The story goes that in response to the comment, "I bet you wouldn't get a donkey in there". Frank Shortland brought a donkey in from the Belgrade Theatre. A real one that was up on stage performing for the pantomime. There is a photo of the Donkey with him and two others in the Donkey Box bar on the wall of this tiny bar!
The ‘Donkey Box’ was in fact the old ‘jug and bottle’ department, what we today would call an off-licence. As such it was quite a commonplace feature and not unusually small. Off sales counters were fitted into existing licensed premises. These counters acquired the occasional bench or chairs as they performed the function of a women’s snug. Since ‘respectable women’ were excluded from the main rooms of an inn, tavern, public house or beerhouse, women would regularly go to the off-sales counter to fetch a jug of ale to accompany a meal.
To meet the criteria for a bar it is necessary for the room to have a clock, a door and a window, access to the pavement, seating, and a pump and optics.
The very small space of the Donkey Box has managed to squeeze in a record 32 people each holding a drink. It looks like it would feel full with six people in there.