It's last orders one more time

During that post-war decade they played supporting roles to Muriel's parents, Rose and Tom Hine, who were mine hosts at the Cock Inn, having come into the pub trade comparatively late in life.

Tom Hine left school at 13, during the First World War and worked on the railways for 36 years, mostly as a delivery vehicle driver with the GWR Goods Section. He drove one of the first unusual Scammel lorries which had one wheel at the front and three at the back, and "lived and breathed the railways".

Tom married Worcester girl Rose Passey in 1924, and they set up home at No.18 Bromyard Terrace, St John's, Worcester, where they brought up their two children, Muriel and Godfrey (Goff).

However, Rose Hine always hankered after the role of pub landlady, particularly at the Cock Inn, not far from their house. She and Tom had from time-to-time helped out at the Royal Oak, the Leigh Sinton pub run by Tom's sister and brother-in-law, Frances and Harry Davies.

And it was in 1951 that the chance eventually came for Rose Hine to fulfil her ambition. Daughter Muriel was by that time married to Arthur Cotterill, then working for the brewery and pubs company Hunt, Edmunds at its depot in Lowesmoor.

Arthur was able to tell Tom and Rose Hine that the tenancy of the Cock Inn was about to come up, and they applied, though not in great hope because of their age. Tom was approaching his 50th birthday and Rose was 48, and they feared they would be turned down as being too old to be venturing into the licensed trade for the first time.

However, their application was successful, and "mother was over the moon," recalls Muriel Cotterill.

The Hines took up residence at the Cock Inn in July 1951, with Tom as licensee. Daughter Muriel had only just given birth to her first child, Neil, and as she and husband Arthur had not yet found a house of their own, they were invited to move in with Tom and Rose at the pub.

"Neil was just 16 days-old when I went straight from the maternity unit to live at the Cock Inn. Life was quite hectic there, but my father soon came to realise that the profits from the pub would not be quite enough to give a good living. He therefore took a part-time job at Windshields in nearby Henwick Road.

"Mother absolutely loved the pub life and meeting people, and I helped her out in the day while my husband Arthur would be behind the bar in the early evenings after coming home from work. My father would then get dressed up for the fray after returning from his part-time job and be on duty until closing time," says Mrs Cotterill.

She stresses that the Cock Inn was an historic Worcester pub having first opened in 1740. Some of its sturdy oak floorboards were said to have originally been the timbers of sea-going ships of the 18th Century and earlier. Judging by two dates on the faade of the pub - 1740 and 1906 - the Cock Inn had clearly undergone a substantial revamp at the start of the 20th Century.

Mrs Cotterill says the pub's main facilities were a bar, smoke room and an upstairs club room, together with living accommodation on all three floors.

"The front bedroom on the second floor had magnificent views over the trees and fields to the Cathedral, and mother took great pleasure from that. There were also two ground floor rooms, sealed off from the house, which were said to have formed the brewhouse in times past when ales were home-brewed at the Cock. An upstairs room was also called the malt room, suggesting it had been used in preparations for home brewing."

Mrs Cotterill says the previous licensee at the Cock Inn had been Bert Evans, a printer by trade, who was also keenly interested in boxing.

When he died, his daughter Mrs Phyllis White, a war widow, helped her mother run the pub until they retired in 1951.

"Not long after my parents moved in, Hunt, Edmunds had the Cock Inn refurbished and redecorated, though retaining its character. One extensive side wall, left exposed after the demolition of adjoining houses, had to be completely re-built as part of the contract."

Muriel Cotterill says that, initially, the Hines ran the pub as something of "a family co-operative.

"I did the books, made curtains and undertook the catering while my husband helped out at the bar in the evenings. My brother, Godfrey, though away at teacher training college, came back outside term time to help and also to take charge when our parents went away for a holiday break. Even my grandmother, Mrs Rose Passey insisted on coming in regularly to sweep the yard and tackle other chores."

Mrs Cotterill has fond memories of the pub.

"It had a cosy and friendly atmosphere, and Saturdays were like party nights. Olive Hobbs would be at the pub's very well-used piano with her husband Tim on drums, and they would sometimes be joined by a lady called Gladys, who had a really beautiful voice. A friend of my father, Ted Field also came along occasionally and played an instrument like a zither which had a super sound. Saturday evenings usually ended with sing-alongs.

"The customers were lovely people, and my father, a popular and respected licensee, never had any trouble at all at the pub. Young couples were among the regulars, and mother would allow them to put their children and prams in her living room."

Artists from Bertram Mills Circus also patronised the Cock Inn whenever their Big Top was set up at the corner of New Road and Bromwich Road.

"A man on stilts, promoting the circus, came into the pub one day and was clearly held in great awe by my son Neil, then only about three, as he towered above him.

"Coco the Clown also used the pub several times with his wife Mama. They too were lovely people, and Coco would chat to my son, who clearly thought he was great. The circus artistes loved to come and get in front of a cosy open coal fire."

Mrs Cotterill also did teas at the pub for bowls teams using the Cripplegate Park greens opposite.

"We would have about 40 people in at a time after matches, charging them 2/6d each. Father was a keen bowler and played for the Worcester Brotherhood Club."

The Cock Inn also had a darts team and was home to a pigeon flying club.

Muriel and Arthur Cotterill moved out of the Cock Inn after five years when they found a home of their own, but Muriel continued to return to undertake the pub's catering. Tom and Rose Hine remained as mine hosts at the Cock for about 10 years, until being offered the larger and more profitable Chestnut Tree pub in Lansdowne Road.

They were succeeded at the Cock by Ralph Barker, who had moved from the Alma Inn, but the pub closed just a few years later when it was demolished as part of the clearance zone for the construction of the Tybridge Street multi-storey flats.

"My parents hated leaving St John's to go to the Chestnut Tree, and mother, in particular, certainly didn't enjoy it as much over there. They remained at the Chestnut Tree for about five or six years before both having to retire on health grounds. My father's brother, Jack Hine took over at the Chestnut Tree and was later succeeded as licensee there by his son John.

"My parents moved from the Chestnut Tree to a flat at Warndon, and my mother died in 1972, at the age of 69. Father outlived her by nine years, dying in 1981, aged 79," says Mrs Cotterill.

She and husband Arthur both attended the St Clement's, Christopher Whitehead and Worcester Technical schools. After five years at the Hunt, Edmunds' Lowesmoor depot, Arthur Cotterill was stock-keeper for 14 years with wine merchants Stallards in High Street and then chief cashier with Kay & Co. for 20 years.

Arthur was one of the three sons of Arthur Cotterill senior and his wife Alice, who were for many years caretakers of the St Clement's Church and School. Arthur senior was also verger of St Clement's and the family lived at the School House.

Muriel and Arthur Cotterill's son Neil lives in Worcester and is a self-employed carpet fitter, while their other son Ralph, lives at Kempsey and is employed by Severn-Trent Systems.

Muriel's brother Godfrey Hine attended the St Clement's and Royal Grammar schools and was a leading player in the post-war years for Worcester Rugby Club.

A teacher specialising in physical education, he was on the staff of the Chase School, Malvern and the Newton Abbot Grammar School before becoming Head of the PE Department of Bognor Regis Teaching Training College, now part of the University of Sussex. He lives at Middleton-on-Sea, near Bognor Regis, Sussex.

Worcester historian Bill Gwilliam's gazetteer of city pubs indicates that there were at one stage no fewer than five pubs in Tybridge Street in addition to the Cock Inn. They included the Lamp Tavern, the Beer House, and the Cock and Magpie.