospel’)
Friday, 11th April 2014 – Blackbeard’s Tea Party (folk fusion)
Wednesday 14th May 2014 – Glenn Tilbrook (from Squeeze)
Tuesday 24th June 2014 – The Cyborgs (‘Time travelling bluesmen”)
Tuesday 31st June 2014 – Truckstop Honeymoon (bluegrass punk!)
Friday, 11th July 2014 – Snowapple (Dutch pop/folk)
Thursday 24th July 2014 – 47 Soul (Middle Eastern Arablic Reggae)
22nd July 2014 – The Stanfields (Canadian rock ‘n’ roll, Celtic and bluegrass)
Sunday 10th August 2014 – Broken Boat (country blues, folk and pop)
Tuesday 14th October 2014 – Louise Jordan (singer-songwriter)
Saturday 18th October 2014 – Whiskey Moonface (roots-jazz)
Sunday 9th November 2014 – Sophronie
Saturday, 27th December 2014 – Chinese Burn (punk)
Sunday, 28th December 2014 – Dave Ayre (Boroque Christmas)
Wednesday 31st December 2014 – Helele (Funk Jazz African fusion)
Thursday, 5th February 2015 – Tankus the Hedge
Monday 16th February 2015 – Otti Albietz (songwriter)
Friday 20th February 2015- The Ragged Edge (blues, funk & soul)
Saturday 21st February 2015 – Ma Polaine’s Great Decline (blues and roots)
Wednesday 18th March 2015 – Eleanor McEvoy (Irish singer-songwriter)
Wednesday 25th March 2015 – Dennis Greaves and Mark Feltham (of Nine Below Zero)
Sunday 22nd March 2015 – Emily Barker and Gill Sandell
Sunday, 12th April 2015 – Mad Dog Mcrea
Friday 24th April 2015 – Kelly Oliver (folk singer-songwriter)
Wednesday 3rd June 2015 Garance Loius and the Mitochondries (soft cinematic music)
Sunday, 14th June 2015 – Rozi Plain (singer-songwriter, of This Is The Kit)
Friday 17th July 2015 – Dojo (Jazz and reggae collective)
Saturday 14th May 2016 – Solomento (Stroud based world music fusion)
Saturday 1st June 2016 – Penny Black Remedy (Indie Rock)
Thursday 6th October 2016 – Johnny Lynch (aka The Pictish Trail) (electro-folk)
Friday 28th October 2016 – The Travelling Band (Cosmic Country Rock)
Wednesday 16th November 2016 – Andy White
Monday 16th February 2017 – Fara (Scottish folk – music of Orkney)
Saturday 1st July 2017 – Sophronie (18 year old Stroud singer-songwriter)
Saturday 15th July 2017 – The Achievers (Stroud based rhythm & blues band)
Sunday 19th May 2019 – Emily Barker (folk artist)
https://www.theprincealbertstroud.co.uk/
Map reference: SO 845044
Licensing Details:
Owner in 1891: Stroud Brewery
Rateable value in 1891: £15.5s.0d.
Type of licence in 1891: Beerhouse
Owner in 1903: Stroud Brewery
Rateable value in 1903: £15.5s.0d.
Type of licence in 1903: Beerhouse
Closing time in 1903: 10pm
Owner in 2005: Punch Taverns
Landlords at the Prince Albert include:
1872 James Fisher
1891 Henry Walker (died September 18th 1893, aged 56 years)
1903,1911 Amelia Blanch Cullimore
1919 James Lawson
1923,1926 John William Gee (died 23rd March 1926, aged 48, he had been in ill-health for a period extending over two years. ‘The late Mr Gee was keenly interested in all forms of sport, particularly bowls, golf and cricket.’)
1927 Mrs Ada Gee (widow)
1930 P.G. Poole
1939 Albert Edwin Thomas
1950’s – 1973 Percy and Nan Nunt
1973 – 1977 Nan Hunt and daughter Sheila
1981 Richard Johnson
1980’s – 1990’s Richard Small
1996 (May) Graham Stephens and Lottie Lyster
2003 Lottie Lyster (and Miles Connolly – Premises Supervisor)