Times of innocent fun from the Worcester of the 1940s

He and his two sisters share the distinction of having been the last three children to be born, literally, at the historic Golden Lion pub, immediately opposite the Guildhall, in High Street. It was converted in recent years to a coffee bar.

Archie arrived into the world at the Golden Lion in 1939, to be followed by sisters June in 1941, and Sue in 1947. Their parents, George and Marion Fidoe, spent their early married years living at the Golden Lion. Marion's father, Harry Dale and wife Florence were mine hosts at the pub from 1923, until 1950.

Archie has fond memories of his first 10 years of boyhood spent at the Golden Lion through the 1940s.

"They were good times, and I remember the pub always choc-a-bloc with customers engaged in lively conversation," he said.

"City councillors, fresh from Guildhall meetings, and police officers on duty from the City Police Station, were among the pub's regulars.

"No doubt, a lot of Worcester people will well remember the historic Golden Lion Passage which ran alongside the pub from High Street to The Shambles. Back then, it was lined with some small shops and a caf, and in the war years, my grandfather would put out benches in the covered area of the passage for soldiers and other servicemen to sit at with their drinks.

"As a lad, I would regularly descend on The Shambles from the Golden Lion Passage in the evening for what could be some unusual pickings. The Shambles, then, was always a black mass of shoppers during the day but, for some reason, the tarmac along the street was very soft. People would drop the odd coin or two, and these would get stuck.

"When most people had gone home, I would take an old screwdriver and, with a few other boys, go to prise out the lost and discarded coins from the tarmac. We used to do quite well from that!"

As a small boy, Archie was also fond of making lone sorties through the nearby Woolworth's store on his three-wheeler bike.

"I would get my head down and ride through Woolworth's from one end to the other, no doubt making quite a noise and nuisance as the store then had a wooden floor throughout. The staff would occasionally catch me and give me a rollicking."

Other excitements for young Archie included the regular parades along High Street of local cadet forces - the Sea Cadets, the Air Training Corps and the Army Cadets.

"There was an unofficial competition among the drum majors in those days to see who could throw their maces high enough to get over the street lighting cables which then stretched from one side of High Street to the other.

"My uncle, Harry Dale junior, who was in the ATC, always succeeded in the feat and in safely catching his mace again, but the drum majors of the Army and Sea Cadets were not always so successful."

Another regular scene outside the Golden Lion for Archie was the arrival of steam-driven brewery lorries delivering fresh supplies to the pub, then part of the Kelsey Brewery group.

"My mother told me that back in the 1930s, a popular comedian who starred at the Theatre Royal, would feature the Golden Lion in one of his jokes, quipping that after closing time, the Scales of Justice statue above the Guildhall would tend to lean towards the pub!"

Archie's education began at St Martin's Boys School, but sometimes when he arrived home in the afternoon, the doors of the Golden Lion would be locked up as it was outside licensing hours.

"However, a window down the passage was always left open for me, and I would climb in through it."

Archie's boyhood chums included David Marston, whose parents Cyril and Gertrude kept the former Liverpool Vaults in The Shambles, and Peter Sarratt, whose father was manager of David Grieg's, the grocery store at the corner of High Street and Church Street.

An insight into the Golden Lion Passage of the 1940s has also been given me by Archie.

"The first section of it off High Street was covered over and, to the immediate rear of the pub, was what had been stables and a coach house in times past, when the Golden Lion welcomed customers arriving by horse or carriage. In the wall of the passage too, was a sculpted head which I believe was supposed to represent that of a traitor from the time of the English Civil War and the 1651 Battle of Worcester.

"Next came a roof garden over the passage - an area which was said originally to have been the site of probably the city's first theatre centuries ago.

"The remaining length of the passage was lined with shops owned by Kelseys Brewery and rented out to a stationer, an outfitter, a bookmaker, a cobbler, Bywaters, and a watchmaker named Frank Kent. There was also a caf run by Sammy Stone who, it seems, was really a tailor by trade.

"Edens, the greengrocers and fishmongers, had a shop in The Shambles alongside the rear entrance to the Golden Lion Passage, and they used some of the storage accommodation off the passage itself to ripen bananas. In fact, I can remember the large selection of spiders to be glimpsed in those banana rooms.

"There were gates across both entrances to the Golden Lion Passage, and those at The Shambles end were wooden with spikes across the top. The Edens would sometimes hang their brown paper carrier bags on them, but I understand that one of the Eden boys, while home on leave, jumped up to get a carrier bag and lost or badly injured a finger on one of the spikes.

"It seems that at some stage, Edens applied to build a fish counter into the side of their shop where it faced into the Golden Lion Passage, but Kelseys initially refused permission on the grounds that smells would pervade the passageway. However, my grandfather persuaded the brewery to relent, and the go-ahead was eventually given.

"Edens went on to supply fresh fish to, among many others, Ricketts' fish and chip shop in New Street - a wonderful chippy if my memory serves me right.

"Members of the Eden family would regularly retire to the Golden Lion for a refresher after a long day running their business. I'm told too that the Edens and the Dale family of the Golden Lion would often enjoy a fish supper together at the pub after closing time. In fact, my mother, Mrs Marion Fidoe sends good wishes to any of the Edens still around in the Worcester area today."

Elts' shoe shop in The Shambles still stands alongside the surviving rear section of the Golden Lion Passage. Edens used to be on the other side of the entrance way. Archie Fidoe says his grandfather would lock up the gates at each end of the passage at nights and certain other times as it was not a public right of way.

Harry Dale senior, landlord of the Golden Lion from 1923 until 1950, fought in the Boer War and was seriously wounded, but later kept a pub in Birmingham, before moving to Worcester. He and wife Florence had four children - Marion (Archie's mother), Joan (now Mrs Kimber of Leigh Sinton) and twins Bill and Harry junior, who both still live in Worcester and spent much of their working lives with the engineering company Heenan & Froude.

Harry Dale senior and his wife went to live in retirement and until their deaths at the home of their son Bill in Perry Wood Walk.

Their daughter Marion Dale married George Fidoe, who came from Hucks Farm, Wichenford, and was for many years manager of a butchers' shop in Broad Street, Worcester, roughly opposite the former Crown Hotel. It was first owned by the London Central Meat Company, then Baxters Butchers, and finally Dewhursts.

George died about 10 years ago, but his widow Marion has her home in the Wichenford area. There are five children of the marriage - Archie, June and Sue (all born at the Golden Lion), and Sally and Julie, who arrived after the Fidoe family had moved from the pub in 1949, to live at Ronkswood.

June Fidoe became a dancer travelling around the world until she married Italian Paulo Benassi. She now lives in Italy, where she is wardrobe mistress to a leading opera company.

Sue Fidoe (now Mrs Callard) lives in Hampshire, while Sally (now Mrs Bullock) and Julie (Mrs Woodyatt) have their homes in Worcester.

Archie Fidoe and wife Coralie live in Greenacres Road, Worcester. After leaving Worcester Technical School, Archie spent a career of 40 years at Longbridge, Birmingham, first with Austins working on the A35 and finally with Rover until his retirement four years ago.

He held several managerial posts, latterly covering engine and gearbox assembly and production for the Mini. One of his two sons, Richard followed in Archie's footsteps - he has a managerial role at Longbridge.