The Forresters' Arms - Smallthorne

      (Researched and written by Mervyn Edwards 2005)
The Forresters Arns' history as a drinking establishment dates back to the 1850s, for at the annual licensing session for the Hundred of Pirehill North, held at the Guildhall, Newcastle in September, 1869, we find that Charles Vyse of the Forresters Arms had kept the premises as a beerhouse for 13 years. It was one of many in Smallthorne, but as the population increased, more applications were made by beersellers for a full licence. Such was the case, here. Mr. Litchfield, representing Vyse, stated that the house had been well-conducted, and that Smallthorne, with a population of 4,000, had only two licensed public houses. One of these was the Rising Sun, whose landlord opposed the application. Represented by Mr Rose, he claimed that public house accommodation was already adequate, and that the Forresters Arms was in a "dilapidated condition". Vyse responded that 106 new houses had been built in the present year, and that another 40 were in the course of being built. Mr Rose referred to the applicant's concert room, stating that "It was very undesirable to have a concert room in a village like Smallthome" However, Sergeant Bierns remarked that the beerhouse was well-conducted and that there "had not been a concert room lately".

The behaviour of patrons was raised in 1870. when Thomas Burns and Thomas Showcross were charged with being drunk and refusing to quit the Forresters Arms. Landlord Vyse. in attempting to quell a quarrel between the two, was assaulted by Showcross. The men were fined 5s. each by the magistrates, the report giving no indication that Vyse was in any way to blame.

That the house was well-conducted is reflected in the fact that November, 1870 saw the Forresters Arms opening with "a new spirit license granted at the recent licensing session". Vyse made an occasion of it by inviting friends and members of the Smallthorne Boards of Health and Guardians, and laying on a supper. There was a toast to Vyse and his wife, with the landlord drinking to the health of Thomas Tomkinson, the newly appointed Chairman of the Board of Health and a key figure in Smallthorne.

The elevated status of the hostelry is indicated in the fact that it is referred to as the "Forresters' Arms Inn" in October, 1873. A coroner's inquest in this month touched on the death of a married woman by the name of Martha Reece. On the previous Friday, a boy named James Wood had been letting a wagon down an incline at Heath and Son's forge at Ford Green. Martha had been picking coal on the line, and was knocked down and run over. She was instantly killed. The jury found that she was the only person to whom any blame could be attached and a verdict of Accidental Death was returned.

In 1878. landlord Thomas Robinson was assaulted by George Rothwell. a drunk and disorderly labourer who had refused to quit the pub. He had entered the pub and used bad language, and when the landlord had tried to eject him, he had put his arm around Robinson's neck and threatened him. He was fined 5s. and costs.

When Smallthorne's new Board Offices opened in Leek Road, on December 31st 1878, there was a celebratory luncheon presented in the new building's large room, "served up in a recherche style by Mr. Robinson, of the Forresters' Arms". Thomas Robinson was still keeping the Forresters Arms in Leek Road in 1879 [Keates' Directory], though the pub was kept by Clayton Fielding in 1884 [Kelly's Directory] and J. T. Lunt in 1892-3 [Keates' Gazetteer and Directory].

The pub's links with local industry continued into the 20th century. Thousands of free meals were handed out to local families in the back yard of the Forresters Arms during the 1921 miners' strike. Louise Tunnicliffe, the licensee's wife ladled out soup from a cast-iron washing boiler, the cost of the food being met by Sir William Dobson of Parker's Brewery. There is a surviving photograph of this service in operation.

When the Bush opened as a newly-built Inde Coope pub in 1961, the husband and wife management team was Mr and Mrs Mould, who had been at the Forresters Arms for 27 years. Mrs Mould had lived there for 48 years, her parents having been the late Mr and Mrs Tunnicliffe earlier referred to. An article in the Newcastle Times tells us that the Tunnicliffes had been hosts from 1913 until Mrs Mould had taken over in 1940.