IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
St. Agathas Road, PERSHORE, WR10 1DG

Looking south from High Street. Pershore Abbey is in the background.

Appropriately Pershore's Catholic church is to be found in Priest Lane, which no doubt got its name centuries ago from the nearby Pershore Abbey. The church was built in 1958-59 to the design of Hugh Bankart of Bath.

View to the north from the tower of Pershore Abbey. Priest Lane is the straight street in the near distance with Pershore Hall surrounded by trees and a 1960s housing development in the middle distance.

Previously The Talbot Inn, this public house is older than it looks. A Grade II listed building, the listing text says that it is probably 16th century, but much altered and added to in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It retains some timber-framing to the right side-wall and to the interior. Although this photograph was taken some years ago, happily the pub is still (August 2019) very much in business. It really is the last of Pershore's backstreet pubs. Image Image

The Talbot hound was a dog, usually white or mainly white, which was used for hunting for a long period of time, but appears to have become extinct around the end of the 18th century or a little later. It was possibly related to the bloodhound. Even after the breed disappeared, its appearance was well-known to people, so it was an easily depicted and recognised subject for pub signs. There are still many pubs and inns in existence which were named after this dog. Image Image

This pub has managed to retain this West Country Ales plaque, and this example is in excellent condition. The ceramic plaque is affixed to the pub's front wall. These plaques were first used by the Gloucestershire brewers, West Country Breweries, who were an amalgamation of others, two of whom commenced brewing in 1760. The plaques were placed by West Country Breweries on their pubs between 1958 and 1963, when Whitbreads took them over. Whitbreads continued to use the castle logo and to install these plaques for a few years after the takeover, until about 1967. There are still quite a few around, with some variation of colour, and in two sizes. Image Image

On Newlands.

There are plenty of pubs in Pershore, but sometimes it pays to seek out the back-street pubs to get the real flavour of a place. Such is the 'Talbot'. Incidentally, the Talbot was a breed of hunting dog, now extinct. It was large and white in colour, usually with a few dark spots. It had an exceptionally keen sense of smell.