Crossroads and Characters

40. ACTION CENTRAL

A deserted morning in 1927 belies the history that long bustled through this point in the village. Across the bridge in the centre, or the ford which preceded it, went armies, coach traffic, cattle drives, and a rich assortment of travellers and wanderers. The building on the right was a one-storey slate-roofed hostelry for coaching parties when first heard of back in the early 1700's, and later a drovers' inn was established across the bridge. Also across the bridge was a distillery, which with 2 malting-mills and a brewery tried to meet the needs of the 13 Dunning alehouses recorded in 1844 (down to 3 a few decades later). Though there was no record of any public houses in the Dragon, 'it has been hinted that cheepin shops (illegal drinking places) are occasionally open in that interesting suburb.'