Popular with the local student population
The Crescent Pub
This picture is of our local pub called The Crescent, which is on the corner of Clifton Hill and Clifton Road; very well used by the local student population and frequented by us occasionally.
On top of Clifton Hill
If you stand at the top of Clifton Hill and look westwards, Clifton Hill actually points directly at Blatchington Mill which is just outside Brighton.
The road to Blatchington
Before it was called Clifton Hill, this road was the road to Blatchington, and the Crescent Pub was the pub that served all the travellers who were coming in from Blatchington Mill into central Brighton.
Clifton Mews was the livery stable
In the 18th and 19th century, all pubs had to have a livery stable to serve the horses of the travellers, and the livery stable to the Crescent is just a bit further up Clifton Hill in the Clifton Mews, where we actually live today.
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My grandparents, Gwen and Eric, were landlords of The Crescent from about 1936 to 1980. My mother Mary worked there for many years. In those days it was divided into 3 bars – Lounge, Saloon and Public. The Public bar was adopted by a large Irish contingent – maybe a forerunner to the many Irish pubs which followed in Brighton! My grandfather was forever telling them off for singing. Many of our family celebrations over the years were held there as my grandparents could never take holidays so everyone came to them! Anyone out there remember those days?
Much as I hate to contradict my sister (comment above), our grandparents were landlords from 1948, not 1936. However, she’s got most of the rest correct, so I suppose I shouldn’t be too pedantic!
I used to walk past the pub each school morning (from “Clifton College” to my home in Powis Square) during the early 50s. I liked Clifton Hill with its open space in front of the pub and the taxi office next door. A walk down Clifton Hill to the west gave a special reward to a child in the form of the play area of St. Anne’s Well park, about ½-mile distant. Further to the south, the gaunt red-brick Anglo-Catholic church of St. Michael & All Angels allowed an intriguing view from the top of the steep hill next to it leading down to Western Road and overlooking the sea. It’s good to find it all relatively unchanged, on re-visiting the area.
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