The First Ipswich Dry Pub Crawl Cache
This cache is inspired by the original dry pub crawl geocache set up in Stockport by leecar23 as part of his fledgling 'Time Gentlemen Please' series. For the first TGP multi in the South East we have chosen the London Road area of Ipswich and this short walk will take you about 2km west of the listed coordinates, passing a total of 19 former pubs and a few still open! After collecting 7 numerical clues along the way and some simple sums you will obtain the coordinates for the final cache which is magnetic and larger than a nano, but smaller than a film pot. Please bring your own pen/cil and be careful to hide the cache back out of sight as it is placed on a busy street. Above all, we hope you enjoy learning about Ipswich's boozy past, good luck!
Stage One, Westgate Street
Bear & Crown, closed 1880s
Suffolk Hotel, closed 1905
Crown & Anchor, closed 1986
The first pub on the pub crawl once existed at the listed coordinates which was then number 81 London Road. Below the shops you now see, pub cellars date back to the 1700s when the Ipswich Journal ran adverts for "…cocking at the New Pit at the Bear and Crown", the first found dated 19 May 1753. London Road has since been shortened and renumbered and the Bear & Crown was absorbed by its bigger and more successful neighbour, the Suffolk Hotel. Above ground the Bear & Crown may be no more but you will recognise the outline of the Suffolk Hotel in the engraving below.
The Suffolk Hotel is now a Gap and is distinctly less grand than in its heyday when it had 40 rooms, "8 parlours…25 capital sleeping rooms, nursery, bar, liquor bar, large kitchen, back house, larder, coal house, store rooms; the whole extremely arranged and replete with every convenience; extensive wine and spirit cellars, a tap, well accustomed; stables, capital, (often accommodating 100 horses,) with lofts and corn chambers over" according to the Ipswich Journal. However, the grandiose building behind you does retain some of its former glory; this is the Crown & Anchor Hotel.
The Crown & Anchor façade is an early 20th-century addition and hides a much older building. The atypical stonework was designed by Thomas W. Cotman, nephew of the famous watercolourist John Sell Cotman, but behind it there has been a tavern, coffee house and/or hotel on the site since the very early 1800s. For your first clue, how many anchors can you see? Don't worry, it's not a trick question, subtract 1 from this number and record it as 'A'.
Stage Two, the Barley Mow
Grosvenor Hotel, closed 1940s
Westgate Street Ale Store, closed 1905
Crown & Anchor, closed 1965
Walk west out of town along Westgate Street. You will pass the site of the Grosvenor Hotel on your left as well as the location of the Westgate Street Ale Store of which very little is known. Nothing now remains of either. Continue towards stage 2, crossing the road to end up in front of a saucy shop. There's no indication that before 1965 the Barley Mow pub was an imposing sight on this street corner. Ask for a Tolly Cobbold in there now and you probably won't be given a pint?
The earliest entries in licencing directories record a wine merchant and brewery here since 1823 and by the 20th Century it had developed into the hostelry you can see in the below photo.
You'd struggle to find a pub marked here on any map today, take a look at the one before you and see which numbered row of the map you're at. The map grid rows are numbered from top to bottom and the row number that 'YOU ARE HERE' is clue 'B'.
Stage Three, Crown Street
The Feathers, formerly the prince of Wales, closed 1966
Bantam Cock, formerly the Ivy Leaf closed 1920s
Rainbow Hotel, closed 1961
Continue along Westgate Street towards stage 3. Just before meeting Civic Drive you will see Lady Lane leading off to the right. On this corner once stood the Feathers, which ended its days as another Tolly pub as did so many in this area. It was previously known as the Three Feathers and dates back to before 1769 when it was captured in a watercolour of the town's West Gate by Francis Gorse.
A little further past the haberdashers is the site of the Bantam Cock but this too is no more. Not a lot is known about the pub formerly known as the Ivy Leaf as its last landlord, William Overett, called 'time, gentlemen please' for the last time in the 1920s.
Head now for the stage 3 waypoint which is located on the central pedestrian island. The Rainbow Hotel once stood where what is now the middle of the eastbound carriageway, but its closure in 1961 had little to do with the controversial development of the ring road at that time. Rather, it was a grisly murder on the premises that let to this once-prominent landmark shutting its doors.
The third clue can be found if you stay in the middle of the crossing and look around you. What is the telephone number you should ring in the event of traffic light problems? It is a large sign and the number takes the form 0800 xxx x??x. The two digits in the question mark positions give you 'C'.
Stage Four, the roundabout
Lord Palmerston, closed 1962
Queen's Head, closed 1963
The Victoria, closed 2008
Golden Fleece Hotel, closed 1962
Continue crossing the road and head towards the roundabout. On the way you will pass on your left number 14 St Matthew's Street, which is now a pharmacy but before 1962 the Lord Palmerston pub was on this site. Standing here you can survey the impact of the controversial 1960s new roads as compulsory purchase orders were made by Ipswich Corporation to buy and demolish quite a few pubs in the way, both here and west past Civic Drive. Conceived as a complete ring road, council chiefs bowed to public pressure in the 70s and only the section from here to St Nicholas Street was completed.
Carry on to the roundabout and look over the road to the hideous 60s building on the corner. Can you see the bust high up on the wall above the subway stairs? This used to be the Victoria, completed in 1965 and built to replace a pub on this site which was demolished for the new roads. The older pub was the Queen's Head and dated back to the late 1600s. It was a popular and "well accustom'd" establishment, seemingly for most of its life up until the second world war according to old Ipswich press. Its replacement, the Victoria, was a modern single-room lounge bar and lasted until 2008.
Cross the road or use the underpass, following the GPS to stage four at the start of Norwich Road. This was the site of another pub acquired by compulsory purchase order and demolished by Ipswich Corporation to build the new roads. Photographed below when still standing, the Golden Fleece Hotel ended its days as a Tolly Cobbold house and closed in 1962.
Clue 'D' is another number, you can find it out by looking at the nearby map to see what Saintly Street you are standing on. Then use the key at the bottom to see what letter and number is its reference (it will be something like A1, B2 etc). Multiply the number part by 2 to give you 'D'.
Stage Five, the Half Moon & Star
closed 1985
Stage 5 is the site of the Half Moon and Star which remains standing, sensitively converted to a private residence. The building itself dates from the 1700s when the Half Moon and Star was already established enough to advertise cocking in the Ipswich Journal. Older still, it is reported that brewing took place here "up to the reign of James I"! Thankfully the old building is owned and maintained by the Ipswich Building Preservation trust for future generations.
For more information have a look at the plaque mounted in what was once the corner doorway. Not much about the history of the place but if you add up the number of nines (9) you can see this will give you the number you need for clue 'E'.
Stage Six, Norwich Road
The Grapes, closed 1920s
Hare & Hounds, closed 2011
Waveney Arms, closed 1911
Follow Norwich Road out of town towards stage 6. Just before reaching it you will pass a bridal shop on your right on the corner of Orford Street. The tall, distinctive white building was once The Grapes but at some time after 1920 it was taken over and merged with the Hare and Hounds public house next door. The Hare and Hounds used to be the lower building to the left but as the combined Hare and Hounds, beer continued to be served here until 2011.
Continue to the stage 6 waypoint outside 35 Norwich Road. This is now a café but used to be the Waveney Arms. Not to be confused with the larger, more modern establishment out on Bramford Road, this Waveney Arms closed much earlier in 1911. There also used to be a beer and brewing supplies shop here called Brewers Barn which was a very appropriate way to reveal clue 'F'. Sadly, this has now closed so F has now been combined with G at the next waypoint.
Stage Seven, the Rose & Crown
Tramway Tavern, closed 1925
Rose & Crown, closed 2011
Stroll a little further down the road and you will pass a gap in the buildings on the right. It has just recently been sold at auction, but this demolished section in the row used to house the Tramway Tavern, although its last landlord, William D Melville, called time a long time ago now back in 1925.
Finally, continue your walk to the stage 7 waypoint. This is the site of the Rose and Crown which closed its doors in 2011 and sadly the distinctive building has been demolished since this cache was placed.
Your final two numbers, clues 'G' and now 'F' as well, are respectively the third and fourth digits of the date on the name plaque of "Prospect Place". Note that G is the third number and F is the fourth. Prospect Place is now the parade of shops to the south of the waypoint marking the former Rose and Crown.
The Final Stage
After following the trail and gathering the numeric clues at all the waypoints along the way, you should now be able to translate the below into a useable set of coordinates. Simply replace each of the letters A to G with the numbers you have calculated to reveal the location of the geocache!
North 52° A . B C , East 001° D . E F G
If you work it out correctly you should find that the final location is less than 400m away and you should be able to collect it walking in a loop back to the town centre. If you are unable to work out how to obtain the final position then please do send us a message using the link at the top of the page and we will do our best to reply as soon as possible.
The coordinates you have calculated have a link right back to the old Bear and Crown, the former location of which you visited first on this trail. See if you can work out what the connection is, but this isn't required for the finding of the final cache!
For further information on the TGP series, and how to add to it, please see http://tgpgeopage.weebly.com/. Special thanks to the Frederick Gillson collection / Suffolk Records Office, Graham Potter and www.findthepostcode.com for the images and Tony Green, Nigel Smith and their Suffolk old pubs website for much of the historical information.
Good luck everyone!