The New Inn, on the corner of Hewlett Road and Duke Street, was once tied to the nearby Carlton Brewery. The Carlton Brewery was acquired by Charles Garton of Bristol.
Charles Garton & Co. of Bristol were the owners of the New Inn in 1891. Licensed as an ale house it had an annual rateable value of £51.0s.0d. The business of Garton & Co was acquired by the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery in Shepton Mallet in Somerset. In the 1903 licensing returns the RV per annum had decreased by nine pounds and five shillings to £40.15.0d.. The explanation for the decrease is not known.
In the 1960’s the New Inn was a West Country Ales pub. A ‘men only’ bar was retained – a relic of the past – into the early 1970’s. There was also a Jug and Bottle department in the Duke Street side of the building but this was lost in a later refurbishment.
The New Inn was re-branded by Whitbread as the Pump and Optic. It was still a traditional pub split into a saloon and lounge bar. It was put on the market in 2001. The pub became part of the Cheltenham Slak chain, which also ran the Beehive in the Suffolks, The Tivoli and Slak Bar (ex Garricks Head).
The pub then became the Fiery Angel, an open-plan pub offering family food from the grill.
The next incarnation of the one-time New Inn was the Fairview, a name that may have been familiar to some as there was once a pub called the Fairview Inn in Fairview Road. This identity did not last long. It had one final incarnation as the Maple Leaf. That closed on 1st September 2015, and within 2 years the property had been converted to residential use.
Above image: Chris Amies
Landlords at the New Inn / Pump & Optic / Fiery Angel include:
1844 Charles Turk
1859 William Smith
1870 William Price
1883,1885 John Higgins
1891 Mary Jane Ireland
1902,1906 Frederick Reed
1916 Mr G. Stephens
1919 Mrs Edith Stephens
1926 Albert Edward Stanley
1927 Cecil Charles Channon
1939 Charles Geo. Cross
1999 James Anderson
1999 Geoff Smith (Pump and Optic. Geoff died Christmas Eve 1999)
2005 Eugenie Snell (Fiery Angel)
After the Hewlett, this became the Maple Leaf for a short time. It finally closed 1st Sept 2015, and was converted to residential use within 2 years.