Numbered number 9 Townsend Street in 1870 and 27 in 1939.
According to the licensing records Cripps & Co., of the Cirencester Brewery, were the owners of the Royal Foresters in 1891. In fact, the Cirencester Brewery had become a limited company in 1887 so there are some inaccuracies in the entry. The pub was a licensed beer house with an annual rateable value of £17.0s.0d. Cirencester Brewery remained owners twelve years later in 1903 with the rateable value staying at the same evaluation.
The Cirencester Brewery was subsequently taken over by the Simonds Brewery in Reading and, in turn, Simonds became part of Courage Brewing. The Courage Best Bitter (brewed in Bristol) at the Royal Foresters in the late 1970’s was a good pint, and the pub was included in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.
Until the opening of the Haymaker Inn in the Wymans Brook estate by Courage Brewery, the Royal Foresters was the only Courage tied house in Cheltenham.
In the 1990’s the pub changed its name to the Horse & Jockey. It closed down for about a year in the late 1990’s but then re-opened. Ushers of Trowbridge took over the ownership of the pub. The Ushers Wiltshire brewery closed down soon after but carried on as a pub company. Punch Taverns were owners in 2005, and in 2008 the Horse & Jockey was owned by Avebury Taverns.
The Horse & Jockey is now permanently closed.
Landlords:
1870,1891 Abraham Ashton
1903 Arthur Bramley
1939 Jesse Leach
1997 Shaun Smith (relief manager)
1999 Luis and Christine Clavero
