The Rat Trap

Fanny Stroud, the landlady of the Speed the Plough pub in Highworth Road, had a foolproof method for ensuring her customers paid their accounts promptly.

She simply locked them in the pub on payday until they paid up! Pretty soon the locals were calling the pub The Rat Trap and this nickname became so interchangeable with its official name that even court records referred to it in 1875.

Arkell's Brewery bought the pub in 1899 and until 1974 it was still called The Plough. Then, following refurbishment and the building of an extension, Arkell's decided to officially endorse the nickname that had stayed with the pub for so long. The Rat Trap won the day at last.

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