THE landlord of a Newton Abbot pub hopes Mid-Devon Advertiser readers can help him trace the history of his town-centre watering hole.

The Saracens Head has been dispensing hospitality from premises Fairfield Terrace for at least 150 years… and possibly longer.

Andrei Slipszenko has just celebrated ten years as landlord at the Saracens Head, which makes him one of the longest-serving landlords in Newton Abbot.

The 10-year milestone got Mr Slipszenko curious about his predecessors and the history of the pub in general? He wants to create a time-line display in the pub, complete with photos and biographies of characters from the past.

Mr Slipszenko’s initial research revealed the pub was run by the same family for at least 60 years and maybe longer than that. What he hopes Advertiser readers can do is fill in the gaps in a pretty threadbare record.

‘I was told when I first came here that Charlie Frost was the landlord for 50 years, but that’s not quite true,’ said Mr Slipszenko.

‘Thomas Henry Frost, who was definitely the landlord in 1910 and was still listed in Kelly’s Directory as the proprietor in the early 1950s.

‘That Mr Frost was on the Newton Abbot Urban District Council for around 20 years and was chairman – what we would think of as mayor nowadays – during the World War Two. He was also a magistrate.

‘Thomas Henry Frost moved from the pub to Silverwood Avenue where Aller Brake is now in the mid-1950s and the pub passed to his son, Charles Frederick Frost.

‘We have a photo of the pub euchre team winning a cup in 1975 and Martin Howard, one of my older regulars, has identified Charlie Frost as being in it.

‘It would be marvellous if there are some relatives of Thomas or Charlie Frost still living, who may have memories or memorabilia they could share with me.’

Conrad Sutcliffe, a Newton Abbot-based freelance journalist with a passion for local history, has been helping Mr Slipszenko with some of the research work.

Mr Sutcliffe said while some nuggets of information have been discovered, the process has been frustrating at times.

‘Devon & Cornwall Police did have a dusty old ledger with details of all the landlords of Newton Abbot pubs dating back years,’ said Mr Sutcliffe.

‘Sadly, the ledger was disposed of a few years ago as part of a data clear out. The police told me as it was more than six years old they did not keep it. One look at that would have answered loads of questions!

‘When I have done this sort of work in the past it has been possible to see old voters’ rolls and lists of rate payers in documents held in local authority archives. No luck there this time.’

Newton Abbot Library does hold some Kelly’s Directories, but its collection is sparse.

‘If anyone out there has any Kelly’s Directories I can read through, please get in touch as they are full of useful information,’ said Mr Sutcliffe.

The pub originally occupied number two Fairfield Terrace and expanded into number four next door in late 1923.

Tim Treeby, another history buff who has access to records dating back to the 1870s, has compiled a rough list of landlords covering the first 100 years of the pub’s history,

‘A woman called Margaret Cose was selling cider and groceries from here as long ago as 1861,’ said Mr Slipszenko.

‘By 1869 the premises are listed as a beer house and the ownership changed hands quite a few times, more than once because the landlord died.

‘The Shapter family ran it for 10 years up until 1909, which was when Thomas Frost moved in. He died in the early 1950s, by when his son had taken over.’

Mr Slipszenko has an short list of more recent landlords, from the early 1980s, which includes Tim Langford (1984-91), Carol Millington (1998-2004) and Lizzie Broad (2008-2012).

‘I don’t have dates for others such as Sandy French, Johnny Johnson and a lady called Shepherd,’ said Mr Slipszenko. ‘All information welcome.’

Mr Slipszenko is eager to hear from any descendants of previous landlords, especially the Frost family. He can be contacted at [email protected] or by dropping into the pub.

Anyone with old street directories or information where they and old voters’ rolls may be found, should contact Mr Sutcliffe at [email protected]

‘And if anyone has any old photos of pub teams or events in the pub, I would love to be able to copy them,’ said Mr Slipszenko.