Winter at home

From Bob Burgess: I have been researching family history and discovered ancestors from Dawley who seem to have been life long inhabitants 1806-1901. The Willets are recorded as dwelling in Dawley, predominantly employed as blacksmiths however Isaiah Willets b1831 is described as the landlord / publican of the "Omnibus Inn" which I understand has been re-named the Queens Arms.

I have retired to live in Spain so all my research is done on the internet otherwise I would visit the area to get more info, my e-mail to you is to ask if you have photo's that may include the "Omnibus Inn" in it's pride so to speak.

Sadly, the Queen's Arms is long past its prime, and the pub trade in the UK is in meltdown. I kept poor Bob waiting over a month for a reply, and the best I have to offer him is a most regrettably common picture of a disused pub in a sad state of neglect.

The various signs on the building tell their own sad story.

The other regally-named pub in Dawley, The Queen's Head, at the bottom of the high street, is suffering a worse fate: at least The Queen's Arms is for sale as a pub; it is not clear whether this pub is to be demolished (as rumoured locally) or converted, as so many, to residential use.

When I thought of googling Omnibus Inn, the results referred to Dawley Bank. This put a new slant on Bob's query: The Queen's Arms at Dawley Bank is very much alive and well, although looking bedraggled on a very wet, grey, horrid day, and disfigured by the barriers around a hole in the pavement.

The sign is a portrait of Good Queen Bess, although she does look as though someone bashed her on the forehead with a frying pan.