The Boat Inn Redbrook (General)

by Bailey , Monday, October 22, 2012, 19:09 (4202 days ago) @ unknown

The Boat Inn has quite a history, look to their web page which records as follows:-

"The pub has been owned by the Jelf family for over 350 years; here is a little bit of their history.

Legend has it that when King Charles II was fleeing from his enemies after the battle of Worcester in 1651 a royal subject called Jelf ferried him to freedom across the River Severn at Ashleworth. In gratitude, the monarch granted to Jelf and his descendents the right to Ashleworth ferry crossing alongside their old farmhouse-turned-inn. However, other records suggest that these privileges may have been given to the Jelfs even earlier, by Prince Edward of March (later King Edward IV) when we was fleeing from his enemies of the House of Lancaster in about 1460. Certainly the family was in the village at a time when one John Jelfes was identified as an Ashleworth leaseholder in 1450. Six of his male descendents were listed as being military age in 1522.

The pub was passed down from father to son until the early twentieth century when sisters Irene and Sybil Jelf inherited it. They ran it together for over 25 years until the death of Sybil in 1990. Irene then ran it partnership with her niece Jaqueline Nicholls. Jaqueline was passionate about Real Ale and worked hard to create a reputation for serving good beer, wining numerous CAMRA awards@...(worth contacting the current landlords - and is worth a visit).

There are numerous accounts of the Jelf family of Ashleworth who managed the inn, the ferry, fishing rights along the Severn (look to British History on-line for anecdotes)

Kind Regards

Bailey