From the Dover Express. 1872.

Drunkenness and Assault.

John Wood an elderly man was charged with being drunk and disorderly in the Golden Lion and assaulting the landlord and also with assaulting P.C. Ash.

William Amos said he was the landlord of the Golden Lion. On the previous evening between five and six o’clock the prisoner came into his house. He was intoxicated and on his asking for half-pint of beer witness refused to draw it. He said he should not go till he had it. but witness told him that he was certain he would. (Laughter) He then asked him if he would like to have one of the half-pint pots smashed about his ------- head and witness admitted that he would not relish it at all. (A laugh.) After telling him to go out of the house two or three times without effect witness went to see if he could find a policeman. As he was looking at one door the prisoner left by another and coming towards him endeavoured to pull him out of the house by his waistcoat. Witness however was to strong for him and threw him upon the ground where he held him till P.C. Ash came. P.C. Ash deposed to finding the complainant and the prisoner struggling on the ground in front of the Golden Lion. Complainant gave prisoner in charge for disorderly conduct and knowing the prisoner violent character he handcuffed him. He did this with great difficulty prisoner trying to bite him while he was doing so. On attempting to convey him to the Police Station he became very violent and kicked him on the leg. Assistance had to be procured and the prisoner had to be carried to the Police Station where his conduct was very violent. The prisoner said he had been to Diggle’s Tower where he had taken too much refreshment and after leaving the tower he lost recollection. The magistrates commended the conduct of Mr. Amos in refusing to supply the prisoner with liquor. On the charge of drunkenness he would be fined 5s and costs or in default a week’s imprisonment. For the assault on the police he would be imprisoned one month.

Information kindly supplied by Joyce Banks.

More reading of Dover at www.DoverHistory.co.uk

From the Dover Express 2 August 1998.

Trio of local pubs have new owners.

THREE pubs in Deal and Dover have new bosses after brewery giants Whitbread sold 253 pubs nationally to Avebury Taverns in a deal worth £42.5 million.

The Three Horseshoes in Deal and The Golden Lion and The Primrose in Dover are part of the sell-off by the leased pub division of Whitbread, Whitbread Pub Partnerships. Giving Avebury Taverns their first foothold in the Kentish pub scene.

Managing director of Pub Partnerships Stewart Miller said the sale was part of a continuing review of their estate. This included shedding the businesses which were not part of the long-term strategy.

Avebury's commercial director Ian Frost; said all tenancy agreements would remain, and the inns would continue trading as tra ditional community pubs.

The company was launched last year with backing from the Japanese securities company Diawa.

From the Dover Express, 11 November 2004. By Ciara Hill.

The humble winkle at the Golden Lion.

FOR those in the know, the phrase 'winkles up' will make perfect sense. For the rest of us, the idea of keeping a shell in your pocket at all times seems a little bizarre, but reporter CIARA HILL visited the Golden Lion to find out why the humble winkle is so important to so many people...

WALKING into the Golden Lion in Dover for the first time, one is blissfully unaware of entering Winkle Club madness and that life is about to change forever.

Landlord and winkle club chairman Rab Burt, 41, has been at the pub for eight years.

He is an ex-serviceman with a cheeky caginess that rests nicely with a thick Edinburgh accent.

He said: "About 12 years ago, I was just hitchhiking around and I ended up in Dover. I wasn't planning on coming here but I've just been here ever since."

Rab and wife Teresa run the pub together, but to call it just a pub would deny the community of people who reside in the place.

It's 10am and there are about half a dozen people propping up the bar - all the regulars know the full winkle story.

Rab said: "It started about six years ago when we all went on a drinking outing to Hastings.

After a few drinks we saw a huge bronze winkle statue in the town and thought 'that's a good idea, let's give it a go'."

The first Winkle Club was set up in 1900 by fishermen in Hastings, to help underprivileged families in the town.

The story is now an international one, as there are clubs all over the world and local photographer, Phil Wyborn-Brown, 52, was on hand to give a much needed explanation.

He said: "People can't get their heads around the lack of structure with Winkle Clubs.

"It's not a registered charity, the members' names aren't kept on record, it's just simple, we raise money and it goes straight to the people who need it.

"Sometimes we get calls from clubs in America or South Africa and they say 'winkles up' and so we get them out."

This is the moment when it all gets a little crazy. The moment Phil has uttered those two magical words the whole pub is reaching for their winkles.

The little shells have to be kept on your person at all times, although I am reliably informed that women can keep them in their purses if they have no pockets.

Phil said: "I used to be the royal photographer and when I wag on a shoot with the Queen Mother I called, 'winkles up'.

"As she should, she reached for hers, although it wasn't just any old winkle, it was a special solid gold one."

Over the years many famous people have become members of the organisation.

The Queen Mother was patron, and Winston Churchill and Lord Montgomery were both members. The Dover club is upholding the tradition of spreading the word to those in high places.

They recently wrote to the new Lord Warden and invited him to become their president.

Three days later, they received his reply which happily accepted the role.

Rab said: "We've got a special silver winkle for the admiral, and he will probably be paying us a visit at some stage in the near future."

The winkle costs £1 and then that's it, membership of a group of hundreds of Dovorians and thousands of people all over the world.

The objective is always to raise money, and the benefactors are local children who are in difficulties. The group will donate money in some instances but practical help is the norm.

Three young football teams in the area have got strips and equipment, Harbour school regularly receives help and there are two mobility chairs available on loan.

Basically the rule is they can achieve anything else for anybody else who needs it.

Phil said: "My daughter rang up once about a friend whose child had cancer of the eye and needed to be rushed to London.

"The family didn't have much money so we paid for their accommodation."

Over the years more than £20,000 has been donated to good causes by the Golden Lion club, and the winkle boys have become experts at sussing out the fraudsters.

Rab said: "We get calls from people saying, 'I'm terribly terribly ill, could you MOT my car and buy me a new TV?'.

"When somebody requests help we bounce it off each other and we haven't been taken in yet."

They take part in sponsored runs, sing karaoke, dress up, shave off and generally drink to raise their money.

It seems they will do almost anything - except bungee jumping. The average age of the members I met was 49, and they inform me that heart attacks may be the only result of such a venture.

They are busy men and were off later that day to present a new football strip to Seabrook primary school in Hythe.

The plans for the Christmas raffle, a five-mile sponsored run and a Winkle night in the pub are all under way.

It is very obvious that fundraising has become a way of life for regulars at the Golden Lion, a way of life which is led by the power of the humble winkle.

The various signs of The Golden Lion. 31 December 2007.

From the Dover Express 29 March 2007, by Yamurai Zendera.

Chew want to give up?

A JOVIAL pub landlord has come up with a novel way to poke fun at the impending smoking ban by giving punters free nicotine gum. Smokers will been banned from lighting up in public houses from July 1, but Rab Burt, 43, of The Golden Lion in Priory Street, Dover, said he will counter this by filling his ashtrays with Nicorette.

The father of two, who runs the pub with his wife Teresa, 44, will pay for the gum out of his own pocket as he believes the new law unfairly penalises smokers. Non-smoker Mr Burt said: "I'm making a point, financial gain is not my interest. Every person should have the choice of whether they want to smoke in a pub or not.

'This way when people come into my pub they will see that nothing has changed. They can still have their fix of nicotine legally if they choose to do that. It will be their choice and gives them another option." The former Royal Marine has written to the manufacturer of Nicorette gum to see if it will sponsor him, claiming his idea could help more people kick the habit.

Mr Burt said he thought his customers would see the funny side of his idea.

He added: "I want to make people smile. My customers know what I'm like.

"All the smokers will have to try a gum at first, and if they don't they will have to put £1 in the charity box."

The government predicts that about 600,000 people will give up smoking as a result of the law change.