If you walk along the footpath from Old Post Office Lane to Bretforton Road, you will come to a small modern estate of six houses called Hither Green. People of a certain age who grew up in Badsey will recall that, until about 1970, a derelict cottage stood on the site. The late John Bird (1933-2014), who grew up at 22 Bretforton Road, painted the cottage from memory in 1988. This is the view that he would have had from his garden. The buildings on the left are The Leys cottages (also demolished about 1970); the barn and greenhouses on the right belonged to Stewarts’ yard.
Badsey folklore says that the building was once an inn called “The Holly Bush”. If this is correct, the inn was probably in existence in the 18th century but had ceased being a drinking establishment by the following century. There is no mention of it being an inn in 19th century records – either in the census returns, or in the enclosure records when it was owned by Samuel Jelfs. So what is the basis for this story?
The tale has been handed down through oral history. Brian Smith of Aldington says that John Bird told him that his father, Cyril Bird (1903-1970), had believed it because it came from a reliable source. Holly bushes are capable of living for up to 300 years, so it was obvious why it was known as “The Holly Bush”. Brian has tried to hazard a guess at the possible time line, admittedly subject to a fairly big variation:
Old man tells Cyril Bird (say ) 1950
Old man born 1880
His grandfather born 1820
Heard story in 1850
Inn in operation 1750
Trying to apply some science to this hypothesis, looking at the 1939 register to see who the Birds’ neighbours were at the time, a possible contender for “the old man” was William Savage, who lived at one of the nearby cottages called The Leys. William was a market gardener, born at Aldington in 1861, the illegitimate son of Alice Savage who later married Thomas Sears. William's grandfather was Edmund Savage, born at Aldington in 1805. William Savage died in 1943, so it is possible that he was “the old man” who had had the story handed down to him.
We shall never know the true story but it is entirely possible that it could have been an 18th century pub. “The Royal Oak” (now “The Round of Gras”), further along the Bretforton Road, which was operating from at least the early 19th century, would probably have been the final nail in the coffin for “The Holly Bush”. Meanwhile, enjoy Brian’s poem about “The Holly Bush”.
Brian Smith, with additional text by Maureen Spinks, September 2024.