On the 7th August 1903, as my paternal great-grandfather Daniel Harper was leaving the Castle Hotel, he had a motor car accident involving his leg getting caught between chain and cogwheel as he was jumping back onto it while it was still moving. His leg was amputated but tetanus had set in and spread throughout his body, sadly causing him to die 10 days later from heart failure in the nearby hospital in Billericay.
He was a successful businessman (D. Harper & Co), a manufacturer of pianos and inventer of the cinematic ticket printing machine, the coin operated vending machine, and novelty items among many others. He had his businesses in the Holloway Rd London area and some of the buildings still stand today.
RIP Great-Granddad Daniel.
By Wayne Harper (09/04/2024)
Back in March 14th 1969 I met my husband to be. It was his 19th birthday. We married in October 1970 Moved to Canada in 1989. I was so horrified to see on one of my visits home to visit my mum that it had been pulled down. Such a sad loss to a very old building
By Sue Roney (30/10/2020)
My Mum (Mary Murphy) worked in the Castle from about 1978 for approximately 9 years, preparing food at lunchtime and cleaning the bar before it opened. It was run by a really nice couple (can’t remember their names but do remember that his birthday was Christmas Eve) who invested a lot of money restoring and revamping the place, making it a pleasant place to drink, with a nice garden. They had various dogs and a couple of goats for a time. My Mum would have to clean the pub at weekends and for opening on Christmas day and would drag me down to help her at some ungodly hour whenever I visited home. My parents moved back to Ireland in 1987 and ended our contact with Wickford. Was very sad to read that the pub had gone.
By frances Mitchell (02/01/2014)
THE Castle pub had good times and bad times. I remember having xmas parties in the hall at rear, many a good night, but it was a no go area sometimes. Many a saturday night there were punchups, thirty years ago. There used to be a police presence many a saturday night.
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On the 7th August 1903, as my paternal great-grandfather Daniel Harper was leaving the Castle Hotel, he had a motor car accident involving his leg getting caught between chain and cogwheel as he was jumping back onto it while it was still moving. His leg was amputated but tetanus had set in and spread throughout his body, sadly causing him to die 10 days later from heart failure in the nearby hospital in Billericay.
He was a successful businessman (D. Harper & Co), a manufacturer of pianos and inventer of the cinematic ticket printing machine, the coin operated vending machine, and novelty items among many others. He had his businesses in the Holloway Rd London area and some of the buildings still stand today.
RIP Great-Granddad Daniel.
Back in March 14th 1969 I met my husband to be. It was his 19th birthday.
We married in October 1970
Moved to Canada in 1989. I was so horrified to see on one of my visits home to visit my mum that it had been pulled down. Such a sad loss to a very old building
My Mum (Mary Murphy) worked in the Castle from about 1978 for approximately 9 years, preparing food at lunchtime and cleaning the bar before it opened. It was run by a really nice couple (can’t remember their names but do remember that his birthday was Christmas Eve) who invested a lot of money restoring and revamping the place, making it a pleasant place to drink, with a nice garden. They had various dogs and a couple of goats for a time. My Mum would have to clean the pub at weekends and for opening on Christmas day and would drag me down to help her at some ungodly hour whenever I visited home. My parents moved back to Ireland in 1987 and ended our contact with Wickford. Was very sad to read that the pub had gone.
THE Castle pub had good times and bad times. I remember having xmas parties in the hall at rear, many a good night, but it was a no go area sometimes. Many a saturday night there were punchups, thirty years ago. There used to be a police presence many a saturday night.
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