At one time the brick-built Hop Pole Inn stood opposite the Cheltenham Gas Works but the site has been redeveloped and is now the Tesco supermarket car park. A plaque on the wall commemorates the old Cheltenham and Gloucester tramway(1809-1861) which once terminated near the site, where there were once one and three quarters acres of wharves, offices and warehouses for handling freight.
James Leighton was the owner of the Hop Pole Inn in 1891. He also owned or leased the Black Horse in Rosehill Street, the Bridge Inn in Tewkesbury Road; Early Dawn in the Lower High Street, Folly Inn in St Pauls, the Greyhound Inn in Hewlett Road, the Midland Inn in Gloucester Road and the Railway Inn in New Street. The Hop Pole was leased to the Cheltenham Original Brewery in 1891. Licensed as a beer house the pub had an annual rateable value of £21.5s.0d. which remained unchanged in the 1903 licensing returns. Ownership of the Hop Pole in 1903, however, was in the hands of the executors of James Leighton and the lease was still taken by the local Original Brewery Co.
The Hop Pole Inn had a winning darts team in 1989. In October they powered their way to victory in the Citizen Silver Dart final. Team member Alan Wiggett was the star of the match sealing victory for the Hop Pole, hitting 140, 121 and 100 on his way to a 16 dart leg which gave them a 4-2 win in the final with Gloucester’s Avenue Inn.
The Hop Pole has now served its last pints and the property has been converted to residential use.
Landlords of the Hop Pole include:
1870 Matilda Roberts
1878, 1903, Daniel William Parker
1939 Albert Nairne
1988-2001 Edward Foley
2002 Garth Street (sadly died of a brain haemorrhage after only three weeks as landlord)
2004 Liam Street
2005 Jane Lewis
