Corby's Lost Pubs

Over a dozen pubs visited so far on the Corby Pub Safari, and my feeling is that Corby may have fared slightly better than most towns of a similar size with regard to pub closures. The town has certainly lost a fair few of its pubs in recent years, but it's also gained some shiny new ones, and by my estimation there's probably almost as many pubs and bars in the town now as there would have been in its mid-to-late 20th century heyday, aka the 'golden age' of pub-going (ask your parents!).

A. Tilley, a lost Phipps Brewery house in Corby Village

Obviously Corby has grown considerably since then, and continues to grow apace, so there's little doubt the pubs per head figure is nowhere near what it was. Nevertheless, it seems as if Corby folk still love their pubs and still use them for the rather old-fangled pastimes of social drinking, music, a bit of the auld dancing, dining, and watching the football of course. Always the football...

Of those pubs which have been lost however, it's an inescapable truth that many have closed under unfortunate circumstances. It's often a hard job finding information on post-war estate pubs like those in Corby, but when I have managed to discover a snippet of information it often emerges that a pub has closed due to lawlessness, often associated with a period of lax management. In fact I'd suggest that very few of Corby's pubs have closed through a lack of use, for the most part they remain popular and well supported when managed well, which they generally are nowadays I'm pleased to say.

This list represents the limits of my own knowledge on the subject, and does not include the many social clubs which have come and gone. At the time of writing there are three pubs 'temporarily' closed, of which two (The Kingfisher and Village Inn*) might be expected to reopen at some point, the third (Rockingham Arms) somewhat less certain. I've little doubt that there are significant omissions, and I'd welcome comments to this effect, as well as any photos that could be included with a credit to the owner of course.

(*see below for update)

The Lost Pubs of Corby

The Barn - Oakley Hay Lodge

Not to be confused with the thriving Oakley Hay Beefeater. The Barn was a short-lived farmhouse conversion in the middle of an industrial estate. Despite selling a range of Marston's real ales it was given a fabulously scathing description by the local Campaign for Real Ale branch in their 1990 Pub Guide. Apparently the owners had some funny ideas about real ale, and the place was both '...trendy and unfriendly', a double whammy for the staunch traditionalists of CAMRA. Perhaps they were right, it certainly didn't last very long and is now a rented office space.

The Corinthian - Market Walk, Queens Square

A town centre boozer built by M&B of Birmingham and proudly displaying the Bass Taverns logo. Possibly named after the famous Corby 'Corinthian' Trouser Press. More likely a homage to the Corinthian Column and a nod to the Roman Villa excavated in the early 1950's at nearby Little Weldon? Who knows! The appearance of this pub will be familiar to anyone who remembers the increasingly rare single storey shopping precinct pub model. Effectively a row of full length windows with a door, often with flats above, though in this case I think it was a car park. Closed and subsequently demolished around 10 years ago as part of the redevelopment and modernisation of Corby Town Centre, the pub has now effectively been replaced by the Saxon Crown Wetherspoon around the corner.

The Crows Nest - George Street/Alexandra Road

Early 60's corner pub near the centre of town, probably traded under several names during its short life. This pub appears to be absent from the 1990 CAMRA pub guide, which suggests it closed in the 80's. Certainly when I first worked in Corby in the late 80's I don't recall seeing a pub here. Now converted to retail units, including a Chinese Takeaway, the former entrance is now a window to the left of the corner, and I wonder whether the original 'Crows Nest' lettering is still in situ behind the cladding to the right of this.

The Lantern (Fox & Goose) - Burghley Road

A rather plain looking Whitbread (Flowers?) pub in a residential area, possibly named after the famous Corby Candle? The pub was demolished to make way for housing in 2005.

The Lincoln (Golden Cockerel) - Lincoln Way

Originally a Courage Brewery house called the Golden Cockerel (right), a rather self-conscious example of brewery advertising given that the Courage logo was itself a golden Cockerel! In this guise the pub was located in a small pedestrian square alongside a handful of shops. The square was later converted to a car park as most of the buildings were demolished, the pub morphing into its present, somewhat incongruous form. The Lincoln closed very recently, the pubco still looking for new licensees as recently as 2020. Sadly there were no takers for what had become a notoriously difficult pub to run. The remaining lease was bought out by Corby Borough Council and there are plans to convert the building to flats.

Malt + Bass - High Street/The Jamb, Corby Village

Short lived cocktail bar in the old village which replaced the much loved Sarrington's Grocers. 'Purveyors of inventive tasting, playful looking cocktails. Served in a whimsical tavern of dreams!'... apparently!

Nags Head - High Street, Corby Village

Substantial old pub in the heart of Corby Village. Many locals will remember this pub with great affection, as well as the adjacent live music venue called Scandals/Channel 2 which attracted local and national touring bands and artists to the town in its day. Demolished in the 90’s I think, a care home now occupies the site.

Open Hearth - Studfall Avenue

Photo c/o Steve Cadman, available under a Creative Commons License

Closed for good in 2014, the Open Hearth was the oldest of Corby's 'new' pubs, the foundation stone bearing the date 1950. Named after the 'Open Hearth' method of steelmaking, the pub was a popular local and live music venue until relatively recently, latterly gaining a reputation as being a bit 'rough'! The building is set within an area now designated the Lloyds Conservation Area and is therefore regarded as being of 'Local Interest'. So instead of being bulldozed like so many 'modern' pubs that have reached the end of the road, it now serves as accommodation.

The Pluto - Gainsborough Road

There has, to my knowledge, only ever been two pubs in the UK bearing the unusual Pluto moniker, both of which sadly no longer exist. Pluto's Place in Leicester was a 1960's Phipps Brewery (latterly Watney Mann) new build, and judging by the classical figure depicted on the original pub sign it's likely to have been named after a mythological ruler of the underworld! A clue to the name of The Pluto in Corby can also be found on the pubs original sign (left), featuring as it does a huge Conundrum, the floating steel drums used to lay marine fuel pipelines across the English Channel during the second world war. The Pipe Lines Under The Ocean project utilised steel tubing fabricated at the Corby Steelworks site, hence the name which commemorates this important contribution to the war effort.

Talking of conundrums, the CAMRA pub guide of 1990 gives The Pluto as being a Whitbread house, indeed I've seen a photo of the pub from 1965 which carries Flowers Brewery signage, the Flowers brewery being taken over by Whitbread in 1961. But a careful examination of the sign shown here seems to show that lettering for 'Charles Wells' has been overwritten with the later Free House designation. The Bedford brewer had a good few pubs in Northamptonshire, so it's entirely possible they may have acquired The Pluto from Whitbread at a later date. These kitsch 'swinging sign' cocktail sticks were given to me by a friend recently. 'Service and Civility' would have been standard for a '...modern Flowers house' I guess, but perhaps the biggest surprise is that The Pluto did cocktails!

All that remains of The Pluto on Gainsborough Road

The Pluto was a fairly typical two-story post-war build, a decent enough place by all accounts, indeed my cocktail stick buddy recalls fish tanks mounted around the bar! Sadly the pub gained a terrible reputation in later years and was eventually closed after an infamous drugs raid. Nothing now remains of the pub itself, the site earmarked for residential development. The original pub sign for The Pluto hangs in the Steel Heritage Centre at nearby East Carlton Park.

Strathclyde (Page 3, Rafters, The Office, La Pigalle) - George Street

I was reasonably sure there would have been a bar in Corby’s iconic Strathclyde Hotel (now Grosvenor House, left), but finding any information about it was proving quite difficult. But thanks to one of our regular correspondents (thanks Ian!), a Corby resident of longstanding, I can now add the Strathclyde, latterly Rafters, Page 3, The Office, and possibly also Martine’s nightclub to the list of Corby’s lost pubs. The Strathclyde Hotel opened for business in the early 60’s, the kind of bold modernist tower block that has probably always divided opinion locally. Personally I love it and I hope it towers over the shopping centre for many years to come. The ground floor bar for the former hotel is now a Mediterranean restaurant called Olive and hence no longer eligible for the Corby Pub Safari.

Rockingham Arms - Studfall Avenue

Even closed proper pubs have their own bus stop

The 'Rock' (right & top), as it's known locally, is technically closed awaiting a new licensee, but it's been in that position for several years now. Having said that, the pub is a Samuel Smiths Brewery pub, the eccentric Yorkshire family brewers, so who knows! The Rockingham Arms is one of the New Town's older neighbourhood boozers, built in 1955 as a local for new housing centred on Studfall Avenue. Famous as the pub Billy Connolly bought everyone a round in when touring the area. Like the Open Hearth, the building is listed as being of 'Local Interest', which affords some protection to the fabric of the building if sadly not its actual use. I hope the Rock will open at some point, ideally before I wrap up this blog…

Square Peg (Maple Leaf, Leaf) - Canada Square

I don't know much about this one other than it was yet another classic flat-roof pub located in Canada Square, hence the original Maple Leaf name. It seems to have been known as the Square Peg in the run up to closure, a rather lame play on words, or is there a more significant reason for the name change? Canada Square was redeveloped in 2016 which is when the pub would have been lost along with a handful of neighbourhood shops and the unique shallow pond that the square was built around.

The Old White Horse (Village Inn, The Village) - Lloyds Road, Corby Village

One of several attractive old Ironstone pubs in the village, latterly named The Village, and recently closed after a number of years of late night disruption to local residents. It was hoped the pub would reopen at some point, possibly under its old moniker, but a change of license has now been confirmed and the pub will reopen as a restaurant.

This image (left) shows where the original pub name was, and a close examination still reveals the iron fixings and faded outline of lettering for The Old White Horse. The pub was probably a Phipps & Co Ltd house at this point, listed as selling Ruddles beers in the 1980's, both breweries in the hands of Watney Mann by then.

Update (24/10/22) - Now called Smaki Neli, a 'Mish Mash' restaurant run by Polish locals, though offering a variety of cuisines.