Masons Arms & Your Memories

Last week I asked for your thoughts and memories of the Masons Arms pub in Hadfield and the response has been overwhelming.

The Masons Arms public house has served the local community for over 150 years and has now closed with an uncertain future. There are already several plans in the pipeline from large chain supermarkets to convert the local pub into small a metro store.

I would like to thank everyone who has sent me a message over the last week as your memories and ideas have been pouring in. There are many happy memories, such as regular pub crawls that both started and ended at the Masons Arms. The pub held a “League of Gentlemen” convention in 2006 where people came from far and wide to celebrate the success of the hit TV show which was filmed in and around the town.

One memory that stood out was that of Bill Roberts:-

“One evening in early summer 1958 I walked down to the Masons Arms from the old farmhouse at the top of Hadfield Road which my wife and I had bought the year before. We had been married only a few weeks and just beginning to find our feet in the locality.
Serving my pint, the landlord asked if I would like to pay a few more pence for a chance on the domino tables. Much to my - and everybody else’s - surprise I got a seat. Many of the regulars had tried for years to get a place on the domino tables.

I did not know the finer points of the game, only that you had to put down a matching tile when you could. When the match ended I found that I had won and you can imagine how the regulars felt. They looked at me in astonishment mixed with suspicion - was I some sort of undercover maths genius come to torment them?”

There was a very clear message that no one really wants to see another supermarket open in the town, however, it is yet another one of our historic buildings that stands empty. A youth club, disco, café, music venue and a cinema are just a few of your ideas for a possible future for the 155 year old building.

What do you think should be done with the Mason Arm’s Building?


A special thanks to Bill, Jean & Allan


By Matthew Cox