This led to the emergence of various inns which provided food, drink and accommodation to the weary traveller. In the nineteenth century, Ivybridge was a convenient staging post on the main route from Plymouth to Exeter and beyond. This included a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall and pop band Slade headlining at the London Palladium. “Fanfare for Europe” was a celebration planned by the government marking Britain’s historic entry into the European Economic Community. The original 6-member states of France, West Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Italy were joined by the UK, Denmark and Ireland. In January 1973, the Conservative Prime Minister, Edward Heath, took the UK into the EEC. The week-long celebrations culminated in a dance at the London Hotel on the Saturday evening. A flag of a different European country was flown each day from the parish flagpole during the week-long celebrations and the streets and shops were decorated with bunting. Other sports events included an international football match between Ivybridge and Torigny-sur-Vire, a ladies six-a-side football match and a tennis tournament. Pierre -sur-Dives ( the town twinned with Ivybridge) was invited, accompanied by a 25-piece band, to take part in a tree planting ceremony at Victoria Park and unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the new sports pavilion located at Erme Playing Fields. The celebrations in Ivybridge included the lighting of a beacon on Cleeve Hill, an Edwardian evening at The Imperial, entertainment and cabaret at The King’s Arms and a fancy-dress competition at the London Hotel car park. With its very pro-European Parish Council Chairman, John Congdon, Ivybridge was a community distinctly in the minority in responding to the government’s invitation to hold ‘Fanfare for Europe’ celebratory events. The plans for the celebrations in Ivybridge were formulated at The Bridge Inn.

As part of the government’s week-long cultural festival, entitled “Fanfare for Europe”, communities across Britain were encouraged to actively participate. In 1973, Ivybridge was one of only a few places nationally to celebrate Britain’s membership to the European Economic Community. He ran the Bridge Inn with his wife Jane until his death in 1920 whilst his son Richard carried on with the horse business, the third generation of the family to do so. He was formerly a horse trainer and livery stable keeper at Erme Mews in Park Street although he had a brief association with The White Horse and the Grocer’s Arms public houses in Ivybridge. Members of the Erme Women’s Institute recall with fondness their meetings in the back room around the cosy log fire.īy 1893 the Bridge Inn was being run by Mark Baker whose name appears on the sign in the photograph. It was a popular venue for whist drives and other social gatherings. They remained as hosts until 1980 creating a welcoming atmosphere. Towards the latter part of the 1940s The Bridge Inn was back in business run by Kenneth Drown and his wife Irene, known to the locals as Betty. During WW2 it was closed, which might have been fortuitous, given the various stories of boisterous behaviour of the American servicemen billeted in Ivybridge from 1943. The Bridge Inn changed hands many times afterwards. He was formerly a horse trainer and livery stable keeper at Erme Mews in Park Street, although he had a brief association with The White Horse and the Grocer’s Arms public houses in Ivybridge. The beer was usually served in jugs.īy 1893 the Bridge Inn was being run by Mark Baker whose name appears on the sign in the photograph. They were permitted to stay open for up to 18 hours a day and subject to the control of the local Justices of the Peace. This permitted both the brewing and consumption of beer on the premises. For a relatively small fee of 2 guineas, a proprietor could obtain a licence to trade under the Beer House Act of 1830. Beer at the time was safer to drink than water, which was untreated. The government at the time was keen to promote the consumption of beer instead of spirits, (most notably gin), given the prevailing drunkenness and unsociable behaviour blighting many cities and towns. It is believed that the proprietor, Solomon Northmore, ran this establishment initially as a Beer House. The Bridge Inn, located close to the old bridge, opened for business in the 1840s.

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