MEMORIES OF THE OLD DINING DAYS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 47, 24 February 1934, Page 18

MEMORIES OF THE OLD DINING DAYS

Many of the lords and ladies and pillars of the Church who halted to makc r .nierry br sleep'the night at the stately old country town of Dunstablc, Bedfordshire, England, on their travels along historic Watling Street 10Q years ago would turn in their graves if they 'saw the contents of an account book which has just been found at a local hostelry, says the "Daily Mail."

The book reveals an intimate picture of coaching days on tho London-Holy-head* highway as viewed from behind the scenes at the Old Sugar Loaf Hotel, one of tho.oldest and most famous of Bedfordshire inns.

A maidservant came across this uniquo Tecord while turning out the contents of a forgotten drawer. It might have been thrown away, but a waiter chanced to • peep insido its ancient pages. He was tho first man to ■open the book for 100 years. . Who the innkeeper was who kept it ia something' of a mystery, but his cynical comments on arrivals and departures at tho hostelry make the book, a gem of , antiquity. Almost every page provides a laugh. Som« of the allusions are unprintable. Little did" a certain Mrs. Stanley— who paid £5 14s Id for one night's stay in the hotel on December 2, J833 —realise what a shocking impression Bho left behind her. In putting "paid" to her account mine host records: ■

"A cros,s old lady. She scolded my wife terribly. I should have liked to have kicked her." ,• Here is another tell-tale reference dated June 20, 1831: "Gentlemen belonging to the Bishop of Lincoln Visitation; 27 dined with the Bishop; dinner enough for 40." The bill came to'£l6 13s lid. ■ •■■..•■*".. •On June 4, 1834, it is recorded in black and white that "the Bishop of

Lincoln's Visitation "■'. ' again. called at the hotel, "32- dined- upstairs and two .below. ''Bill,;: £16 10s," and underneath is written: "A great deal too much dinner job.'■' Draw your own (conclusions!

A real show-down for the Dunstable and Woburn Bible: students of those days is provided by tho following:— Dunstable'and Woburn Bible Meeting; 24 dinod; : 27 bottle? of wine; fillet of veal; ham; quarter of lamb; three couples of ducks; pigeon pie; sandwiches; bread and butter; bottle of |port and one of sherry; ale. Times have certainly changed.

A heartless man this innkeeper, Under December -7,- 1828, he writes:

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton and son, Hope Lodge, Newcastle,; Staffordshire, were detained here on account of the lady's leg being hurt. It is an ill wind that blows that doc 3 not benefit someone. Bill, £8 11s fld."

Towards the end a few sombre pages are devoted to details of notable funeral processions that rested the night in the Old Sugar Loaf. This is how on© stay ,is described: March 11, 1833. To a room for the corpse, 10s 6d; refreshments to sitters-up, 5s 6d; fire arid lights all night, 2s 6d; dinners, 14s; ale, Is; brandy, 9d; sherry, 12s; oranges and biscuits, Is 6d; teas, 6s; beds, 8s; 4 fires, 6s 3d; breakfasts, 9s; cigars, ls-4d. ■

Mr. C. J. Holt, the genial landlord of the Old Sugar . Loaf, said that architects had declared the inn to be more than 500 years old. In the gathering dusk he led the way down into an eerie underground passage running towards Dunstable 's famous old Priory Church. rThe passage became obstructed with fallen earth long ago, but the story goes that it-once connected the I inn "with the church.