The Vine, 19 Spicer Street
“Cor! My beams are killing me – what a life! I’m The Vine in Spicer Street with those three, flighty cottages next door. Born a great hall, I lived a quiet life until swashbuckler, Richard Raynshaw got his hands on me. You wouldn’t credit the goings-on. That Raynshaw, serjeant-at-arms to old Henry VIII and Good Queen Bess, collector of taxes and in St Albans, was a bit of a rogue.
Anyway, the master decided to smarten me up – spent a fortune, he did – and didn’t I feel grand – envy of the neighbourhood – wasn’t he pleased with himself?!
Eventually he gave us – The Vine and those unruly cottages – to St Albans town – with buckets of money for our upkeep The Richard Raynshaw Charity!
Since then, sad times – cut in half and generally pulled about – even a pub for a time; that’s hard to live down when bunches of grapes and BENSKINS ALES & STOUT are on your frontage. However, there’s no need for those cottages – alright almshouses – with their Victorian facelift, to be so uppity just because for nearly 500 years they’ve sheltered ‘poor & honest’ people – pretty good, eh?”
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