1. : Early Days
As early as 1802, James Back was trading in wines
and spirits from 3 Hog Hill (Orford Hill); whilst
Thomas Back & Co., at the Old Haymarket, were
merely described as grocers etc. - albeit since 1783.
J. Back was still in Orford Hill in 1811
but - oddly - James Back in Old Haymarket in 1805.
In an advert for Norwich Silk - the aristocrat of the
Sherry wines, in 1935, Backs Ltd. claimed to have
been established since 1717.
The principal outlet (address as above) was, until it
closed in 1971, always known as "Back's", despite a
takeover by Henekey's as early as March 1952.
Going back (!) to 1839, by then Edward seems to have
inherited the business, and in 1842 was listed under
British Wine merchants.
S. & P. Brewery supplied the free house from
the year commencing November 1840.
In 1845, the Haymarket premises were called -
officially and traditionally - "The Vine".
2. : Expansion
By 1859 Back & Co. had expanded from no. 3
to numbers 3 and 4 Haymarket.
By 1864 the oddly-named Lemon Jeffries had moved
from the very ancient pub The Griffin in Upper King
Street, by Tombland.
It appears that Backs then 'converted' the pub to
(principally) a wine and spirits store. This was,
apparently, a short-term expedient; as, by 1867,
they had opened a new branch in the
'new' Prince of Wales Road.
At this stage Philip Back was in charge : the first of
three Philips in the lineage. Philip Henry is named in
1890, and he lived in Mile End Road.
He called the new outlet Griffen or Griffin,
having transferred the licence from Tombland.
The new Griffin was moved, in turn, from No. 20
to No. 64 Prince of Wales Road in September 1898.
This outlet survived the takeover and later
closure of Backs Ltd. - as described below.
A survey in 1961 (in the Henekey era), carried out by
the Bystanders Society, was happy to describe the pub
as a Free House.
For this very reason it became
very popular in the early 1970s.
The pub eventually fell into the hands of
Watney Mann, who closed it in 1983.
3. : Back at headquarters
12 years later (1879), the third outlet (part of the
original "block") was licensed in White Lion Street;
formerly known as The Adelphi.
Within the said block, and forming an internal link,
was the ancient Curat House - itself used as a
high-class licensed restaurant, over many years.
Prior to 1971, this house had been in the family
for 7 or 8 generations.
John Curat built the house in 1480, over cellars
which were possibly as old as 1286.
A survey by the Bystanders Society in 1961 noted
that there was a "subway" exit (from the main pub
on The Walk), which led to White Lion Street.
For much further detail, including the use of the
cellars for the wine/bottling trade, see pages
41 - 43 of Young's book.
Also see Thompson, pages 21 onwards.
4. : The Grapes etc.
By 1903 the firm had taken over The Grapes in
Wensum Street, the long-established home of
Geldart & Co. - also wine merchants etc.
Philip Edward was the Principal licensee at the HQ
since 24th August 1900; and actually lived in
the Curat House mentioned above - certainly in 1890.
He became owner of the Haymarket premises in
March 1903.
A photograph of a commercial advertising card can be
found in the following book :
STANDLEY, Philip :
Norwich - in old postcards, Volume 4, page 101.
This indicates a presence in 1908 in Gt. Yarmouth
and Lowestoft as well as Norwich.
The business of Willmott & Johnson of
26 Exchange Street ("Monument House")
was added to the growing empire
- by P. E. Back - in October 1926.
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5. : The Dynasty
February 1929 saw the accession of
Philip Glanford Back.
Having taken over the licence at H Q on
12th February 1929, he gave up the licence of
the White Lion Street outlet in January 1932.
Also in January 1932, Backs Ltd. became
owners of the Haymarket premises.
Undaunted, P. G. took over the Queen's Arms in
Magdalen Street in April 1946 (under the
umbrella of 'Norfolk & Suffolk Hotels')
However, the whole Backs "empire" sold out to
Henekey's on 15th March 1952, as mentioned
in paragraph 1. above.
The former Willmott & Johnson outlet
was closed in January 1958.
P. G. Back gave up licences at the Grapes and
Queen's Arms in June/July 1970.
As already mentioned, the closure of the Head Office
(the Vine) occurred in May 1971; under circumstances
carefully and painfully described in Young's book;
and alluded to in the next paragraph.
6. : Disasters
The first disaster occurred in March 1962,
when the adjoining Curat's House was hit by fire.
The Long Bar in the main pub was also damaged,
but - as ever - some advantages accrued :
in the shape of more modern ice-making equipment
and cooled shelves for bottle beer.
The bar itself obtained an extra, L-shaped, section.
The pub continued to cater for a wide range of clientele
at lunchtimes; including a separate snug fronting
The Walk - always populated with older customers.
However, the Long Bar was also popular with the
younger generation, particularly in the evenings;
many coming from the new University.
The label of 'student' was attached, and that class of
customer was banned at one point, which led to great
protests, and a retraction.
In the end, the lack of spending power of the 'students'
was blamed for the closure of the house; regarded by
the entire City as a major disaster.
The Long Bar was removed to the Jacquard Club
which was then located in the former
White Lion,
Magdalen Street.
The bar was cut into two, one piece forming the
ground floor bar. The second piece formed another
bar in the front upstairs room.
7. : Mancroft Vaults etc.
There is a follow-on to the Back's story, in that Harvey's
(Bristol Cream??) took over part of the ground floor
(facing Haymarket), also for the sale of wines and spirits
i.e. as an off-licence (probably by 1972).
Furthermore, they opened the old Curat House
cellars as a pub/wine-bar called the Mancroft Vaults.
The vaults were entered via the off-licence mentioned above.
This was noted in 1977 as a free house; but one
where the Saturday hours-extension (to 4.00 p.m.)
had recently been withdrawn.
This may have been the last example of
that concession in the Market area.
The venture only lasted approx. 7 years, before
Hepworth's (clothiers) occupied the whole shop area.
The demise of the Henekey's empire (1970) allowed a
brief incursion of Truman's Brewery, generally poorly
represented in the City.
They had control of the Griffin for some time, and the
Queen's Arms was tied to that brewery until the 1980s.
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