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The Stonehouse Vaults was situated on Market Street. This Plym Breweries pub closed in the 1990s.

Source: Tom Priestley

In the winter of 1976 I fought my way through 2 foot of snow on a Sunday evening to go to the regular folk music night at Stonehouse Vaults. Not many people were there other than a few musicians who had been over booked for the regular folk music gathering on this cold evening. I bought a drink and waited as more overbooked musicians turned up, more so than were customers. Eventually the old, but cozy, pub was full of musicians of all sorts. There were accordion players, guitars, banjos, pianists and some wind instruments in fact more instruments than to form a full orchestra! It was obvious amongst them that the journey for most of the double booked musicians was wasted. But at the bar one accordion player stared playing slowly as he supped his drink in conversation. It started softly and slowly but increased in tempo and volume. It was the Captain Pugwash theme. As others heard this they casually got their instruments and joined in from all regions of the pub and before anyone knew it every musician had got the rhythm and had joined in. Over and over Captain Pugwash played, boots stamping on the floor creating a beat and pace which increased with every repetition and for over 20 minutes the place turned into a rousing crescendo! And then it stopped, suddenly! Everyone finished their beverages, put instruments in bags and left. I too left and trod my way through the deep snow to catch the bus back to the dockyards. This is a true story remembered from an old MEA in Australia, I hope you can repeat this.

David Price (February 2026)

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