Simon English
England Revisited

On an oak tree 200 yards uphill from the B5066 south of Longton near the new Ansells steak house. North of Hilderstone.

On the same Oak tree with the wooden fence in a gap in the hedge. I cannot find any trace in the oak bark of the old flag’s pins but much of the wood in the fence that I sat on in 1971 is the same.

The farmland looks much the same with a grazing herd of cows. But the hedges have grown greatly and Holly now dominates, maybe this is one tree that cattle won't forage on.

The steep hillside between point 41 and the road is rough grazing now run together with the grass field and the hedge inbetween is trodden through with cattle tracks. To the north what I assume is the original farm appears to now be a private house.

Where the footpath leaves the road is a pub that I noted in 1971. This is called ‘the Spotgate Inn’ and oddly the gate depicted on the pub sign is a railway crossing gate. This is odd as, unlike so many of the other points I visited where there was evidence of a dismantled railway here there never has been one.

The reason is, as I noted, that it was a new Ansells Steak House. This was a themed pub and eatery and here Ansells installed two retired Pullman railway carriages. The hillside behind the pub was dug out, two lengths of rail track laid and the coaches were lifted by crane over the roof of the pub and put, side by side, with the connecting corridor coming through the back wall of the building. This became the novelty eating area and a popular place to eat and drink.

The pub and its carriages are still there and, I am delighted to say, still popular. After 40 years their survival through all the changes in the fortunes of pubs and restaurants is wonderful and as an example of late 1960s exuberance it almost deserves listed status.
Points 40 & 41