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Description: | There has been an inn on the site of what became the Grapes Public House, for at least 150 years. However, it has been suggested that there was an inn operating on or very near this site as far back as the eighteenth century. Before it became the Grapes, the site was occupied by the Traveller's Friend. It isn't known exactly when the Traveller's Friend became known as the Grapes, but Kelly's Directories have the building listed as the latter from 1877. In 1899 it was sold to Mr Thomas Wethered for £1600, and soon after was extensively rebuilt at a similar cost. The Bath Road was used, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, to carry post between London and the west country, and the Grapes was a Slough stop used by the mail coaches for the change-over of horses. It has also been used as the Slough Rugby Club HQ, and the venue for meetings of the local branch of the R.A.F.A. The Smith family were the licensees from 1911 until 1955.
For many years the site has been at risk of closure and demolition by developers, and 1992 saw members of the Green Party protesting outside the pub, calling for it and other historic buildings to be saved for the good of the local community. There was a temporary reprieve, and the Grapes was sold, and reopened as the Pitchers Sports Bar. More recently, in 2002, it attracted controversy and protests of a different kind when it was sold once again, this time reopening as the Honeypot, a bar catering for over-21s only, and where drinkers could be served by topless waitresses. In 2004 the pub changed hands again and was refurbished and renamed Nine2.
In 2006 however, Slough Borough Council finally gave permission for the building to be demolished, which is due to commence early on in 2007. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | Slough Library | Subjects: | Pubs & inns Traveller's Friend ; The Grapes ; Nine2 ; The Honeypot ; Kelly Services ; Pitchers Sports Bar | Temporal: | start=2006-12-01; end=2006-12-30; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | John Holder | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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