I remember two interesting features in the Town Centre: one was the mural of a Viking longboat which decorated the side of the Long Ship public house just as you left the main part of the town, also on St. George’s Way, and the other the mural which still exists on the side of what used to be a large Co-op department store, now Primark. Sadly, the decorative face of the pub was removed by building vandals and just thrown into a skip, a few years ago. Why are companies allowed to do this, I wonder?
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Does anyone know the name of the high rise block that had the Long Ship pub at its base ? And does the block itself, still exist? After an exiting first booking in s pub band for me, ( at The Swan), we raced down the Long Ship and the band there, kindly let us do our two or three numbers, on their sound gear.
I cannot believe that this mosaic was destroyed! It should have been listed.
I remember first seeing this in the mid sixties and thought it was beautiful.
It was a terrible sacrilege – why didn’t the council do something to protect mosaic or at least retrieve the situation and arrange for a replacement!
Just watching the 1968 film “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”. Thought it was set in Milton Keynes but a scene showing the mural confirms it was in fact, Stevenage.
Leaving Stevenage in 1965, i still frequently visited my parents but do not recall returning to that side of the town centre. Have just this month found this site and cannot believe the Viking mural no longer exists. It was a local landmark, a piece of art, and the pub itself a meeting place for the younger generation. I would never walk or drive past the mural without acknowledging its beauty. And sometimes went inside for a pint !!!.
The mosaic was a superb thing and its destruction is regrettable and now seems an act of vandalism. The licensees of the pub were always very tolerant of their generally young clientele. I suspect they went out of business because none of us ever had any money!
The mural should be rebuilt. Simple as that.
I agree that losing this mural was a great pity, the current view of ground level parking does not have the same allure.
Sadly this ‘vandalism ‘ of iconic landmarks is all too common .I can remember passing by the mosaic each day on the way to college as it took shape , and how it became a major talking point . The Longship, and many of our ‘lost ‘ pubs in town , will always bring back fun memories ,tho often blurred ! of an era we will never see again . They call it ‘progress ‘
It was a great pub for us in a formative years, right next to the Cop shop! So many nice and sometimes unnice memories. I couldnt believed it had been demolished, and dear dear Aubrey,the barman, from Bristol, I hope life was kind to him !
Alas, that link on John Galleymore’s comment is dead – does anyone have a working link?
Hi I have found one picture so far in my fathers old pics (he was a fireman at stevenage) it shows the Longship in the background with the ship still intact can be viewed here – http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/292896_10150322665517092_960884984_n.jpg
I read with amazement that the mosaic on the Long Ship pub was removed and destroyed. The mosaic was so large and eye catching it seems a shame that it was not preserved.
It was a mosaic depicting oarsmen in a long ship approaching the shore where soldiers, including a knight on horseback, await the enemy attack. This colourful work by William Mitchell was commissioned by St George’s Taverns in 1966. He also created two underpass reliefs.
Has anyone got a colour photo of the mosaic?
That was one of the biggest mistakes that have happened in Stevenages 70 year history. I can’t believe it happened - idiots