That's rather a lot of pictures of pub signs. So here are some anecdotes about pub names for you:
- Until the 1950s there was a pub in Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire, that was known as The Exhibition. However a colony of bees set up home in the wall of the pub which then changed its name to The Bees In The Wall, by which name it is known to this day.
- In 2007 both The British Beer And Pub Association and The Campaign For Real Ale carried out surveys into the most common pub names in England. The BBPA makes the 1,2,3 - The Red Lion, The Royal Oak and White Hart while CAMRA reckons it's The Crown, The Red Lion and The Royal Oak. Possibly alcohol influenced their mathematics.
- On Cambridge's Madingley Road their used to be a pub called the Man Loaded With Mischief. The sign depicted a man carrying a woman.
- While we're being politically incorrect, there's a pub in Scotland called "The Black Bitch", which is apparently named in honour of a famous greyhound.
- The Cambridge Blue, in, naturally enough, Cambridge, used to be known by the dreadfully punning name of The Dewdrop Inn - Do drop in - while in Brecon in Wales is The Cwm Inn. Cwm is Welsh for valley but it's also a pun, Come In of course.
- The two Irish pubs in Mill Road, Cambridge, The White Swan and The Earl Of Beaconsfield, are known respectively as The Swimmer and The Beaky by many drinkers in the area.
- My home village of Meldreth once boasted six pubs, one of which went by the remarkable and completely inexplicable name of The Dumb Flea. It may have once been either The Dun Fleece or The Earl Of Dumfries. Why on earth a pub in Cambridgeshire should be named after a Scottish earl is another question entirely. The road in which it stands is known as Chiswick End, in the 1881 census it was mistakenly recorded as Cheesecake End!
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| Perhaps my favourite pub name. |
Take care.
Very interesting! Are many pubs still privately owned, as opposed to the Charles Wells and Greene King brewery pubs, do you think?
ReplyDelete"Punny" names are very popular for seaside cottages here in New England. When I was little, working out the meaning/joke behind cottage names was my introduction to "play on words."
Love pub names, favorites are The Slug and Lettuce and The Trusty Servant.
ReplyDeleteI love pub names too. Your signs are magnificent. There is a pub is Kirby Lonsdale which is called The Snooty Fox - I always think that is a rather nice name.
ReplyDeleteFun post! Love the signs, the pub names, the history and the puns! :^)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love these old pub signs, you have a wonderful collection. Thanks also for stopping by and identifying my Egyptian goose at the top of the page.
ReplyDeleteMy first weekend job was in 'The Swan'. No where near a pond though.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It's fun to see the unusual pub names and whimsical signs from other countries!
ReplyDeleteLots of greenery by the looks of it - everything is well watered.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good collection. I once saw an English-themed pub in the Med somewhere (Menorca maybe?) called 'The Sunburnt Arms'.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy snippets of information like this!
ReplyDeleteThat is fantastic idea and great rare collection! We have a few pubs in Salt Lake City but it never came to my mind to photograph their signs and I right now regret it.
ReplyDeleteThat was interesting to read the names of pubs. Great photos and great post!
Oh, how I miss British pubs!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I go past pubs sometimes and have to take a second look and wonder where the hell they got the name from. In Spalding there is a gap between a bank and a shop that leads you into an alleyway. In the alleyway is a narrow pub called 'The Hole in the Wall'. Very apt, and the alleyway is that narrow that you could still walk relatively straight after a good night!!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post John, British pubs have such a great history.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for a pot! I do enjoy the punny names.
ReplyDeleteThat was a fun tour of the pubs of England. I always enjoy the names and the signs when I'm there. I have a pretty large photographic collection as well.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I visit the UK I am always interested to see the number of pubs named after birds. From what I remember the Black Swan (not even a European species) and The Dog and Partridge seem to be two of the most common.
ReplyDeleteI bought an online book some time ago with all the pub names, but for the life of me i can't find it now. I think a proper paper book would have been a better idea for me. I love the history of them all. Great election you have found. Did you take a pint at each?
ReplyDeleteMarvelous names, - very reminiscent of British humour. We have the Wrong Turn Tavern, here . It is filling in for our main Pub which burned to the ground last year, after a hundred years of gracing the community and providing a watering hole for all the beer drinkers in the valley. It was just called "The Pub" - being the only one in town.
ReplyDeleteOh I really envy you for having these wonderful pub signs. It's great to read the stories behind them as well!
ReplyDeleteNot that you have visited all of these places of course John.{:))
ReplyDeleteEngland has such interesting names, whether villages or pubs. I like Green Man.
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful way of seeing the world. I love these signs. It would have never crossed my mind to photograph them, but what a great idea. Wonderful stories too, as always!
ReplyDeleteI love all the funny pub names in England.Interesting how the names came about.
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