Friday 13th February 2026  

Glass from the Pig and Whistle pub, Quorn

This etched half pint glass (look carefully!) is thought to date from the 1940s or 1950s and comes from the Pig and Whistle pub, which used to be on Station Road in Quorn – now 60 Station Road and a dental practice (2025). The glass came from Colin and Joan Broadbent who ran the Pig and Whistle for a short time in the early 1970s.

Colin very kindly shared his experiences:
“Our background was in Industry, I was Personnel Manager in the Coventry Car Industry and Joan was in Accounts at Courtaulds and then Sketchley in Hinckley. We lived in Hinckley and decided that we would like to work for ourselves, a friend in the Trade suggested we try Licensed House Management, get a couple of years running a Brewery Managed Pub and then buy our own. We went on a 3 month Management Training Course at M&B Birmingham and then did Relief Management until we got our own House. I worked several Pubs in Coventry and Leicester before being asked to take over at The Pig & Whistle, Quorndon as the tenant had left unexpectedly. In Spring 1971, I took over the pub which had been closed for a while and soon opened up for trade. Opening hours were limited, 12.00 to 2pm and 7.00pm to 10.30pm. Two of the first customers were Mr and Mrs Allen from across the park in School Lane, who said they were pleased that the pub had re-opened, Mr Allen used to tell us stories of his father who had worked on the building of the Carillon in Loughborough. We also had a couple of visits from a young Police Constable who warned us about a gang of youths who had been causing 'problems' around the villages and 'advising' us we should not serve them!!

We thought we would wait and see, the lads came in after a few days, leather jackets etc so we made sure of their ages, anyone under 18 'soft drinks only' and said that if they behaved, they would be welcome, they agreed and were a good bunch of lads, soon accepted by the other customers and went on to do some charity work etc. One thing they suggested was raising funds at a Mountsorrel Charity Fayre in a piano smashing contest, but had not got a piano. No problem! Upstairs in the old 'Concert Room' which in itself was not in good condition, particularly the floor, was an old piano, of no worth, so the lads carried it down, arranged transport and got it to Mountsorrel for the Fayre Contest. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the result, but they did come back for a celebration afterwards. Some months later we took over The Duke of York in Loughborough and the lads came to visit.

We got to know a couple of the other innkeepers in the village: Jim at the Royal Oak at the main road (Quorn Cross), and Freddie and Beena at the Apple Tree at the end of the road. I was also invited to lunch at the hotel on the main road – The Hurst - there was a horsedrawn coach on the forecourt.

Our first son, Craig, was a few weeks old when we took on the Pig & Whistle and over the summer months; Joan would often bring him and sometimes her parents to visit, they would sit in the garden on the warm summer days and in the pub living rooms in the evenings or with customers in the bar. Freddie and Beena at the Apple Tree asked us to pop in when we closed, 10.30pm then, and take the baby with us. Beena would love to nurse him on her knee. They had been licensees of a large pub in central London up until they retired. Freddie told us about the wartime bombings; he had a large collection of old Georgian glasses which were displayed in a separate room. One night a bomb hit the pub and every single piece of old and valuable glassware was smashed, but Freddie said that in the store room next door, where all the brewery glasses etc were stored there was no damage at all.

A couple of years later the couple moved to an LVA Retirement complex and we went to their last night where Freddie gave us a small collection of old pewter jugs and tankards which became part of my collection.

We spent a happy few months in Quorn in the Summer of 1971 before we were offered the management of the Duke of York Hotel in Loughborough. The licensee there was Jim Doughty who ran the pub with his wife Olive. She was ill so the brewery, then M&B, Coventry, offered Jim the Pig & Whistle which he could run on his own while Olive was ill. Jim and Olive Doughty ran the Pig & Whistle and Joan and I moved into the Duke of York.”

Submitted on: 2025-04-06 Submitted by: Sue Templeman and Colin Broadbent Artefact ID: 2608 Artefact URL: www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=2608 Print: View artefact in printer-friendly page or just on its own (new browser tab).