I lived in the Halswell Inn in West Street Bridgwater for nine years from 1949 (when I was born there) to 1958. My grandparents, Charles and Florence Ford, were the licensees and they ran the pub with the help of my mother, Mavis Fisher (nee Ford) and my uncle, Ken Ford. They left the pub in 1958 when my grandparents were near retirement age.

I have quite a few photos of outings from the pub, skittles teams with trophies and when West Street was being demolished with the pub still standing. If you are interested I could let you have copies.

The only other pubs I can remember in West Street were the Cardiff Arms and Nags Head. Sadly both my grandparents, my mother and my uncle are now all deceased but if still alive would have many stories to tell of their time there. I remember watching Bridgwater Carnival from an upstairs window when the procession passed down West Street and the Bridgwater Fair was a very busy time with my grandmother providing bed and breakfast for some of the fair workers. We had a large garden with a pear tree and my grandfather grew fruit and vegetables and my grandmother kept chickens. My grandfather also worked full time in a factory so they were busy times. The pub was always spotlessly clean; my mother helped with that.

My uncle was a very good darts player and took part in a darts tournament on BBC radio. He also played skittles, as did my mother, and they won a number of trophies.

Jean Flowers, Bridgwater