The Triton  Team

The Triton is not the original name of the pub  - this building, probably erected at the beginning of the 1700s, became a pub in 1754 when it was called the Wounded Tiger.  It was later known as  The Half Moon, a name that lives on in the village pub down the road in Elloughton. That one is a much newer construction from 1939 or so, and built by Hull builders Robinson and Sawdon.

By 1800, the Half Moon at Brantingham was owned by a Captain Fleetwood Shaw and was by then a well known coaching inn  on what was then the main road to Hull. Horses would be changed and customers fed and watered here - the next inns along the road being The Fox and Coney in South Cave to the west and the Green Dragon in Welton to the east. You can still see the old road to Welton opposite  - its now gated (to keep the geese in!).  It was replaced by 'Cave Road' near Ellerker in the early 1900s, and that in turn was bypassed by the new dual carriageway ( the A63) in the 1970s.

Some time in 1830s the pub became called The Tiger and was run by Richard Storr Junior, who was a wheelwright and a grocer as well as a publican. By 1851 the name had been changed again, and the Triton was being run by Thomas Fleming as The Half Moon once again.

In the early 1870s, the Sykes family, who were renowned East Yorkshire landowners, bought the entire Brantinghamthorpe estate, on which the pub stood. Christopher Sykes,  who was also the local MP lived at Brantinghamthorpe, a splendid old country manor house a few hundred yards from the pub.  Triton was included on their family coat of arms, and the pub takes its name from that as the land and the pub were once owned by the Brantinghamthorpe estate.  Triton is an ancient god of the sea from Greek mythology reflecting the Sykes' many maritime links. Christopher's brother, Sir Tatton Sykes, also named the pub on his own estate at Sledmere The Triton. As far as we know, these are the only two pubs in England bearing the name.

In 1877 George Watson of Ellerker took over the pub and operated a successful agricultural engineering business from the area in front of the pub. There was a huge old barn, demolished in about 1972 with the stone being used to form the front wall along the car park. After George  died in 1889 his wife Mary-Ellen  took over the pub running it until she died in 1927 aged 72.  At that time the pub was furnished with wooden high-backed settles and spittoons, with a red brick floor.  Beer was served in huge enamel jugs from the kitchen, which later became known as The Tap Room - thats the area of the Lounge bar next to the road now carpeted. The fireplace (now with a stone surround, had ovens at either side.  In one of the ovens they kept a melodeon, usually a concertina like instrument that was played by one of the local farmers.  There was also a smoke room with a piano, though this seems to have only been used for very special occasions.  

After Mary-Ellen's death, her three sons ran the agricultural business and the pub - Tom was still in charge when he died in 1957 aged 79.  His widow Alice ran the pub for a short time after Tom's death and then in 1960 Jess Wood took over. The Watsons always ran the pub as a secondary business to their agricultural engineering activities, for which they had a range of huge steam traction engines which were a prominet feature of The Triton for about eighty years.  In the mid-sixties the agricultural business, by now known as Yorkshire Lawn Mowers, closed and in the early 1970s a big change at the Triton was imminent:

The well known local grocery chain Jacksons took over the pub at that time and developed it as a restaurant with very high standards.  They also bought several other local pubs and developed excellent dining facilities at each - the Ferguson Fawcett at Walkington and the Pipe And Glass at South Dalton. Jacksons cleared the area around the pub and created the huge 100 space car park you see today, plus the secret beer garden at the back (accessed by a door in the toilet corridor), the orchard and the field alongside which is available for camping.  Jacksons also constructed a conservatory alongside the pub where the pig sties once stood. The glass roof is still in place, but now hidden behind a large stained glass panel and a wooden tongue and grooved ceiling. This was so successful at attracting diners that a new restaurant and kitchen was built alongside - now called Poseidon's Restaurant.

In 1990 Bill Carter became licensee and when he moved on in 2001, Peter McGovern assumed the reins, on behalf of owners Shaun and Carol Rennison.  The current owners, the Rusling family, took over in December 2006, and after spending three months and a substantial six figure sum refurbishing the pub in 2007, reopened The Triton for business at Easter.  They plan being here until the  middle of the 21st century or so!   

With acknowledgements for some of the material to Denny H. Lincoln, whose book "Elloughton-cum-Brough and Brantingham in Distant Days" gives an excellent history of the pub and surrounding area.