26/08/2026
What a response we’ve had so far! 💚
Thank you to everyone who has commented, shared memories and started digging through old photographs for our 100 Main Street – A Celebration of Bangor: Its Past and Present project. We have a feeling there are plenty more discoveries still to come…
And here's one that caught our attention.
The pub was so busy they lowered drink to the crowd in buckets.
Apparently.
In 1888, Bangor was packed with visitors over Easter Monday. According to a newspaper report from the time, restaurants and public houses were overflowing and the approaches to The Stag's Head, at the bottom of what we now know as High Street, became completely blocked.
So what did they do?
The newspaper claimed that windlasses were used to lower buckets of drink to the thirsty crowds below. 🍺
Even the historical account casts a little doubt on whether everything happened quite as dramatically as the newspaper suggested. But then, never let the truth get in the way of a good Bangor story… 👀
Our thanks to Bangor Historical Society and Sandra Millsopp, whose wonderful research into Bangor's 19th-century hotels led us to this story. Their archives are proving to be a fascinating source as we delve a little deeper into the town's past.
We’ve tried to get in touch with the Society too, so if anyone connected with them happens to see this, we’d love to hear from you!
Does anyone remember The Stag's Head — or have an old photograph of it tucked away somewhere?
And we're still searching for old photographs of Main Street, Bangor and, particularly, No. 100 Main Street itself. If you've got something you think we might like to see, please send us a message.
You never quite know what we're going to dig up next… 💚
