Poem - The Blue Bell Murders
From pirate and smuggler’s den
To a hiding place for notorious highwaymen
It’s amazing how many times
Pubs have been linked to all sorts of crimes.
Many a crook has hidden in a bar to avoid police pursuit,
And magistrates refuse license to a known house of ill-repute
Where a customer picks up or even takes a room with a prostitute
Likely to steal his money and leave him destitute.
He wouldn’t settle for a hug and a kiss
So he ended up with the pox and syphilis.
Conspirators met in the snug and planned
In hushed whispers how to fence and sell their contraband.
Several dodgy landlords would casually lie
To give a suspect a cast-iron alibi.
‘But Constable at the time of the crime
He was drinking in here, knocking back all my beer’.
The most famous pub crime scene,
One to which I have personally been,
Is the Blind Beggar in Bethnal Green
Where George Cornell was blown away,
Shot dead by Reggie’s twin brother, Ronnie Kray
though many witnesses saw or heard the gun go bang
They were far too afraid to grass on the gang.
There’s a crime pub in my own home city too
Preston’s Blue Bell is linked not to one murder, but two,
Separated by about sixty years.
I wonder how many people drinking their beers
Raise a glass to the victim of John Simpson
Who in the Summer of 1881
Took the Landlord’s pregnant daughter
Anne Ratcliffe to her dreadful slaughter.
Simpson was the father of her unborn baby.
He promised Anne that he would take her hand in holy matrimony.
Meeting her at the Blue Bell on their Wedding Day
He took her by the hand and led her away
To another pub, called the Walter Scott nearby
Where he casually cut her throat and stayed to watch her die
Making no effort to try to escape before his arrest
Dozens of witnesses were willing to attest
At his trial and execution, as poor Anne Ratcliffe was laid to rest.
Jumping forward to 1944
The second killing took place during the war.
Veteran survivors of Operation Market-Garden,
The failed Bridge Too Far raid on Arnhem
Were enjoying their leave in the bar
When a bitter argument went too far
Between a British squaddie and an American GI,
A knife came out and the Yank was stabbed and left to die.
The Tommy faced court martial and execution by the rope.
Your own visits to the pub will be much safer and happier I hope
And I believe every tavern has a tale or two to tell,
Along with the wines and spirits they sell.
I try to share the stories that I find, and tell them well
Not every story or pub relates to crime.
I have to go now, but I’ll tell you more, perhaps next time.
Arthur Chappell
My pub Signs book is available from Amberley Books
Photos taken by me.
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