REMINISCENCES OF THE VICTORIA HOTEL BY DAVID ENDERSBY

"In the early/mid 60's my father and I used to come and stay at the Vic a couple of times a year to go fishing, I would have been about eleven to thirteen. My father used to have a public house where we lived  in South Cambridgeshire so pub life was  a normal thing for us, we stayed in a double room upstairs which was lit up each time the lighthouse lit up.

In the bar fresh hot shrimps were served in the evening, I think just as a treat. I used to sit in the bar for a while and talk to the old fishermen who used the Vic as their regular before I went off to bed first,

I think the local I got on the best with was a man called Bludgeon or something similar, a real old-style fisherman. I think the couple who ran it were a Mr and Mrs Cornelius O'Keeffe* The lady was a great cook and served us superb breakfasts. I think we came upon the Vic because the shop next door was a sweet shop and the owner's Son used to call into our pub between  Royston and Duxford on the A505 when he came from London up to see his parents (before  M11 days) and he told us about the Vic and its great atmosphere.

We used to go from the Vic, buy our bait and other bits of gear from Harry Land's fishing tackle shop (No 13) that was the house on the opposite corner with a fish painted on the wall over the door, and then head off to the old pier or on the beach.

Opposite the Vic was a wet fish shop shop (No 5) and on more than one occasion we took my Mum home a fish from there with a hook  stuck in to show what we had caught!

My memories of the Vic were and still are warm, full of character and treasured."

* Mary O'Keeffe

Note: David O'Keeffe is Cornelius' nephew. He writes: "

"Cornelius O’Keeffe was my Uncle Con (as I knew him). He was the only other male apart from my father in a family of 13. He also had a false leg, which I have a feeling may have been a motorcycle accident, but I’m not sure. The family itself comes from Woolwich in South London.

As for memories of the pub, I can only remember staying there twice and the abiding memory is of the rooms being lit up at night by the lighthouse. In the family, it is also famous for the request I made of Uncle Con to watch an American detective show on TV in those days called “Seventy Seven Sunset Strip”.  Unfortunately at that time I was burdened with a lisp, so you can imagine the hilarity that ensued!"