This post consist of a couple of items from 'Yelf's Taps', Ryde on the Isle of Wight. The first of these consists of some beer bottles that I shamelessly requested when I visited about 20 years ago. I had seen 'Yelf's Taps' in about 1984 and was fascinated by what was obviously a pub that hadn't been touched since the second world war. Trying to get into it was a bit of an adventure as the entrance led on to several corridors that eventually led me to a 'snug' with a coal fire and the walls covered with badges donated by all the units that had passed through Ryde, presumably on their way to Normandy and beyond. By the time I re-visited a few years later this seemed to have been swept away and a new downstairs bar was up and running. This bar had the legend of the two Dutch Yelf brothers and a secret tunnel supposedly joining the Hotel and the Pub! Anyway, I was lucky enough to be given a couple of the old beer bottles that were behind the bar that were embossed with the Yelf name. Very nice mementos they were too!
The second item is one that turned up on ebay recently, but which I wasn't quick enough off the mark to nab. This was a beer-mat that must have graced one of the tables in Yelf's Taps at some point before somehow ending up on ebay for avid beer-mat collectors to fight over. Still, I was able to grab the photo which was a bonus I suppose...
I'll be updating this entry if I come across any more brewery related items in the future.
2 comments:
Hello My name Is Philip A. Sturdevant. My grandfather took his wife (My grandmother ) to Yelf's Hotel in 1944 for a honeymoon. My grandfather was a G.I. was in the USAF.
Took my My grandmother passed Yelf's Hotel before she passed away in her sleep. She said it looking like nothing had changed!!!
I just had to write to you. Do you have any Documents on paying guest at that time?
Cheers Phil
Hi Philip,
Thanks for your comment.As I mentioned in the article I recall Yelfs Taps, the bar next door, being covered with the badges of British, Canadian, American, French and goodness-knows how many other military units. So it's probably a fair bet to say that up until the mid 80's it pretty much hadn't changed at all!It's strange to think that when your grandparents were staying next door the badges were just going up and when I visited they were just about to come down. I wonder what happened to them all? I'm afraid I can't help you on the guest books though. The hotel has passed through several owners since then so I think your best bet would either to ask the hotel themselves, who might well have inherited all the old guest books, or the Isle of Wight Public Records Office who hold many useful local items - and I'd of thought the visitor books of an old hotel might well be a possibility. http://www.iwight.com/library/record_office/ Good luck with your search and please let us know how you get on!
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