By Nick Pollard
This postcard of the Three Horseshoes pub, at the southern end of Shepperton High Street, can be accurately dated to 1927. This is because in the background can be seen the newly-built Lordsbridge House, which was completed that year (the date is on a plaque over the central doorway). There is a ‘To Let’ sign visible on the ground floor, where vacant shop fronts await an occupier. A row of men in flat caps sit in the sunshine outside the pub, and it is tempting to speculate that they are workmen from the Lordsbridge House site, quenching their thirst after a spell of heavy work. Nearby stands a ‘Bullnose’ Morris Cowley, so named from the shape of its radia-tor, one of the most popular cars of the period. The pub displays the signage of Ashby’s brewery, which was based in Church Street, Staines, and had acquired the pub in the late 19th century. ‘Charta Ale’ (as in Magna Charta) was one of their best-selling beers. It would be taken over by H.G. Simonds of Reading three years later, with the rest of Ashby’s business. At about the same time the pub acquired the area enclosed by a brick wall to the right, which up till that date was the school playground for the National School in the High Street. The school moved away to a new site (now St Nicholas School) and the old building became the scout headquarters. It is now the School of Spice restaurant. The pub itself had only just been rebuilt by Ashby’s, replacing a much older 18th century building, which had been a pub since at least 1788 when William Friend was the landlord. His counterpart at the time of this postcard was James Main Munro. The name ‘Three Horseshoes’ probably refers to the nearby blacksmith’s forge, further down School Lane, operated by the Burchett family (hence Burchett’s Way). Clearly a horse with only 3 shoes needs a replacement! Opposite the pub, and just out of sight in this view, was the village pound, where stray animals were kept until their owner could be found. Monthly meetings of the Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society continue on Zoom while the current restrictions are in place. If you would like to join in with our series of talks on local history, see our website www.sslhs.org.uk for details.