John Croxen was the first known landlord of The Dukes Arms (prior to that had been the landlord of The Red Cow). He manufactured bricks on land behind the pub and built Croxen's Row and Brickyard Row. William Brown, his son-in-law and succeeding landlord, had Brown's Row built at the end of Piggott's Lane.
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| Elizabeth Newman became the licensee of The Dukes Arms following the death of her husband Alfred. Between them they kept the pub for 26 years. Mrs Newman was also England's first lady Rural councillor. To read the obituary of this lady, click here. |
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The table below shows the earliest dates we have for each of the landlords occupying the premises.
| John Croxen |
1841 |
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Wm Henry Clark |
1906 |
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T Boyles |
1959 |
| William Brown |
1862 |
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Selina Clark |
1914 |
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Reginald A Hodges |
1966 |
| Joseph Thompson |
1876 |
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Herbert Wm Eady |
1931 |
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John & Barbara Hobday |
1980 |
| Alfred Newman |
1881 |
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Albert F Cooke |
1936 |
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Donald & Doretha Smith |
1982 |
| Elizabeth Newman |
1890 |
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Ronald ('Ron') Thornton |
1946 |
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Barry Pound & Catherine Snow |
1990 |
| Ada Eliz Wright |
1904 |
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John ('Jimmy') Nicholson |
1950s |
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Guy Bowman & Margaret Dodgeon |
1994 |
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Michael Dineen |
2002 |
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The Duke's Arms in the 1900s, advertised as
"Good Stabling" and "Good Accommodation for Cyclists."
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In the first part of the last century it was not uncommon for inquests to be held at The Dukes Arms. One such inquest took place in April 1916 into the death of a local miner, William Evans, who was killed by a roof fall at the Cranford mines. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."
At some point during the late 1920s The Dukes Arms was considerably damaged by fire. Newspaper references to the event are still being researched, consequently it is not possible to say at the current time of writing exactly how the fire originated. Whatever the cause, the result was that the premises was reduced to two storeys.
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Left: The Duke's Arms in the mid 1940s, showing the rebuilding after the fire. The landlord has put out the flags for some celebration, possibly VJ Day in 1945 or the Royal Wedding in 1947.
Right: A similar photograph of the premises taken in the 1950s.The window lit up to the right of the inn was part of Phyl Papworth's grocery and confectionery shop, which was demolished in the 1960s together with the others in that row.
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"Our Bitter Beer drinks just like wine,
Our Mild there is no finer,
Our Stout, Brown, No. 10, too,
Each one a sure top-liner."
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Not perhaps the snappiest of rhymes, but this was part of the contribution by The Dukes Arms to the Gala Day Programme on 27th July 1940. It also mentioned that there were "music weekends" and that a microphone had been installed. Bert Cooke was the proprietor at the time.
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The Dukes Arms - 1946
Shortly after the Second World War in either late 1945 or early 1946, Bert Cooke was succeeded as landlord by Ron Thornton, who had served in the RAF throughout the war.
This photo, kindly donated by son Mike Thornton, shows Ron and his wife Betty standing in the doorway of their pub under the board bearing Ron's name.
The couple kept the pub until about 1953, when they moved to The Old White Horse in High Street, Kettering.
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The Dukes Arms Darts Team c1959
Standing L-R: Charlie Murgatroyd, ? , Bill Hickman, Fred Craddock,
George Craddock
Seated L-R: Sid Woodward, Jimmy Devine, Cyril Craddock,
Dougie Benford
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Ron "Dot" Johnson, pulling pints at the Duke.
Acording to his son Johnnie, he was known as Dot
after his father Walter "Dot" Johnson - who was
called Dot because of his habit of wearing a cravat
with polka dots on!
Photo courtesy of Johnnie Johnson
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