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A former landlady has shared her fond memories of a vanished city pub which was once the beating heart of a thriving community. Di Catstrey ran the former Vauxhall Inn in Rainbow Hill in Worcester for almost 30 years and has many memories of this pub in its heyday when it was much more than just a boozer. Now an Indian restaurant called Balti Mahal, those with a longer memory may recall when this iconic building was as much a buzzing social club as a pub with a full calendar of activities.
Known primarily for sports where team members excelled, it had darts and football teams and activities from comedians cracking jokes to coach trips for the whole family. The 86-year-old of Warndon Villages, Worcester (and a former Worcester table tennis champion) ran the pub between 1969 and 1998 when a combination of circumstances forced her to throw in the proverbial bar towel. She had at one time wanted to buy the pub - but it was not on the market.
MEMORIES: Joan Hancock (holding the shield), sister of Di Catstrey (far right) and Mrs Bray and her three daughters after a Thursday Ladies Darts League win for the Vauxhall Inn in Worcester (Image: Supplied) "Many romances and marriages began at the Vauxhall. I have excellent memories. It was the place to go in Worcester, especially in the Rainbow Hill area.
I was the envy of quite a few publicans at one time because we were always busy," she said. Her reason to leave, reported at the time by the then Worcester Evening News, was that owners had neglected the pub. She explained at the time how Yorkshire landlord, Trent Taverns, refused to spend money on the pub which left it in a 'terrible state'.
Meanwhile, rent rose from £5 a month when she took it over to £1,400 per month by the late 1990s, forcing her hand. VIBRANT: The Vauxhall Inn in Rainbow Hill in Worcester when it was the beating heart of the pub scene (Image: Supplied) However, she has so many fond memories of the pub which was known as the city's premier sports pub. While she was running it, the Vauxhall had 10 plus darts teams, two pool teams, two crib teams, two dominoes teams, two quoit teams, a buff lodge, a pigeon club, a football team and a cricket team.
"It's a feather in my cap when people say what a good pub it was. It makes me feel good. I don't think there's a pub like the Vauxhall anymore," she said.
There was little trouble at the pub - she only ever remembers the police being called out twice. BUSY: The Vauxhall Inn in Worcester in its thriving heyday (Image: Supplied) The popular pub played host to a flower show, a pigeon show, darts open tournaments for charity, welcomed regular coach parties from Stourbridge and organised trips to the seaside. Plenty of young people had their first pints in 'The Vaux', as the pub was affectionately known, and offered accommodation for apprentices from Berni Inns and Metal Box.
"The main thing we were known for was darts. We had teams coming here from all over the Midlands," said Mrs Catstrey who says she would love to make contact with some of the players from Stourbridge and other teams who visited. WEDDING: Di at her wedding to her first husband, Ron Turberfield, who died in 1987 and was an accomplished darts player (Image: Supplied) "We were known as a darting pub and we had whole coach loads coming here.
I wonder if anyone can remember going to Worcester to play darts at the Vauxhall Inn from places like Stourbridge and Cradley Heath?" she said. Some customers would come to the city from the Black Country to go to Worcester Races. Often they would go the Vauxhall afterwards for upstairs entertainment.
ICONIC: The Vauxhall Inn in Rainbow Hill in Worcester has one of the most memorable frontages in the city (Image: Supplied) The pub also had four letting bedrooms and often staff would help apprentices by doing their washing for them. The Vauxhall also ran a social club from the early 70s which would organise coaches to Ascot and even a train to Weymouth for families, which they did 'three years on the trot', leaving in a train from Shrub Hill Station. "It was really something exceptional, to have your own train," she said.
TRANSFORMATION: The Vauxhall Inn has been described as a 'proper pub' and a great social pub (Image: Supplied) Born in a house in Nash's Passage (number 39) and raised in the Blockhouse area of Worcester (near St Paul's Gardens), Mrs Catstrey said her family was the second to move into the Warndon estate. Mrs Catstrey (maiden name Parry) is one of six children (three girls and three boys) and all attended the undenominational school, also known as the British School, in Bowling Green Terrace. Di and her first and second husbands (Ron Turberfield and Calvin Catstrey) travelled extensively so some customers with a touch of wry humour dubbed the pub the 'Seldom In' instead of the Vauxhall Inn.
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I said 'if you can live at the pub and help out, you can live here for free'. He was magic," she said. Both her husbands were good darts players, and because of the pub's strong connections to the sport she has met many darts legends including Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Alan Evans.
If you ran a pub that has since closed down and have memories you would like to share with readers in a feature, get in touch with James Connell by emailing [email protected].
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