Hundreds of whiskys lined the bar, ready for thirsty munitions workers who were in for a night of drunken debauchery.
Boustead’s Bar in Carlisle, Cumbria, was a favourite haunt for men working in Gretna during the Great War, who would head to the city by train after work.
Evening shift workers were so desperate to get to the pub before closing, they would even bribe the train driver to get there in plenty of time.
It soon became clear the city - and Britain - had a serious drink problem.
In 1915, David Lloyd George, who was Minister for Munitions before becoming Prime Minister, declared: “We are fighting Germans, Austrians and drink, and so far as I can see the greatest of these deadly foes is drink.”
Carlilse couldn’t cope with the drunken disorder, which led to poor productivity at the munitions factory.
Horrified by the drunks, Bramwell Evens, a Methodist minister, said of the situation in Carlilse: “Scenes of the most nauseating and degrading character became a common occurrence.
“Men fought like beasts; fierce fights raged around the doors of the public houses.
“The diminished police force were unable to cope with the situation. Almost every alley was littered with prostrate drunken men.
“The main thoroughfare of Carlisle was bedlam and the returning trains to Gretna, with their living freight of cursing, vomiting, filthy-mannered men, are memories that cause one to shudder.”
It led the Government to crack down on Britain’s boozers and a decision to nationalise them in the State Management Pubs scheme.
Now, as the country celebrates going back into our favourite boozers for the first time since lockdown, Historic England has published the first comprehensive study of the ‘Carlilse Experiment’ which changed our pubs forever.
Before the transformation, pubs were “overcrowded spaces with small areas or snugs capable of hiding misbehaviour, while back doors allowed individuals to enter and leave unnoticed and provided a means by which illegal sales might be carried out after hours,” Historic England’s report - ‘Countering the ‘deadliest of foes’: Public houses of the Central Control Board and the State Management Scheme 1916-73 - says.
In July 1916, the Government brought in new measures to public houses which resemble the boozers we know and love today.
Comfy seating was added, along with tables and chairs for dining.
Punters were encouraged to have a pie or sandwich with their drinks to line their stomachs and board games and newspapers were introduced so people would take their time.
Advertising was removed from the outside of Carlisle’s pubs with only simple name signs allowed.
Bar staff were encouraged to throw drunks out from pubs, turn away prostitutes, chasers were banned and ‘no spirit Saturdays’ were introduced from February 1917.
Family-orientated activities and spaces were also created, such as bowling greens, and toilets were provided at some venues for the first time.
“It was a social project,” Anne-Marie Knowles, curator of the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle, said.
“They were trying to change people’s behaviour and get them to go out on an evening and have a nice time socialising instead of binge drinking.
“A lot of people in Carlisle won’t realise just how important a part the city played in developing the drinking culture in the pubs we have here today.”
One of the pubs, The Pheasant, on Church Street, created ‘A Working Girls’ Café’ on the first floor which sold cheap hot meals at lunchtime and was very popular with local mill girls.
There were also reading and writing rooms on both the first and second floors.
Other rules meant pubs had to stick to included strict opening hours; on weekdays 11.30am-3pm and 5.30-10pm and on Sundays 12.30pm-2.30pm and 7-10pm.
Credit was refused and spirits were served in large glasses so they could be diluted with water.
Even buying rounds was banned.
Carlilse was the main focus of the experiment but it also reached Enfield Lock in Middlesex, now Greater London, and Cromarty Firth in Northern Scotland.
By the end of the war the scheme had proved so successful that the Government decided to keep the pubs in state ownership and extend the programme of public-house reform further.
Under the direction of architect Harry Redfern, many of the pubs retained for nationalisation were rebuilt and redesigned.
No two designs were quite the same and the architect went to great lengths to make sure locals’ needs were catered for.
There was a revolution of his ‘New Model Inn’, 15 of which were built in the wider Carlisle district, and which had a huge influence of the design of pubs across the country.
The Apple Tree on Lowther Street in Carlisle was the first of the new improved public houses built under the scheme.
Located on the street corner, it was easy for the authorities to monitor who was entering and leaving with no access possible through back doors, and the layout was considered innovative, catering for combinations of genders and classes in separate rooms.
Dylan Mckenzie, general manager at The Apple Tree, said: “The story of the Apple Tree is part of Carlisle’s rich heritage, and we’re thrilled to be throwing open our doors once again for customers to enjoy themselves in the surroundings of this special building.”
But the scheme was constantly being called into question by the government, who felt there was no longer a need for it after the war.
It was eventually shut down by Ted Heath’s Tory government in 1973 and the pubs were sold off.
Conservative Home Secretary Reginald Maudling told the House of Commons: “We should be clear that this experiment was never intended to be an experiment to determine whether the State can successfully run a liquor business.”
It had served its purpose.
While our locals might still get a bit rowdy on a Friday and Saturday night, the experiment changed the beloved British pub for the better.
And we can all raise a glass to that.
For more information visit www.historicengland.org.uk
