The Plough:

The Plough is our last remaining village pub and it stands on the edge of our ‘village green’ – the Hickling Canal Basin.

It isn’t clear when the Plough Inn was first built but it appears to pre-date the Grantham Canal and there are signs that it may be recorded on the 1776 Enclosure Map.

Many families in the village can place their special memories here; weddings, wakes, birthdays, New Year’s Eve parties, reunions, village meetings, charity events – we would love to add your photos and memories to this page, so please contact us using the link above.

• (as a starter; ours is our first winter in Hickling with no heating, no electricity, being snowed in & wandering up to The Plough where we found blazing fires, a good drink, great food and such a warm welcome!)

Plough landlords and landladies:

• 1822 – George Hives – (referenced here in 1822, no precise detail)
• 1844 – Mrs Abigail Hives – (referenced here in August 1845, Dec 1846 and February 1863, no precise detail)
• 1864 – Mr Thomas Speed            
• 1871 – John Speed – (referenced here in 1876 when the building was sold to Mr Price & referenced again in April 1878; no precise detail)
• 1877 – 1894 – Mr Arthur Price   
• 1881 – Joseph Harris – (census)
• 1881 – July 1881: To Let vacant c. August; Large clubroom, bar-parlour, taproom, brewhouse, dairy, cellar, homestead, kitchen garden, good orchard, six stall stable, two loose boxes, piggery and other outbuildings.
• 1884 – Reference to a supper being held in the new room at The Plough
• 1893 – Arthur Price – Reference to death of Arthur Price (August 1893)
• 1895 – Mr Thomas & Mrs Elliott (referenced here in October 1895 & host and hostess Elliott’ in July 1896; no precise detail)
• 1897 – Mrs Richardson – licence transferred from Thomas Elliott to Sarah Ann Richardson (March 1897)
• 1898 – Mrs Sarah Pickering – licence transfer Sarah Ann Richardson to Sarah Pickering. Mrs Pickering married Harry/Henry Parnham in 1899 & then, according to Wadkin archive photographs, moved to live at the Navigation in 1903
• 1899 – Harry & Sarah Ann Parnham (previously Pickering) – referenced July 1899
• 1904 – Mrs Edgson – (referenced Host and Hostess Edgson, July 1904)
• 1905 – Elliott – Referenced Host and Hostess Elliott, July 1905
• 1905 – Sampson Cupit & Eliza Ashworth (Ashwell) – licence transfer (Oct 1905) Sampson Cupit to Eliza Ashworth. Ashworth also referenced July 1907, July 1908 (‘hostess Ashwell’ mis-spelling of Ashworth?). Ashwell also referenced in 1909.
• 1909 – Lewis Chambers – temporary licence transfer (October 1909) to Lewis Chambers. Still there for 1911 census.
• 1910 – Mr Chambers & Mr Joe Booth     
• 1917 – 1923 – Mrs Elizabeth Ann Widdison – died November 1923
  • Census 1921:
  • William Widdison – Head – Male – 1867 – 54 – Nottinghamshire – Publican – Own Account
  • Elizabeth Ann Widdison – Wife – Female – 1867 – 54 – Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland – House Duties
  • Edward Mee – Adopted son – Male – 1902 – 19 – Nottinghamshire – Assisting Father In General Work – employed by William Widdison Publican
  • Mary Alice Mitchell – Sister-in-law – Female – 1864 – 57 – Lancashire – None Valid
• 1924 – 1956 – Mrs Ethel M Armstrong – (Mr Armstrong died in 1925 and Ethel continued alone until 1956)
• 1956 – Mr Burton Timms            
• 1959 – Mr Frank Hill      
• 1978 – Mr R Burrows     
• 1980 – Mr Taylor            
• ? to 1997? – Mr Justin Collier – Sadly, Justin died very young whilst still landlord.
• 1997 – 1999? – Dickie Doyle – 18 months from July/Aug 1997?
• ? – Mr Chris Howard – (1999?)
• 2000? – Pete Thacker     
• 2002? – Keith & Dawn? 
• 2004 – 2007? – Mr Mark Nicholls (July 2004 – May 2009?)
• 2007? – Dave (?) – brought in by the brewery as an interim manager for a few months.
• 2008 – 2010? – Mr Bill Sweet & Ms Penny Brown (Oct 2008 – ?)
• Closed   – Sold by Scottish & Newcastle – no longer a ‘tied house’.
• 2011 – 2017? – Mr Bob & Mrs Sue Rook – (April 2011 – Sept 2017?)
• 2017 – 2019? – Nicola Thompson and Amelia – (March 2017 – May 2019?)
• 2019 – 2020 – Danny & Andy & Mr Jeremy (Jez) & Mrs Sarah Flacks-Wood – (July 4th 2019 – Aug 2020)
• 2020 – present – Chris & Kirsty – (August 2020 – present)

Change of ownership – from brewery to independent.

2009/2010 proved to be a turning point for the Plough. Bill Sweet (born and brought up in Hickling) & Penny Brown were the landlords at the time and they had worked incredibly hard to build up business and improve the area – this included improvements to the gardens, themed events (including a Hogmanay night & a home-made Pork Pie competition), a charity bungee jump, pop-up bars for village events and introducing a children’s play area and a pets area populated by rescue rabbits and guinea pigs.

This was a time when brewery owned pubs nationwide were in genuine crisis; the breweries raised rents as a business became more successful which meant that the profitability of any business progress was immediately eaten up. They put minimal effort into maintenance and repairs and because the Plough was in a ‘tied’ arrangement with the brewery, the landlords were paying considerably more, per barrel, than independents and had to buy everything else from them, too – also at inflated costs. On top of this, local council business rates were a problem – as an overhead, they were almost equal to the rent.

It was a genuine ‘Catch 22’ situation [read more] – the breweries benefitted from the success of the landlords (higher rents and high margins on consumables) and were happy to see landlords come and go – also benefitting from penalties when leases ended early & just starting again with new landlords … And, if this business relay finally ended, they owned a valuable property which could simply be sold for housing. A win-win situation for the big breweries and a lose-lose situation for landlords and communities.

Home Ales, by this time, had become Scottish and Newcastle although ownership issues were further complicated by property rights held by British Waterways and the waterside location. The village had already become involved in late 2008 with active plans to support the last remaining village pub and hopes were high when Bill & Penny took over in October 2008. But, by the autumn of 2009, the pub was in real trouble – a succession of landlords had been forced to move on because they simply couldn’t make the finances work and Bill & Penny found themselves in the same place. Village pubs were closing all over the country and the village didn’t want The Plough to go the same way.

A combination of the Parish Council, members of the community, a 600 signature petition and the intervention of MP, Kenneth Clarke finally succeeded in persuading Scottish and Newcastle to sell The Plough. There were all kinds of plans; community ownership, a community run village shop, a micro-brewery on the land at the end of the car park, a seating area alongside the canal but, in the end, it was sold to a private businessman (who also owns other pubs) and since 2010 he has leased The Plough to successive managers/landlords and funded an extension to the restaurant, kitchen upgrades and the resurfacing of the car park.

Unfortunately, Bill and Penny couldn’t keep going and they left at the time of the sale.

Running a village pub is still an incredibly difficult business – the ten years since the brewery sale have been a real rollercoaster, but with independence has come opportunities and, it is hoped, a future. [/read]

Please note: this is a large gallery and may take a little while to load to your screen.