Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

The Greyhound was a popular public house in Dunstable. It stood on the corner of High Street South and Great Northern Road.

In the 1850s it was acquired by a noted Berkhamsted entrepreneur John Edward Lane senior (1808 –1889). Lane was well-known nationally as a horticulturalist, and the family firm John Lane Nurseries supplied plants to parks and gardens all over the country. He expanded his business interests into beer brewing and acquired several pubs. The Swan is one of a chain of former John Lane pubs – rest are in Berkhamsted: The Brownlow Arms, The Swan, The Crystal Palace and The George.

The particulars of sale of the Greyhound describe the beer house as:

“Occupying a capital corner position with the large Frontage of about 63ft. to the High Street South and a return Frontage of about 111ft.6in to the Great Northern Road, which is the direct route to the G.N. Railway Station distant about 5 minutes walk.”

This is a reference to the Great Northern Railway’s Dunstable Church Street station, opened in 1858, which was clearly viewed as an asset to attracting passing trade. At the time, it was possible to travel by train from Berkhamsted to Dunstable, changing at Leighton Buzzard – perhaps a journey made John Lane himself. The station, later renamed Dunstable Town, was closed in the 1960s during the Beeching Axe, although it is fondly remembered in the 1964 Flanders & Swann song, Slow Train.

The Greyhound was later owned by Benjamin Bennett’s Brewery. It was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by a modern building. It was later converted into K’s Indian restaurant, and the building was scheduled for demolition in 2020.

Buckledee, John: Dunstable Through Time. Amberley Publishing, 2014