The New Inn was numbered 385 Stroud Road. It had unusual castellated bay windows and stood in the shade of a large tree. It was tied to Godsell’s Salmon Springs Brewery in Stroud. The New Inn was demolished in May 1958. The City of Gloucester High Sheriff Col. Arthur Guy swung the first destructive blow with a sledgehammer. He had been invited to open the replacement Stroud Brewery pub called the Fox and Elm was built immediately to the south of the old New Inn.
Only a few months after the opening of the Fox and Elm the Stroud Brewery was amalgamated with the Cheltenham brewery to form West Country Breweries.
Mrs Ethel Enstone behind the bar of the original Fox & Elm. c1956.
During the 1960’s the Fox and Elm had a skittle team – quite an achievement as the pub didn’t have a skittle alley! They played at the Robinswood Social Club.
The Citizen: Monday, March 5th, 1984 – It’s daft, says Tory – The branch committee of Tuffley Conservatives is to ask Whitbread the brewers not to change the name of the Fox & Elm pub to the Blinking Owl. “As far as we are concerned it’s a blinkin’ daft name,” said vice-chairman, Mr John Clarke. “People feel it is not in keeping with the area.”
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries acquired the pub in the 1990’s and it has reverted back to the Fox and Elm. It was given a major revamp in October 2004.
Owner / Operator in 2023 – Hawthorn Leisure Holdings No 4.
Licensing Details:
Owner in 1891: Godsell & Sons, Salmon Springs, Stroud
Type of licence in 1891: Alehouse
Owner in 1903: Godsell & Sons, Salmon Springs, Stroud
Type of licence in 1903: Alehouse
Landlords at the New Inn / Fox & Elm, etc include:
1870 John Taylor
1881 Alban Cole (buried in Whaddon Church)
1885 William Sheppard
1891,1903 Ann Maslen
1919,1936 Charles Morse
1939 Alfred Enstone
1957 Mrs E. Enstone
1968-1984 Russell ‘Blondie’ and Doreen Head
2001 Anne Wilson
2004 Ann Ferris (manager)
