The Tankard and Castle was the first public house to be built by West Country Breweries in the late 1950’s.  Its name was significant as it represented the Tankard emblem of Stroud Brewery and the Castle emblem of the Cheltenham Brewery. This little bit of history seemed to matter little to the owners of the pub who changed the name to the Goat and Bicycle in the early 1990’s.

Courtesy Michael Wilkes
Courtesy Peckhams of Stroud
Note the Cotswold Beers (Stroud Brewery) and Cheltenham Ales illuminated sign above the bar (Peckhams of Stroud)
The carpeted lounge bar (Peckhams of Stroud)
Winners No.1 – an ironic choice of name.
Above images: Michael Williams.

The pub had a dubious reputation – one of the bar staff decided to call ‘last orders’ one evening by blasting a hole in the ceiling with a sawn off shotgun.

In an attempt to give the pub a new lease of life, a competition was held to think of a new name for the troublesome pub. The competition was won by David O’Neil, who thought of the name Winners No 1.  After a refurbishment in July 1997 it operated under that name until closure.

It has now been demolished.

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