Midland Red Bus in Stafford

Description:This photograph of a Midland Red Bus destined for Doxey was taken in 1983 by Stafford photographer Tony Boydon. In the background is the Stafford Post Office at Chetwynd House in Greengate Street, Stafford. The Post Office closed during September 2007 due to relocation of the business and opened during October 2007 on the first floor of W.H. Smith’s on Greengate Street, near to the Market Square.

Following closure of the Post Office, Chetwynd House stood empty until around 2010 when it was reported in the Staffordshire Newsletter that the building had been purchased and would undergo a £3 million conversion to become a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, and wedding venue.

Chetwynd House was built around 1712-1715 by William Chetwynd, 3rd Viscount Chetwynd (1683?-1770), Member of Parliament for Stafford 1715-1722 and 1734-1770. The house was sold in the 1780s to William Horton, a shoe manufacturer. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (playwright, and M.P. for Stafford, 1780 - 1807) was a friend of Horton's and often stayed here.

Chetwynd House was Stafford's General Post Office from 1914 until it closed in September 2007. The Post House bar and restaurant opened in 2011 and closed during 2016. The business then opened as The Apothecary and was advertised in the Express and Star with an official launch of 9 December 2016 along with a brand new bar, restaurant and upstairs cocktail lounge.