• Article |
• Discussion |
• Edit |
• History

The Travellers Rest in its 21st century guise

A somewhat fuzzy image but rather a rare one - it shows John Farmer with the Tuesday ball at the 1926 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game, at the time he was landlord of The Travellers Rest

Every public house has a history, and each one too has its former landlords. Some pubs have more interesting stories to tell than others, and one such is The Travellers Rest at 149 Ashbourne Road, Derby.

Today it is perhaps best-known as the first port of call on the famous 'Derby Mile' pub crawl route into the city, or the last call for those brave enough to attempt the return journey. But it once had a landlord who was so well-known in Derby sporting circles that an honour which 'money couldn't buy' was bestowed upon him. His name was John Thomas Farmer.

The exact age of The Travellers Rest is not known, but it was certainly in operation by the 1850s. Its name is a traditional one, and in this case apt, for it long served as a refreshement stop for travellers between Derby and Ashbourne.

Its position in that respect was an important one, for it was the first hostelry encountered by travellers from Ashbourne as they approached Derby. For that reason, horses were often fed, watered and stabled there after their journey, and the pub gained a reputation for providing equine hospitality of the highest order - 'the finest hay and a bed for the night'!.

The pub was rebuilt in the late 1880s, and further modernised in the 1930s, when it was owned by the now defunct Derby brewery Stretton's. It later became an Ansells and Allied house.

John Thomas Farmer, who was generally styled John T. Farmer, was born in Miller's Green, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, in 1874, but moved to Derby in his early childhood. His forebears were, as the name implied, farmers in the Ashbourne and Mayfield area, so acquiring a pub with a horsey history possibly suited his background.

But he first fed and watered a rather different breed - the good folk of the Beaconsfield Club in Derby, at the time it was housed in a property in Full Street, once the home of Erasmus Darwin. In 1896 he had married Elizabeth Mary Burrows, known as 'Lil', and in 1913 the couple became steward and stewardess of the Beaconsfield. They stayed there for eight years, but in 1921 moved to the Travellers Rest.

John Farmer was was an 'outdoor type', and had a particular fondness for athletic pursuits. As a young man in the 1890s he was instrumental in organising some of the first sports days on the Shaw Croft field in Ashbourne, a rather sacred spot he would later be asked to re-visit with considerable pride.

By the 1920s John Farmer's influence on the athletics scene in Derby was such that he was Vice-President of the Derby and County Athletic and Cycling Club, and held a similar office with the Notts and Derbyshire Cyclists Union. Nor was he the only member of the Farmer family thus involved, for his younger brother Joseph Farmer was trainer to the Derby Athletic Club for over 30 years.

Their involvement earned the Farmer family a certain celebrity in Derby sporting circles, and for John Farmer this was recognised in 1926 when he was asked to 'turn up' the Tuesday ball in that year's Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game. He discharged the task with such pride and good humour that he was asked to perform it again in 1927, this time turning up the second Tuesday ball after the first had been goaled.

This was no mean honour, for only a year later in 1928 the 'turn up' invitee was HRH The Prince of Wales, and the 'grand old game' thus received the Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football tag it carries to this day.

John Farmer remained as landlord of The Travellers Rest until his death in 1932 at the age of only 58. His wife 'Lil' then assumed the role of licensee, and had quite an eventful start. In 1933 the Royal Show was staged in Derby for the fifth and final time, and the Travellers Rest stables were selected to house about a dozen champion horses, valuable guests indeed.

In time 'Lil' Farmer herself became something of a minor celebrity, for when she finally retired on 14 April 1961 she had been behind the bar at The Travellers Rest for fully forty years. The Derby Evening Telegraph ran a tribute to her, in which they stated that 'at the age of 86 she is Derby's oldest licensee'.

How many 'Derby Mile' revellers would even stop to think for a moment about a pub's history? If only beer pumps could talk!

Do you know any history or interesting associations connected to Derbyshire pubs? If so, why not consider sharing your stories with others by adding your own article to this site and helping to build up a pub history archive for Derbyshire.

Or perhaps you might remember 'Lil' Farmer from her time at the Travellers Rest in the 1950s or before. If so, why not add a comment here - just click 'edit' and start writing.

• Derbyshire Athletics - Your Stories Wanted
• Derbyshire Pubs - Your Stories Wanted!
• Faster, Higher, Stronger - Derbyshire Olympians

FEEDBACK

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not comment on it? Perhaps you disagree with something in it, or you know something the writer doesn't and can add some extra facts. You may want to ask a question about this article. Making a contribution is easy - either click 'edit' to insert more information or 'discussion' and then 'add comment.' This is your site. Please feel free to use it to the full and share your memories, thoughts and knowledge about Derbyshire with others.

If there is no 'edit' link showing it means the article has either previously been published in the Derby Evening Telegraph, or it has been protected by the site administrator and cannot be edited.'

County:  Derbyshire