Palomino, Newmarket

Built by Tolly Cobbold to a typical design for its time which, according to the pub’s landlady, was opened on 22 November 1963, the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. Named in honour of the town’s horse-racing associations, it is of brick – two storey on the roadside and single storey at the rear which houses a large lounge bar / function room. This may be the most intact Post-War pub left in England as a result of research by Historic England still retaining without change it layout of public bar (Circus Bar), lounge bar / function room and its off-license which is still in daily use. This is no doubt due in part to the long serving landlady, Sheila McNally, who has been there since 1988, and who still keeps traditional pub hours (but usually open all day on Sunday).

On the left a door leads to a lobby with intact gents’ and ladies’ toilets off. A door on the right leads to the public bar, called the Circus Bar – note the two circus themed murals above the servery. It is carpeted with tiles in front of the counter. The bar counter has a front of cream Formica with a row of seven portrait shaped ‘features’ of red Formica in wooden frames and a top of black Formica. The bar back fitting is of classic late 1950s / early 1960s design with at the top three illuminated panels (not lit but still work) advertising ‘Cobnut’, ‘Tolly’, and ‘Cardinal’. Two of the three bays have plain mirrors with optics on a wooden strip across them and the lower shelving includes a cool tray (no longer in working order) and just one fridge added. The room retains its original upholstered bench seating at the front, 1950s style dado panelling on the right hand wall and more panels on the ceiling on this side of the room. The left hand wall is of bare brick with a wood surround fireplace that has been covered by ply panels for at least 30 years and a dartboard above. There is a piano (not played) and two trophy cabinets high up on the wall.

The lounge bar/function room has a separate double door entrance on the right hand side. This large room has a dance floor on the right / far end (pool table is moved when the room is in use for a function) and carpet elsewhere. In the middle of the left hand side of the room is an original free standing buffet with red Formica top and sides matching the bar counter front with red padded panels – it is still in regular use for buffets for functions – Sheila advertises ‘Free Function Room’. Every Tuesday the lounge bar/function room hosts Bingo from 8.30 pm with about up to 65 people attending. The room retains its original upholstered bench seating in bays. On the rear wall there were originally murals of palomino horses but these are now covered (date unknown) by two areas of diagonal shaped mirror tiles. The bar counter has a front of wood painted black and red padded panels all along it and a brown Formica top. The bar back fitting has two bays of mirror mosaic with optics on a wooden strip across them and in the centre diagonal shaped mirror tiles; the lower shelving includes a cool tray (no longer in working order). Note the doors throughout the room with their suns rays decoration in cream on red.