Office to rent in Lewes

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Snowdrop

On 27 Apr 2014 at 8:11pm jim wrote:

Ever since the very suucesful reincarnation of the Snowdrop pub I have wondered why the canal association? There is a children's Rosie & Jim ride outside the pub. Inside is all Canal Art - there is a big difference between a canal and a river. Personally I think that it is to to keep the North DFL people happy in their comfort zone - .

On 27 Apr 2014 at 8:51pm Sceptic wrote:

It would be brilliant if it was a canal, I suppose it would be possible if they installed lock gates further down river. The boating fraternity would not have to rely on the tides to take their boats out and it would be ideal to stop the gradual erosion of the banks.

On 27 Apr 2014 at 11:48pm Tony@thesnowdrop wrote:

Hi, it's all a big flight of fantasy and a little bit of history, that started with references to bargees drinking in the Snowdrop in a novel called The Long Man by Pauline Furey. On South St, you'll also see the bargemaster's house so there is some historical basis for the ideas we ran with.
When we bought the Snowdrop it still had a nautical feel with the wood cladding on the walls, the arched ceiling, spiral staircase and the anchor outside, all from the days of Tim & Sue. It was also very dark and dingy with a lot of the surfaces painted black from it's less wholesome incarnation. We wanted to use lots of colour to create a bright, interesting family-friendly space and restore the sense of adventure it had when Tim and Sue had it.
The Ouse was opened up to waterway traffic in the 19th Century following several acts of Parliament, straightened, with 18 locks between here and Lindfield. This was the golden age of waterway traffic and roses and castles canal art, which we used in the pub, were probably much in evidence on the river boats that transported freight to and from the town. The Ouse closed as a waterway in 1860 after the railways superseded the canal boats.
As a sad postscript, chalk hewn from the cliffs behind was used to straighten the river and the quarrying of this may well have contributed to the unique circumstances that resulted in the Lewes Avalanche of 1836 which the Snowdrop was named to commemorate.

On 28 Apr 2014 at 8:42am Tipex wrote:

Fascinating as always Tony. Thanks

On 28 Apr 2014 at 8:46am Tipex wrote:

Ps that wasn't meant to sound sarcastic! Why is it so difficult to sound sincere on forums?!

On 28 Apr 2014 at 8:55am ducatipete wrote:

As a narrowboat owner I wish there were more pubs like this on the system. There is a pub at Audlem which has 1/2 an old barge as the bar!

On 28 Apr 2014 at 2:41pm Old Cynic wrote:

So Jim your DFL jibe was a load of old crap - care to apologise for making sweeping statements!

On 28 Apr 2014 at 2:52pm Clifford wrote:

Great stuff Tony. It would be good to see more stuff like this here.

On 28 Apr 2014 at 4:24pm Merlin Milner wrote:

As ever a great bit of info. Would be a good bit of history to add to the bub's website.

On 28 Apr 2014 at 4:49pm Sceptic wrote:

Hi Tony, I read with interest your post especially the bit about the locks. I own the quay up by Southerham roundabout opposite the last industrial estate which I purchased from Tim a few years back. Apparently barges with families on board moored there to transport lime from the cement works. I have tried to restore it as a bit of Lewes history but at the moment Southern Water is in the process of remedying some subsidence caused by water ingress where the surface water drain pipe runs under the quay. I do believe the barges also used The Fox pub that was pulled down years ago. I shall try to get a copy of that book you mentioned ( The Long Man ) sounds interesting.