Description:This photo was taken in the 1920s outside the Yew Tree Inn, Mill Street, Cannock. The Yew Tree Inn was demolished around 1980 and the site is now a Morrisons supermarket car park.
Clay pipes were used from the time tobacco became popular in the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century. These long stemmed pipes were known as 'churchwardens' and were fragile and easily broken.
The man on the extreme right of the picture, standing, is Harry Penton, a local coal miner.
Mike Inskip comments:
Apparently such churchwarden pipe clubs were very popular at the time all over the country. The idea I believe was that the long stem produced a ‘ cool smoke ‘ – a bit like a hookah without water. In reality I think they were a bit of a social ‘gentleman’s meeting’ affair.
If you look closely at the picture there is a policeman in full uniform in the centre of the group. There is a boy on the front row who can be no more than 4 years old with his own junior size pipe. Next to him is a boy with a whippet ( the classic coal miners dog ). On the extreme left of the picture the man on the front row with his very young son seems most disgruntled he has to look after him when ‘out with the lads’. The boy himself appears to be wanting a wee just at the wrong time.
I think this picture was taken in the early 1920s. The vast majority of the company would be local coal miners. Many would be recently returned servicemen ( my grandfather, Harry Penton included ), usually distinguishable by their very shiny boots. The young man on the front row with the walking stick is very likely a wounded returned soldier.
The only possible woman in the photo is a shadowy face inside peering out of the window - presumably banished indoors.