Display highlights town's many lost pubs

Not that it does too badly for a small town with a population of below 2,000 in the last census, supporting six pubs and two breweries.

The new display in the House on Crutches Museum investigates the sprawling history of drinking in the town, covering the 46 licensed premises that at one time or another were open in Bishop's Castle and were central to the market town’s economic, social and political life for centuries, as they had the land and the facilities to accommodate drovers and their charges and to oil the wheels of commerce for merchants, farmers, foresters and property auctioneers.

Among the disappeared pubs are The Hit or Miss, in Union Street, the name of which may have alluded to cricket, and which developed a reputation as a haunt for shady characters. It closed in 1915.

Another was The Heaths or Fishers, in Welsh Street, with its puzzling name, while The Butcher's Arms, mentioned in 18th century documents, is so obscure that nobody knows even where it was.

More information can be found on an interactive map at lostpubsofbishopscastle.co.uk.

The House on Crutches Museum is open from 2pm to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays from Easter to September 23.

First established in 1993, the museum is in an ancient timber-framed building and houses an extensive social history collection covering all aspects of the local community.