The Old England (Olde Englande), was a sunken bar forming the south western corner of the Warnes Hotel on Worthing seafront. It was,  I have to admit, a favourite haunt of mine in my misspent youth.

It was known locally as the Frog Pond which I had never understood the reasoning behind until now.

"Basement of Warnes Hotel, which burnt down in late 1980s. This cellar bar had (in one of its 2 rooms, anyway) lots of black beams with yellowed plaster between them; in early 1980s they took it into their heads to redecorate: bright red gloss on the beams & brilliant white on the plaster - truly revolting, & I think its former customers stayed away in droves thereafter, but in any event the bar & the hotel closed not that long beyond that. The bar was also called the Frog Pond; can't remember any signage with that name, but in front of the bar, facing the seafront, there was a courtyard sunken below street level; perhaps that had been a frog pond there once? The name "Frog Pond" was later appropriated for another unconnected bar which opened in the 1990s on the east side of Bath Place".
(Roger Cloake)

The 'Frog Pond'. It may have acquired its unusual nick-name after the many stone frogs set in alcoves in the outside whitewashed walls. Pictures above taken around 1937 - 1940.

We are indebted to Mandy Skilton for the picture on the right showing her mum (in the pink) behind the bar of The Old England Bar in the 60s.

Mandy recalls as a child there being a two shilling piece deliberately stuck in a hole cut for the purpose in the wooden bar top. She was always trying to prise it out, as one would assume, everybody else was too!

A excellent shot of the the bar showing the Tudor revival styling inside. Mandy informs us that Paul Boswell was the general manager of  Warnes Hotel of which the 'Old E' formed part.

Paul later became the general manager of the Grand Hotel in Brighton but retired after the bombing in October 1984.

The bar had been known as the Frog Pond but apparently, it was Paul who changed its name to The Old England Bar in the 1960s.

1978: The Old England Bar at the Warnes Hotel sold Ruddles County, Tartan bitter, Youngs bitter, Carling Black Label, and, for1p a pint, Worthington "E".