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The Eagle Inn, Skerne
The Eagle Inn, situated in the village of Skerne, near Driffield in East Yorkshire, was originally called the BOARD INN when it first opened for trade in 1822. The name was changed to the EAGLE INN when Christopher Leybourn took over as proprietor in 1864. The pub underwent some refurbishment at this time, and it may also have been then that its Victorian beer engine was installed. This remained in use right up until the pub's closure in 2003. It was one of only eight pubs in the country that had no bar; drinks were dispensed in the cellar and brought up to customers on trays.
The Eagle Inn in winter
Roy Edmond pulling a pint of Cameron's Bitter from the Eagle's Victorian beer engine
Photo published in the 1976 East Yorkshire Good Beer Guide showing the Eagle's beer engine and the wooden barrels to which it was connected
Throughout its 181-year history as a public house, the Board/Eagle Inn has only had 7 licensees:
BOARD INN:
Charles Layburn
1822 - 1864
EAGLE INN:
Christopher Leybourn
1864 - 1881
William Hayton
1881 - 1892
William & Harriett Lovell
1892 - 1944
William & Howard Green
1944 - 1968
Sylvia Edmond (died 1993)
1968 - 1993
Roy Edmond
1993 - 2003
The pub finally closed in 2003 following Roy Edmond's retirement due to ill-health. It was purchased by a local builder, who planned to refurbish the pub and re-open it for trade. Controversy then arose when CAMRA applied for, and was granted, a Grade II listing orderon the building, which means that no structural alterations or changes to the interior layout of the property can be made. As such, the new owner was unable to see a viable future for it, so it is once more up for sale and in all probability will revert to a private dwelling. In the meantime, sadly, the property is falling into a state of dereliction and decay. It is to be hoped that a satisfactory resolution can be found to this unhappy state of affairs before it is too late.
An article was published in the Beverley Guardian in February 2006 concerning the future of the Eagle Inn. You can read it here: Eagle's future hangs in the balance.
My understanding of the latest position, as at June 2009, is that a group of Skerne residents are putting together a proposal to make an offer for The Eagle, and would love to see the pub back serving the local community with 1900's type service and appeal after a full but historically sympathetic (CAMRA approved) restoration. Hopefully the venture will succeed, and the villagers of Skerne will see The Eagle recommissioned as a pub once more.
If the plan does come to fruition, my view is that Eagle's restoration would not be complete without its Victorian beer engine being reinstalled back in its original context where it belongs and can be appreciated by all, rather than remain in a private collection. I have therefore indicated to the group's organiser that I would be only too happy for them to have the beer engine for nothing, save reimbursement of the cost to me of the restoration work carried out on it. Unfortunately, however, it will have pulled its last pint of Cameron's back in 2003 and would be unable to serve anything other than a non-functional, display-only role in the future. The leather seals inside the pump cylinders have long since perished, and its lead pipework and chromed brass taps do not meet with modern Health & Safety regulations. For the full story on The Eagle's Victorian beer engine, click the button on the left-hand menu.
Acknowledgements - My thanks to Sue and Norman Harris, who kindly provided the information and photographs shown above, and for their generous donation of the Eagle's beer engine. Also to Tony Fisher, an erstwhile regular of The Eagle, for supplying the 1976 EYGBG photo.
