Memories of The King Billy

To the many people that have supped at its bar, or rocked out to one of the 1000s of bands who have plugged in on site over the decades of service, Northampton’s King Billy will forever be ‘the biker pub,’ the place where gleaming bodywork was paraded outside and a warm welcome offered inside, writes Sammy Jones.

But, following the announcement that the venue was closing with immediate effect last month, there is nothing for its regulars to get revved up about now.

Landlady Rachel Nash, 59, broke the news of the closure with a Facebook post, writing, ‘I’m sorry to have to tell you that we have ceased trading with immediate effect. Those who know us, know how hard we have tried.

“We’ve had THE most amazing two years, had brilliant fun; met some fab, straightforward people; raised money for charity, seen some amazing bands and made good friends.

I’m grateful to Star Pubs & Bars for giving me the opportunity to run such an iconic pub, but times have changed and it is an uncertain world these days.’

The King Billy is another pub trade casualty that fought until it had no more to give, according to its landlady; the cost of living crisis played its part in keeping potential punters away, and the year-long closure of Bridge Street only served to heighten the issues and lessen the footfall.

It’s a far cry from the hopes Rachel had when she put her name above the door two years ago.
She’d worked in pubs for more than a decade by that point, and had another four year tenancy under her belt.
When she departed that position, she swore ‘never again’… and then she got offered the one place that was the exception, The King Billy, or to give it its official name, The King William IV.

She was offered the job one day, and asked if she could start 24 hours later.
“I came over with a suitcase and my daughter went to Tesco’s and got me an airbed. We went from there!” she said, laughing at the memory.
It was never the most lucrative of businesses, she said, but it was a blast.

“It’s been hand to mouth all the time – I was on very little money, but because I live here anyway, I didn’t need that much.
“Running The Billy was an opportunity I never thought I would have, and I have absolutely loved it… up until about May when it started getting really tricky. But up until that point, I loved it – I had a brilliant team, lovely people. It’s bikes and music, y’know? What’s not to like?”

Essentially though, having a love for the place wasn’t enough to cover the bills and when the numbers of visitors lessened, the bills still kept hitting the mat.

“My electric bill was a grand plus a month. My complaint is that it’s the same electricity from the same suppliers coming through the same cables, it does the same job, doesn’t do it any faster or better… why should businesses be seen as a cash cow?
“It’s just not fair. I pay £4 a day standing charge before I even put a light switch on. They shouldn’t be allowed to screw us down like that,” Rachel said.

“People are definitely worried about how they are going to afford stuff, and there aren’t enough 30-somethings coming through,” she offered, giving another reason for the decline.

Music was a huge part of the venue, and in a bid to attract new faces, she had widened the musical net: “I tried to introduce more modern stuff, with a bit of punk, a bit of goth, and we used to have a rock and roll hop…”

But nothing could halt the downturn and so, in October, she made the decision to close.
“‘I remember thinking ‘I absolutely can’t do this anymore,’ We hadn’t even taken enough during that last weekend to put a beer order in on Monday.

“There was nothing left to juggle, and I hadn’t got money of my own to do it, I’ve put bits in as I’ve gone along, obviously. You do, don’t you?”
Closing one of the town’s best loved and well known haunts was a difficult decision made easy by mounting debt, but it has left her feeling insecure: “You get to the point where you think, ‘Is it me?’ ‘Do people not come in because they hate me?’

“Everyone was going, ‘Don’t be so stupid, Rachel, you’ve done a brilliant job, and everyone who knows you, knows how hard you have tried… But people go in a pub because they like the staff, or the manager or whatever, so is it me?” she questions.
Many people have taken to socials to share their sadness at the closure, and its loss has seen people recalling their memories of the bar where the volume was high and the people were great.

“The first time I went they were having a rock disco, which was a pleasant surprise,” remembered Deb Harper who first made the pub’s acquaintance in the late 1980s, “I went up to the DJ and asked for Black Dog by Led Zeppelin, he then announces to the room, ‘I know we’ve already played this but it’s good to see the youngsters getting into the old stuff’ and he played it again, just for me.

“First time we went with a friend, she ended up on the back of a Hells Angel’s Harley having a whizz through Northants. Happy times.”
Rachel maintains that right until the last, the atmosphere at her gaff was the best.

“All these roughy toughy tattooed biker types are the best, kindest, most straightforward people. I wanted to improve their reputation, because they do a lot for the community, but they don’t shout about it.

“I call ‘em Armadillos – they are hard on the outside and soft on the inside!”
But while some might have deemed the watering hole to be rough n’ tough, Rachel knows her pub was a perfect place for all.
“The King Billy is one of the safest pubs in Northampton – people look after you here, and we care for our pub family,” she says, still talking in the present tense.

“I see pubs as the last bastion in un-pc-ness; a place where you should be able to have a laugh and a joke, without being offensive, with no racism, no religion and no football!” she said.

As you read this, Rachel will be calling time on herself – she must vacate the pub, her home, by the end of November. What memories will you take away with you?

“I have had the best two years ever, without a doubt; I’ve had the best fun, I’ve met the best people, I have met some brilliant bands, we’ve done charitable stuff, Christmas present runs, Easter Egg runs… it has been brilliant,” she promises.

Having already broken a promise she made to herself once, would she start over at yet another pub?
“I would never take another lease on a pub myself,” she said, “I may well manage a pub for somebody, but I don’t want all this responsibility and worry again.

“I’ve always said the pub is my castle and my prison – it’s everything, it’s all consuming.
“It’s a very strange love-hate relationship, but you do it for the love of it, definitely not for the money. I hope that my story sheds a light on the struggles we are all having.”

A spokesperson for Star Pubs told NN Pulse magazine: ‘King Billy Rock was leased to a temporary operator whose agreement came to an end. The bar is only closed temporarily whilst we recruit someone new to take it on, with a view to it reopening in time for Christmas.’