SIR,

I note that the Vine Tree Inn in Monnow Street is no longer a Public House. It reminds me of a story I was told many years ago:

If a group of people decided to spend an evening on a pub crawl in Monmouth they always started at the Vine Tree. The reason for this was that the pub did not have a cellar and the beer was served straight from the barrel.

In the other pubs the beer had languished in the pipes over night before being pumped up to the bar.

  You will notice that there is an opening between the Vine Tree and the shop next door. This is because the brewery had a right of way to deliver the barrels of beer to the rear of the Vine Tree.

In the early 70s a planning application was made for permision to demolish the Vine Tree and replace it with a mini supermarket. This was refused on the grounds that the Vine Tree possessed a mediaeval roof structure which had to be preserved.

Derek Jones

(Monmouth)