The Chequers was opposite Helmdon School, its site and garden now occupied by four detached houses. Formal records go back to the 1760s but William Ellis states that the alehousekeeper was plying his trade much earlier than that. Its name, one of the most ancient in England, may well derive from the fact that a room was set aside for the local men of substance to write up their accounts (originally, accounts were kept on a chequered cloth, hence the Chancellor of the Exchequer). However its name could have come from wild service trees growing in the vicinity, their berries being known as "chequers".

The Enclosure Award of 1758 shows that Timothy Bull owned The Chequers, and in l791 he appears as the licensee on the first existing victuallers’ recognisance for the alehouse. However, by 1793 John Payne was victualler, and remained so for twenty years, until l813. The next innkeeper of note is Daniel Labram. When he died, Daniel, a cattle dealer as well as an innkeeper, left all that he had to his wife Ann, except for £3 3s 0d "for their trouble" to each of his executors, John Warren and Thomas Neal of Stutchbury, farmer. His successor, George Hawkins, was also a shoemaker. Henry Pope was landlord from 1885-1894 and he was helped in the victualling trade, and his coal carrying business, by his son Frank. He was fined for "permitting drunkenness" in 1887. It is interesting that a later publican, Thomas Lightwood, carried on the trade of shoemaker as at least one of his predecessors had done before him.

From 1872 the ownership of The Chequers is very clear. It was in the hands of Hopcrofts & Morris (later Hopcrofts) of Brackley. To be a tied house was not necessarily helpful in bygone days. Often tied tenants were forced to adulterate their beer in order to make a living although it should be added that this practice was not confined to tied tenants only. In 1945 the Chesham and Brackley Brewery took over, and by 1960 Phipps Brewery Co Ltd of Northampton were the owners. In 1970 Charles Wells of Bedford acquired the pub and kept it until its closure.

John Golsby was the publican from 1925-1933 and, says Mary Turnham, two of his daughters married Helmdon men, Gilbert Middleton and Albert Humphrey. As a lad Harold Seckington used to deliver the evening newspapers which came to the bottom station (Northampton to Banbury line), and he used to have to rush John Golsby’s paper to the pub so that John could read it before opening time at 6 o’clock. Herbert (Bertie) Spencer, who married Pat Shrimplin, had a long spell as publican although again, in common with so many of his colleagues in the trade, it did not provide him with a whole living. Joyce Payne says that Bertie’s sister-in-law was Edie Shrimplin. Edie managed the Post Office, and Bertie delivered the letters round the village on his bicycle.

Bertie’s successor was Reginald Jeacock who was the publican from l952 until 1977. Reg still lives in the village and he was happy to talk to me. He worked in the building trade, leaving his wife Evelyn on the premises during the day to cope with a light daytime demand. The Chequers dispensed mostly beer, with small amounts of spirits and soft drinks, and did not offer food. In Reg’s time, several cups were won by The Chequers dominoes and darts teams. The darts team was in the Brackley League, playing, for instance, The Bell. The Thrift Club was popular. Customers paid what they liked, shillings or even pennies a week in earlier times, and the sum accrued, to be taken out of the kitty at Christmas time. The pub was open all week and Reg told me that the family helped out quite a bit. There was no bar counter and the customers used all three rooms. The cellar where the barrels of beer were kept was almost on ground level.

Tony Smith relates the tale of Alan Watson’s stag night in 1955. Alan was going to marry Eileen Jeacock, Reg and Evelyn Jeacock’s daughter, and, for obvious reasons, it was decided that it would be best for the celebration to be at The Bell. When the party had had their fill of ale, something stronger was called for, and The Bell was only licensed to sell ale. One at a time the members of the party, Rex Jessett, Tony Wilson, John Jeffs, Jim Humphrey and, of course, Tony and the prospective bridegroom, Alan Watson, went to The Chequers to get a bottle of spirits, making the excuse in turn that their fathers had doses of ‘flu. Tony said that he thought Mrs Jeacock "smelt a rat"! Needless to say, the party all got fairly legless. Amongst Tony’s many tales is one about "Kingy" Wrighton. "Kingy" always sat in an alcove to the left hand side of the fire. After copious quantities of ale, he would lurch forward nearly falling off his chair. He was always pushed back in, sometimes by the stick, or more often by the hand, of one of the customers. "Kingy" did odd jobs for people, which were "latch lifters", enabling him to get a drink or two.

Mary Turnham recalls the stables at The Chequers being used for the stabling of the magnificent shire stallions on their annual visits to the farmers’ markets in the district. It would be an overnight stop. She said it was a lovely sight to see these fine horses parading through the village. Mary can also remember an archway between the public house and the stables which stood by the side. She says that they were used by Christabel Lady Ampthill when she used to live at the Stone House, and kept many horses in the village.

The Jeacocks left The Chequers in l977. Reg told me that, sometime after he and his family had given up the pub, the new tenants installed a bar counter. He considered that was why the trade "went down". There was a succession of several more landlords until the public house ceased to trade in January 1992. Many Helmdon residents considered that the public house in its hey-day had been a very handsome building, and were very sorry to see it demolished.