At one time there were three pubs side by side; The Dove & Rainbow, the Welsh Harp and the Compasses.
James Cull was the owner and occupier of the Welsh Harp in 1891. It was licensed as a beer house and was free from brewery tie. The annual rateable value in 1891 was £24.10s.0d. It is probable that James Cull was approached by the Showell’s brewery in Oldbury, Staffordshire, to negotiate a purchase as in 1903 the Welsh Harp was in their ownership. The annual rateable value of the property increased slightly by five pounds and five shillings to £29.15s.0d.
Gloucestershire Echo, Tuesday 1st June 1909 – Letter to the ‘Echo’ Editor: The Cheltenham Slander Case. Sir, —The following extract from your report of the above case is calculated to leave some doubt in the mind of the public as to where plaintiff’s betting transactions really took place. In his evidence Mr. Powell stated I betted with one man I met at a public-house. I did not know his name. He was the proprietor.” Counsel: “Was that at the Welsh Harp?” Mr. Powell: Either that or the next house to it.” And again later, I paid the proprietor of the public-house half-a-sovereign.” As the Dove and Rainbow is the next house (and also next door) to the “Welsh Harp,” I shall be glad if you will permit me to state that the betting transactions referred to did not lake place here. C. F. MORGAN. Dove and Rainbow Inn, Burton-street.
Gloucestershire Echo, Wednesday 2nd June 1909 – Letter to the ‘Echo’ Editor: The Cheltenham Slander Case. Sir – After reading Mr Morgan’s letter referring to a betting transaction which was supposed to have taken place at either at the ‘Welsh Harp’ or the ‘Dove and Rainbow,’ I beg respectfully to say that his letter practically implies that whatever bet may have been made must have been made at my house. Now, sir, this is likely to jeopardise my living as an honorable license-holder and also the license of the house of which I am tenant, and I hasten to challenge anyone, including Mr Powell and your correspondant Morgan, that I ever made a bet or received a penny fron Mr Powell under any circumstances or considerations. EDWARD HOGG, Welsh Harp, Cheltenham.
Advertisement in Gloucester Citizen, Thursday 26th November 1925:
A Smoker
will be held at
The Welsh Harp, New Street, Cheltenham
3 minutes Great Western Station
EVERY THURSDAY AND SATURDAY
8 til 10
Gloucester Talent Invited.
Cheltenham News, Thursday 11th May 1989 – Regulars from the Welsh Harp in New Street took part in a raft race on the River Wye with landloed Mr Harvey Wilkinson as captain and raised over £700 for two Cheltenham schools, St Vincents and Betteridge.
Gloucestershire Echo, Thursday 4th December 1997 – Pub facelift: The former Welsh Harp pub in New Street, Cheltenham, has a new £160,000 image. Owners Pubmaster re-named the pub the Flute ‘n’ Jig. The new licensee is Graham Darlin.
Gloucestershire Echo, Thursday 31st July 1997 – Pub re-opens: Pubmaster Limited is reopening the Welsh Harp in Cheltenham nearly a year after it shut. The company wants to turn the New Street pub into an Irish theme bar and has applied to the council for an entertainments licence. Officers will advise the council’s licensing committee to grant a three-month licence on Friday. The licence would operate from 11am to 11pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The Welsh Harp will reopen in September with a new name. Pubmaster’s regional manager John Hill said: “It will be an Irish Pub with a pool table, eating area and a big screen.
Commercial Property, 6th November 2007 – Potential for change of use at former town centre pub: A well known former Cheltenham watering hole is for sale. The Bath House, in New Street, is on offer for £300,000 and is described by the selling agent as being in a ‘good residential area’. The Bath House occupies a corner position and is close to new developments, including the Waitrose supermarket, and is adjacent to the Havana Club and Bar. This is a traditional stone-style local pub but subject to consents, may be suitable for a range of alternative uses. The agents, Fleurets, has not inspected these premises internally but would advise that refurbishment is required. The premises are closed, so contact the Fleurets office to view.
The ‘Tippler’, magazine for the Gloucestershire Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale. Winter 2007 – ‘Cheltenham loses yet another pub’ by Geoff Sandles: The Bath House in New Street, Chreltenham, has been put on the market for £300,000. The pub is currently closed and prospective buyers are being told by agents Fleurets that the building may be “suitable for a range of alternative uses.” The original name of the pub was the Welsh Harp. about a hundred years ago the pub was flanked by two other licensed premises – the Dove and Rainbow in the adjoining Burton Street (which was the only pub in Cheltenham tied to Tayler’s Cotswold Brewery of Northleach) and the Compasses Inn (which sold beer from the Cheltenham Original Brewery). In 1903 the Welsh Harp sold beers from Showell & Co., Brewers of Oldbury, Staffordshire. Showell’s Brewery was acquired by Samuel Allsopp Ltd of Burton on Trent in 1914, and twenty years later merged with Ind Coope. A merger with Tetley Walker and Ansells Brewery in the 1960’s created Allied Breweries. At that time The Welsh Harp would have been selling keg ‘Double Diamond’ beer which, apparently. “worked wonders” according to the adverts.
I recall frequenting the Welsh Harp in the late 1970’s to drink Ind Coope draught bitter. In the real ale revival of the 1980’s Ind Coope pubs in this area were re-branded as Halls Oxford & West Brewery. This was ironic as the last brew to be mashed at the Hall’s Oxford Brewery was in 1926 – Ind Coope produced the ersatz Hall’s Harvest Bitter at their Burton on Trent brewery. the beer at 3.7% ABV was a non-descript and instantly forgettable light brown beer. The Welsh Harp occasionally sold Ind Coope Burton ale which, at 4.5% ABV, was a lovely rich fruity beer and was even declared Championship Beer of Britain at the 1990 CAMRA Great British Beer Festival.
The Welsh Harp closed down in August 1996 and languished for a period with boarded up windows. It had a further lease of life in 1997 as the Flute ‘n’ Jig, an Irish theme pub. The lasr incarnation of the pub was The Bath Tavern, presumably named after the old Alstone Baths that were nearby. No real ale was on offer.
The Welsh Harp had a ceramic Halls Oxford & West Brewery plaque which was inset into the wall in 1980. It was removed sometime after the Welsh Harp closed in 1996.
Cheltenham Borough Council. Planning. 15th April 2008: 08/00471/COU – The Bath House, 89 New Street, Cheltenham. Change of use and extensions to provide seven one bedroom and studio apartments.
Bear Associates Surveyors, September 2008 – New Street, Bath House Public House with planning permission for 7 apartments. Currently an empty shell. For sale £250,000.
Landlords at the Welsh Harp include:
1878,1903 James Cull
1926 Franklin James
1939 Andrew Lodge
1987 H.J. Wilkinson
1993 Rita Robinson
1997 Graham Darlin (Flute ‘n’ Jig)