The Story Behind the Roebuck & The Spite
The Roebuck known locally as ‘The Spite’ has been a hostelry since 1852 when George Spence became its first landlord, although the building itself dates back to some tine after 1783
In 1853, just one year later Georges neighbour and innkeeper Robert yates of Clifton, who lived a few doors from The Roebuck, also applied for a licence for The Travellers Inn.
The Travellers and The Roebuck were rivals for 21 years during which time ‘an incident’ occurred which gave The Roebuck its unofficial name!
A well-known and honest local chap by the name of William Parkinson was in the habit of regularly calling in at The Travellers Rest. On one occasion however, he decided to stop off at The Roebuck first, chatting to the landlord for about an hour before moving on to The Travellers.
On arriving at The Travellers, he was greeted by Mrs Yates who had unfortunately seen him calling in at The Roebuck first and refused to serve him saying “you can call in at George’s first, you can go back to him again”
So William Parkinson went back down to The Roebuck and in the course of conversation, remarked
