Drinks at the Horse and Groom
I read yesterday in the East Anglian Daily Times, that the Horse and Groom pub in Melton is to be turned into three houses.
I’ve never drunk in the pub, but I suspect some of the locals will miss the hostelry.
I remember though a story about this pub that was told to me at a dinner party in the mid-1970’s.
One of the guests was involved in a project with the Borstal at Hollesley Bay, where on a Saturday or Sunday, they took a group of young offenders and got them to do up the homes of elderly pople in Ipswich. He told how after the work, he usually took them into the Horse and Groom, as it was a very quiet pub, to give them half of shandy or a soft drink, to show his appreciation, before returning the youngsters to the Borstal at seven. I have a feeling that the Govenor knew what he was doing, but I can’t be sure.
Anyway one night the landlord says that someone wanted to see him out the back of the pub. He was greeted by the local police Sergeant, who asked if he’d got lads from the Borstal with him. He said yes and the sergeant said that they’d been a complaint. The sergeant then asked what time, the boys would be leaving and the story-teller said they’d definitely be gone by seven. The sergeant then said they’d better be as they were raiding the pub just after the hour.
Of course the complaintent got their satisfaction that something was being done, but the quiet drinks were able to continue.
I just wonder where those kids ended up in life. Did treating them like real adult human beings help? I certainly hope so!
The Anonymous Widower 
If this was only time they were treated like real adult humna beings, then probably not, but if they were being treated like real adult human beings most of the time, encouraged to make choices about their life, however trivial, and having to deal with the consequences of those choices, be they good or bad, then hopefully they will have benefitted.
There is a wonderful organisation called Foyer
http://www.foyer.net/ who provide safe clean accommodation for young poeple usually aged 16 to 25, who are unable to live with their family for some reason but still lack the maturity to live alone. The actual set up is not dissimilar to supported housing for elderly people – each young person has a self contained one bedroom flat, with their own front door. The flats are basically furnished, and have a small bedroom, a shower room, and a sitting room with a kitchen area at one end. The Foyer is staffed by various professionals – youth workers, training advisors etc. The young people who live there are expected to work towards finding work if they are unemployed, they will recieve some literacy and numeracy training if they need it, they learn to cook, to budget – woe betide if they dont pay their rent on time each week, to keep the flat clean – they are inspected weekly – and generally gain the life skills which will enable them to become a useful and productive member of society. Anyone bringing drugs in is thrown out. They work for most young people. There are one or two around for young mum’s and their babies as well.
I cannot praise too highly the one my late cousin’s son went into. It probably kept him out of borstal.
Comment by liz | November 14, 2010 |