The Mail

It stood on a site opposite what is now Bretonside bus station, a few yards up from the entrance to the erstwhile Treville Street School at Martyn’s Gate. Before the war Treville Street branched eastwards off Old Town Street, curiously enough almost where the main Post Office sits today. Running down to meet Treville Street, roughly parallel to Old Town Street, was Charles Street, which ran south from Charles Church. The Mail stood opposite the end of Charles Street.

Prior to the 1880s the eastern part of Treville Street was known as Bilbury Street and was one of the oldest-named thoroughfares in town.

Why this pub was called the Mail is unclear, however it is quite possible that before Post Offices were properly established, that this was a “posting house”. Certainly, long before the arrival of Bretonside busses, it was from this area that London bound (mail) coaches would have left Plymouth. It’s also interesting to note that the grand old man of stamp collecting and cataloguing, Stanley Gibbons, started trading in Treville Street – back in the 1850s.

Licensees

1867 - Samuel Foster
1888 - George Adams
1895 - William Bailey
1898 - R Knott
1907 - A Sugg
1911 - Frank Lewis
1928 - John Evans
1938 - Percy Badock
1942 - Robert Yeldham