Red Cow

It closed more than four years before the war, on 15 January 1935, but for many, many years this had been a busy Devonport beerhouse, sitting as it did in one of a group of streets that led directly into the heart of Devonport Market at one end with military barracks at the other.

The name is not particularly common, and traditionally there are far more pubs that refer to bulls than cows – Bull’s Head, Bull& Bush, Bull Ring etc, there’s even one or two Red Bulls (predating the drink) around. Red Cows it seems are much more rare, although interestingly enough there’s a pub in Llandaff North has a sign showing a red cow with a gigantic pair of candle snuffers at her feet. The pub is called the Cow & Snuffers and while it has a certain, contemporary, silly feel to it, it actually stems from a bet made in the eighteenth century about pairing unrelated subjects together!

Licensees

1798 - Thomas Waldron
1812 - William Tozer
1822 - S Johns
1830 - Thomas Knighton
1838 - William Hawton
1844 - William Williams
1850 - John Taylor
1852 - John Boon
1857 - T Wilton
1888 - Samual King
1890 - John A Head
1902 - Mrs Margaret Head
1921 - Margaret Beer (formerly Head?)