Ram Jam Inn

Ram Jam Inn
The pub in December 2007
Location within England
General information
Type Public house
Location Stretton, Rutland, England
Coordinates 52°43′58″N 0°36′2″W / 52.73278°N 0.60056°W / 52.73278; -0.60056Coordinates: 52°43′58″N 0°36′2″W / 52.73278°N 0.60056°W / 52.73278; -0.60056

The Ram Jam Inn was a pub on the A1 in Rutland, England between Stamford and Grantham.[1] It was frequented by the highwayman Dick Turpin in the 18th century, and it is alleged that one of his confidence tricks inspired the pub's name.[2]

The pub originally opened as a coaching inn called the Winchelsea Arms,[2] but became known as the Ram Jam Inn by the early 19th century.[3] Turpin was a temporary lodger at the inn, and resided here when he first found notoriety. He showed his landlady, Mrs Spring, how to draw mild and bitter ale from a single barrel, stating "ram one thumb in here whilst I make a hole ... now jam your other thumb in this hole while I find the forgotten spile pegs." Turpin subsequently disappeared without paying his bill, while Spring was trapped with two thumbs in the barrel.[2] An alternative, similar, account is that an unnamed con-artist, not specifically named as Turpin, made the landlord fall for the trick so the trickster could try and seduce the landlady. A third tale is that by the 19th century "ram-jam" was a term that meant both eating to capacity and a place full of people.[4] In 1878, Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale ran 100 miles from Knightsbridge Barracks to the inn in under 18 hours in order to win a bet.[5]

Soul singer Geno Washington named his backing band the Ram Jam Band after the pub,[6] as it was a popular place for the band to stop en route to gigs.[7] When reviewing the inn in 2000, The Telegraph's Paddy Burt described the meals as "simple food, well done".[1] The novelist Margaret Drabble enjoyed staying at the inn, noting that the double glazing effectively masks the sound of traffic on the A1.[8]

In August 2013 the pub was closed and put on the market for an estimated value of £550,000.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Burt, Paddy (4 March 2000). "The Ram Jam Inn, Rutland". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Dolby, Peter (2008). It's a Small World: Rutland and Her Diaspora. AuthorHouse. pp. 119–120. ISBN 9781434319562.
  3. ↑ John Britton; Edward Wedlake Brayley; Joseph Nightingale; John Evans; James Norris Brewer; John Hodgson; John Bigland; Francis Charles Laird; Frederic Shoberl; John Harris; Thomas Rees; Thomas Hood (1813). The Beauties of England and Wales, or, Delineations, topographical, historical, and descriptive, of each county, Volume 12, Part 2. Thomas Maiden, for Vernor and Hood. p. 83. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  4. ↑ Rothwell, David (2006). Dictionary of Pub Names. Wordsworth Editions. p. 320. ISBN 9781840222661.
  5. ↑ "Oakham: Not just a small town but the capital of our county". Rutland Times. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Old-school R&B with Geno Washington". Cambridge News. 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  7. ↑ "Rock Atlas puts Rutland's special places on the map". Rutland & Stamford Mercury. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  8. ↑ Drabble, Margaret (2010). The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 34. ISBN 9780547386096.
  9. ↑ "Confidential sale : Substantial freehold for sale". Colliers International. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
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