The Washington vs The Washington in Washington – England's Lane meets West Sussex

Published: 19th May, 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

TERRY Tidey’s great-great-great-grandfather built a pub in 1865 and named it after the place of his birth.

Now, nearly 150 years later, the current landlord of The Washington, in England’s Lane in Belsize Park, has visited the village in West Sussex to see where it all began.

And he took the pub’s cricket team to compete against their counterparts, The Washington pub in Washington, in a one-off match. “It was The Washington versus The Washington in Washington,” said Mr Tidey, great-great-great-grandson of Daniel Tidey who built the pub. 

“They beat us but it was a good game of cricket. We were assured of a Washington win.”

Mr Tidey was unaware of the family connection when he took over the pub in 1988, but was told of the its history by a relative researching her family tree. He then began his own research into Mr Tidey, a builder who was responsible for putting up entire streets in the area and building the Washington.  

“They used to call this part of Belsize Park ‘Tidey Town’ because of all the houses he built,” added Mr Tidey.