pub history
Rather remarkably we can trace the history of The Cricketers (now The Jolly Cricketers) all the way back to its origins in or around 1831.
The Cricketers was built some 15 years before the construction of the Holy Trinity Church on the green, so it is possible that its name derives from the practice of cricket on the village green directly in front of the pub. Although the green appears to have been too small to accommodate a full sized cricket pitch.
The Cyster family built and ran The Cricketers for about 160 years.
Bob Cyster (pictured below), was renowned for his somewhat gruff manner and his deep suspicion of people from outside the village. At the same time, he could tell a good family story – how the pub used to hire out bicycles to villagers so that they could cycle to Beaconsfield and beyond; how his father (or possibly grandfather) had been “deputy hangman at Aylesbury gaol”; and how the ancient building behind the pub had been used as a workshop to produce the massive cherry ladders used in the local orchards and wooden coffins, which were stored – until needed – in the front room of a house on Chalfont Road.
For the past decade and more The Jolly Cricketers has been owned and run by locals Chris and Amanda Lillitou, who through hard work and determination have succeeded in maintaining it as a popular local village pub while at the same time transforming it into a nationally recognised and award-winning venue famed for its fine food, service and hospitality.
source: https://ourlivingvillage.org/pubs.html
