Working at the Pound Lane, Wareham Brewery...
Life of an employee at The Old Brewery: Credit Dorset Life
When we were children our parents used to take us for walks on a Sunday afternoon and my father would explain about various buildings. One was a large barn that stands on St John’s Hill in Wareham. He said that once it belonged to a brewery and that his grandfather worked for them. As they got bigger they moved to Pound Lane.
When we were children our parents used to take us for walks on a Sunday afternoon and my father would explain about various buildings. One was a large barn that stands on St John’s Hill in Wareham. He said that once it belonged to a brewery and that his grandfather worked for them. As they got bigger they moved to Pound Lane.
Panton's Swanage Brewery, very similar to The Old Brewery. Photo Credit: Art UK
He was employed as a Maltster which entailed spreading the barley on the floor. He had to keep raking it over until it started to sprout! Then it was ready to boil in the vats to start the process of making beer. To be a Maltster was quite a responsible job as you had to be prepared to work all hours because if you didn’t catch the barley at the right time it could all be ruined!
The brewery sold to Strong & Co of Romsey in 1893. Strong’s converted a lot of the property to flats and the yard to a storage depot, supplying ale to all the Strong’s public houses in the south of Dorset. The barn on St John’s Hill was taken over by Newbery & Sons Blacksmiths and General Engineers but Panton’s still kept the top floor and carried on using it as the malthouse until finally closing it down and moving it all to Pound Lane. Charles Lander Elmes was recorded in the 1881 census as working as a brewery man in Pound Lane.
My granddad served a three-year apprenticeship with the Newberys then took a job with Strong & Co Brewery. Strong’s closed the Brewery side of the business in 1899 but kept the storage depot at the yard open.
Read More at Dorset Life...
The brewery sold to Strong & Co of Romsey in 1893. Strong’s converted a lot of the property to flats and the yard to a storage depot, supplying ale to all the Strong’s public houses in the south of Dorset. The barn on St John’s Hill was taken over by Newbery & Sons Blacksmiths and General Engineers but Panton’s still kept the top floor and carried on using it as the malthouse until finally closing it down and moving it all to Pound Lane. Charles Lander Elmes was recorded in the 1881 census as working as a brewery man in Pound Lane.
My granddad served a three-year apprenticeship with the Newberys then took a job with Strong & Co Brewery. Strong’s closed the Brewery side of the business in 1899 but kept the storage depot at the yard open.
Read More at Dorset Life...
