Letter: Was 39 High Street the mysterious Swan Inn?

Dear Mr Brunsdon,

I have just received the October 2004 Glastonbury Conservation Society newsletter, and just had to read it right away. I was interested in the “Swan Inn” [a mystery raised by Adrian Pearse on the back page of Newsletter 113] and wondered if it was the late Bert Bird’s house at 39 High Street. [Today 39 High Street, adjacent to the post office, is Moss Pharmacy.]

I had known Bert since I was a schoolgirl and often popped in for a chat when he retired there. He used to say it used to be an inn, and it certainly was, from the layout of the inside. No doubt some of Malcolm Slocombe’s family has the deeds, as Bert’s daughter married into their family, I believe.

I myself can remember when I was a child of six or seven years some prisoners of World War I were housed there, and some “friendly” (?) folk used to tie cigarettes or sweets onto pieces of string let down from the windows above. Some prisoners used to be taken to Sharpham Park Farm to work during the day, with always a guard carrying a gun. Some were lodged by the station in the big house called The Pollards, if I remember rightly.

What a lot of improvements the Conservation Society has done; how I wish I had never left. Hope it will still go on from strength to strength, for it is so absolutely necessary!

Yours sincerely,
Daisie Cecil-Clarke
Brentwood, Essex