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Historic Crown Inn Seriously Damaged by
Lightning, petrol explosion narrowly avoided.
SPECIAL photo section
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A Lightning strike caused the fire which seriously
damaged the historic Crown Inn in Horsted Keynes. Dating back to at least the 16th century the
Crown has been at the heart of our village ever since.
It is believed that lightning struck a power line shortly after 3pm on the 1
July 2003 causing a fire in the roof timbers of the pub which smouldered for
some time before breaking out in several places in the roof at once. At one time
there were 17 fire vehicles including the forces' major incident vehicle on and
around the village green.
Right beside the Crown is the village garage where hundreds of gallons of petrol
are stored. Had the lightning hit just a few feet over then the heart of the
village might have been torn out!
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident.. |
Especially for former residents who might like to see some
more of the general fire scene we have uploaded a special page here. |
Our two and a half/three pubs!
We have labelled this section "Our two and a half pubs" for
ages, recently however we have been reminded of the second "half pub" in the
parish which is of course on platform 3 at Horsted Keynes station! In fact this
old fashioned buffet bar even had a perminant resident in the last census of the
19th century so perhaps we should up rate it to a full pub! We will stick with
giving The Royal British Legion a half point (because it isn't open for full pub
times) to make the total three full pubs in all!
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The Crown Inn
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One of two pubs on the village green, The Crown has been an inn for more
than 250 years and the building probably dates back to around 1600. On a
personal note it was in The Crown that I started my "Mobile Discotheque" (they
were not called discos then!) career on my 18th birthday almost 50 years ago! That
was in the back room every Thursday night. If you were one of the regulars at
that disco I would love to hear from you again. More information at the web
site
www.thecrownhorstedkeynes.co.uk |
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The Green Man
Visitors to The Bluebell Railway should certainly take a look
into The Green Man on the Northern side of the green directly opposite its
competitor. Said to be built on the site of an old workhouse the village stocks
were sited for many years on the green at the front. no doubt so that villagers
could get a drink to taunt the poor inhabitant! This pub features many railway relics on its walls and bar. There is also a nice restaurant.
The Green Man web site
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The Royal
British Legion
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Sitting just round the corner from the Post Office is The Royal
British Legion Club. Here members can enjoy reduced price drinks, a full size
snooker and pool tables, and "real" fruit machines. Part of the building was
used by the home guard during the war. The home guards main drill hall was above
the old butchers shop and the present village shop. If you have any wartime
photos that we could use on this site please let us know. Thank you.
www.britishlegion.org.uk |
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