The whitewashed Cotswold stone pub is at least 400 years old and was reputedly used to billet Roundhead soldiers during the English Civil War. The pub commands spectacular views towards Stroud.
A pig roast and gerbil racing were just two of the attractions that helped regulars at the Carpenters Arms raise around £900 at a charity raising family fun day on the August Bank Holiday in 1985.
The Citizen, 31st August 1983 – Roast raises £177: A sow’s ear might not make a silk purse but fund raising regulars at a Stroud pub have discovered how to turn a pig into charity cash. A full pig roast was held at the Carpenters Arms in Westrip attracted hundreds of hungry visitors and raised almost £200 for the local Cashes Green Hospital. The 100lb pig took ten hours to cook on a rotating spit and accounted for four hundredweight of fuel, said one of the organisers.
The Citizen, Wednesday 29th August 1984 – ‘Five Valley Talk’ – Pub tops target: Families flocked to a Stroud pub to make a pig roast event a sizzling success. The second annual Roast-Up at the Carpenters Arms in Westrip, attracted more than 600 visitors and gave a bigger boost than organisers had even hoped for. “The target was about £600 but we have raised somewhere in the region of £1,000,” said landlady Mrs Margaret Webb. The cash was raised not only at the big day out but also with earlier barbeques and a spectacularly successful raffle. The cash will provode a special new bed for the Cashes Green Hospital and help out local charities too.
The Citizen, Friday 10th January 1986: Cheers! Terry Hayward, a regular at the Carpenters Arms, Westrip, near Stroud, prepares to down the first of 365 free pints of beer he won by making the top bid in a Whitbread Flowers’ scheme to boost the Severn Sound Money Mountain. With Terry are (left) pub landlord and landlady Brian and Margaret Webb and Mr. Chris Milne of Whitbread Flowers.
The Citizen, 20th May 1987 – The Top Spots: The domino team from the Carpenters Arms, Westrip, knocked the spots off the opposition to win the Stroud and District League championship, sponsored for the first time by Whitbread Flowers, the local brewery company. Team captain Rob Mason received the winners shield from Flowers area manager David Carpenter during a special presentation night at the pub. The Fox & Hounds, Dursley, were runners up.
The Citizen, Tuesday 11th August 1987 – Charity fun hits a smashing note: A piano-wrecking competition was an added attraction for crowds who earlier watched a pub-to-pub wheelbarrow race near Stroud. Three old pianos were smashed in minutes by three teams at the charity fund-raising event at the Carpenters Arms in Westrip on Saturday. A side from the nearby Woodcutters Inn at Whiteshill emerged the victors.
“All the pieces had to pass through a nine inch hole. The winners took 10 minutes,” said Carpenters landlady Jo Smith. Each time was given a hefty sledgehammer but none came near the world record time she said.
Earlier thirteen threesomes, in fancy dress, from both pubs raced from the Woodcutters along the lanes to the Carpenters. That challenge was won by two groups from the Westrip pub who completed more than two miles in just fifteen minutes.
Sponsorship from the events, arranged by the Carpenters Pig Roasters charity committee raised about £450 towards £1,000 needed for a guide dog for a blind person.
The Citizen, Friday 7th October 1988: Landlady Ann is a real tonic: Former hospital worker Ann Tayllor hopes to be just the tonic as the new landlady at the popular Carpenters Arms in Westrip, Stroud. Ann, 35, used to work at the X-Ray department of a Reddich day hospital, but decided to turn to the licensing trade in a bid to “try something different.” After running pubs in Coombe Hill and West Malvern, Ann has now moved to Stroud to take over at the Carpenters Arms. She replaces Peter and Jo Smith, and already has plans to improve facilities. Top of her list is a plan to introduce an extensive range of bar snacks to boost local trade.
Stroud News, 1st October 1997 – Villagers campaign to save historic pub: Angry residents in a small hamlet near Stroud have launched a campaign to save their local pub from being sold off for development. The Carpenters Arms at Westrip, which is perched on the valley with views across to Rodborough and Selsley, could be closed down if plans by owners Pubmaster to convert the pub into a private dwelling, with the option of building further houses on the car park, go ahead.
Temporary landlords Michael and Lynn Mayell only moved into the pub on Monday and are now unsure of its future. “It came as a shock but we’ve got to wait and see what happens.”, said Mrs Mayell. “It’s a lovely place and has a great atmosphere but if more people visited the pub, Pubmaster might think twice about it.”
However, a spokesman for Pubmaster, which has around 400 pubs in the West of England as well as pubs all over the country said the pub was no longer viable. “The last three tenants have all failed to make a go of it,” he said “It’s at the top of a steep hill and has difficult access. It’s very unfortunate and it is a great shame for regulars but we can’t keep running it as a loss.”
The pub has been in existence for nearly 400 years and was reputedly used to billet Roundhead soldiers during the English Civil War. Locals say it acts as a focal point for the community, particularly for elderly people who find it difficult to walk the steep climb to the next pub in Randwick. Local resident Alec Hill (77), who lives just 100 yards from the pub and has been drinking there for 36 years, has collected more than 70 signatures in a petition against Pubmaster’s proposals. “I am shattered at the way they are trying to close the pub,” he said. “The pub is popular and a lot of sport goes on there. As well as dart and crib teams, footballers are entertained there after matches on Saturday. I want it to stay.”
Randwick Parish Council is also against the plans. “The parish council decided that it if and when the application does arrive,” said chairman Vic Watkins, “it would oppose it on the grounds that the pub is needed for social use and is a central point of the village.”
Stroud News & Journal, 12th November 1997 – Bid to save pub from closure: Punters fighting to save an historic pub from being sold off for development have vowed to step up their campaign in a bid to save their only drinking house. Plans have just been lodged with Stroud District Council to convert the 400-year-old Carpenters Arms at Westrip into a private dwelling with the option of building further houses on the car park by owners Pubmaster.
Locals have been told the pub will remain open until June and they are putting together their objections to the plan.
After a protracted battle, which culminated in Pubmaster losing an appeal, the Carpenters Arms was saved from closure in November 1998.
Alec Hill made the news again in June 2004 during the 60th anniversary of D-Day. He was a petty officer in the Royal Navy and spent D-Day and the following days supplying the Americans with troops and equipment. His drinking pal at the Carpenters Arms, Percy Franklin of Painswick (then aged 79) served with the Glosters and South Wales Borderers. Percy landed in Normandy on June 7th 1944, was wounded near Bayeux and was sent home. The landlord at the time, Paul Platt, honoured the two D-Day heroes (who had been drinking at the Carpenters Arms since the early 1970’s) by proudly hanging a photograph of them in the bar.
https://www.thecarpentersarmswestrip.co.uk
Map reference: SO 826060
Owner in 1891: Holmes & Co.
Rateable value in 1891: £11.10s.0d.
Type of licence in 1891: Beerhouse
Owner in 1903: Nailsworth Brewery
Rateable value in 1903: £17.0s.0d.
Type of licence in 1903: Beerhouse
Closing time in 1903: 10pm
Owners in 1997: Pubmaster
Owners in 2005: Punch Taverns
Landlords at the Carpenters Arms include:
1891 Elizabeth Lord
1902, 1906 William Hawkins
1927,1939 Mrs Eva Pearce
1983 Brian Webb
1983-1986 Brian and Margaret Webb (moved from the Kings Head at Kingscourt; retired in September 1986)
1987 Jo Smith
1988 Ann Taylor
1997 Michael and Lynn Mayell
1998 Alan and Marion Thompson
2001,2004 Paul and Jackie Pratt
2005, 2017 Steve and Jane Poulter
2019, 2023 Samantha and Gordon McKie
