Meet The Publican - The Queen Victoria, Syston

This issue takes us to one stop along the Ivanhoe Line between Leicester and Syston to meet Phil Warwick, who runs the Queen Victoria in High Street.

Phil was brought up in the Belgrave area of Leicester and went to school at Gateway Boys in the city. His father was a funeral director with the local firm Ginns and Gutteridge and his mum a housewife.

On leaving school, Phil went into the hosiery trade and got an apprenticeship as a pipe fitter at Fielding and Johnson's on Ross Walk. He was to stay there for around five or six years. On leaving, he changed trades and worked for a local firm as an air conditioning fitter, fitting air conditioning systems all over the country. Again the stay here was around five or six years and then he moved on to become a driver for Pukka Pies. Phil drove the bigger freezer lorries distributing Pukka Pies all over the country to warehouses and distribution centres. He stayed here until 1984 when he first ventured into the licensing trade.

The Queen Victoria in Syston had become available upon the retirement of licensees, Ron and Peggy Hardy. Phil took over the Everards pub and reintroduced Real Ales. Whilst at the Queen Victoria, Phil set about opening the garden area at the back of the pub, providing a wooden shed called the pop shop selling pop and sweets for the kids along with a few play things. Phil introduced Pentanque here in the garden and it soon become popular. After around seven a half years, Phil moved down the road in Syston to the Gate Hangs Well pub on the old Fosse Way. As before at the Queen Victoria, Phil opened up the garden along with a pop shop and provided a mini obstacle course for children and a bouncy castle. He also introduced Pentanque here and with the Gate having a bigger garden set out 16 pitches for the game to be played. The teams at the Gate were successful to the point where the first team had the honour of representing Leicestershire at county level fixtures. After seven years Phil decided to move on again, this time to Mevagissey Cornwall. Here he ran a B&B and a take away selling sandwiches, baguettes and kebabs. For four years he was the steward at the local social club, and for two years ran the Ship Inn, a St. Austell house. It was March last year when he saw the Queen Victoria was available, applied to Everards and moved back. The reason for coming back was to be near family and friends and, as Phil says, "Mevagissey has changed. It’s not the same place it was seven years ago". Phil has been with Rhonda for 19 years and he has four children and three grandchildren, although that may well be four by the time you read this.

Phil has been busy since arriving back at the Queen Victoria. He has moved the kitchen into the old skittle alley behind the restaurant, which is in a separate building slightly to rear and left of the pub and has started on converting the old kitchen part of the pub by making it a snug. Apart from the Everards regulars (Sunchaser is proving popular) he adds beers from the Brunswick range and from the Old English Ale Club. So if you’re in the Syston area, why not go and see him.

Paul Smith.

This page last updated: May 28, 2008

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