It's time that we had another collection of pub signs encountered on my rambles. In 1393, during the reign of King Richard II, pubs were first required to hang a sign outside to make them clearly visible. In those days few people were able to read and using a picture was a practical solution - "I'll meet thee for a tankard of mead at the sign of the Red Bull".
The Queen's Head in Newton, Cambridgeshire, did close and stood empty for some years before the arrival of the Short family in 1962 - they still run the pub today. It's one of "The Famous Five" pubs which have been included in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide for the whole fifty years of its publication. Inside it's not much changed since I used to make my way there for a pint of Adnams and a game of darts in the early 1970s.
The Plough, Shepreth is another community pub, just down the road from me and a music venue as well as serving meals and good beer. They've also got a cracking good sign in my opinion.
The John Bunyan gets its name from the Puritan preacher who was associated with the ruined cottage which lies just across the road. There are many pubs which have changed their names to reflect local history. It's unlikely that Bunyan ever popped in for a pint - or that the poet Rupert Brooke ever drank in the pub that bears his name - or that the Hermit Of Redcoats ever stopped being a hermit and joined the merry throng in the pub just a short distance from the house where he famously holed up for twenty-five years without washing or venturing outside.
The Woodman is one of many pubs which takes its name from the occupation of its onetime customers. Not that there are that there are many woods around Chapmore End in Hertfordshire. Presumably the woodmen cut them down before retiring for a well earned pint.
I feel I can't leave you without mentioning The Queen's Head Soup of the Day, part of a limited but hearty menu on offer in that famed and quirky establishment:
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Take care.
I have always found that one of the great pleasures of a visit to the United Kingdom is the ubiquity of interesting pub signs, to say nothing of the excellent food often found there. As you might imagine, I always paid particular attention to those named after birds, and the White Swan seemed to be very common in that regard, also the Black Swan. The Dog and Partridge is another I remember, and the Golden Pheasant. I have to confess that it was the sign that often dictated my choice for lunch, proving that advertising works!
ReplyDelete"Birds Britannica" has a list of pubs with bird names. And if you want to get serious about your quest you could try "Inn Search Of Birds" by John Lawton:
Deletehttps://www.whittlespublishing.com/Inn_Search_of_Birds
Thanks for this information. I have a copy of "Birds Britannica" (great book) and I will check the site you refer to.
DeleteThe coloured soup takes the cake, so to speak! Great post.
ReplyDeleteWonderful way to tell which soup you're about to eat...but can you order it that way, or is it just up to the cook each day? It appears to be a cooks choice. Love all the pub signs, and only you would know what each one meant! Thanks for explaining some! I'll have a Gaelic Ale please.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just like my granny's soup - anything which comes to hand goes in, making each day's recipe a totally unique and unrepeatable culinary adventure.
DeleteLove all the signs! My favorite name is the "Dabbling Duck." The soup menu also gave me a chuckle.
ReplyDeleteGreat signs, they don't make like that anymore. I love the soup menu.
ReplyDeleteI love all the signs, John. Especially like the Dabbling Duck. "Meet you at the duck" - love it.
ReplyDeleteLove it - and as a failed hunter/vegetarian I appreciate the warning about the soup of the day.
ReplyDeleteSe ven que tienen mucha antigüedad. Me han encantado esos carteles.
ReplyDeleteFeliz fin de semana.
These signs and histories are just unforgettable!
ReplyDeleteThe last is too funny! All the signs are such works of art. We have Thom's Tavern in the next town over and Salt hill Pub in Lebanon. Neither one can match the charm of pubs near you.
ReplyDeleteGood signs, and good eating.
ReplyDeleteI used to 'collect' pub names in a book - back in the day before motorways when all journeys meant driving through villages and towns.
ReplyDeleteWell, the Queen's Head soup menu definitely takes the biscuit there. I've never come across such an interesting description of food.
ReplyDeleteMy father used to speak of a pub - I think in the Dukeries - maybe Tuxford or Retford- called 'The Gate Hangs Well' underneath it said something like -
ReplyDeleteThe gate hangs well
and hinders none.
Refresh and pay
and carry on.
There was a Brown Windsor soup that the British Empire was brought up on, that probably is the backbone of the Queen's Head restaurant soup menu. Your Granny's soup was also my MIL's soup as well, often with a dash of ash, as she stirred the pot with a cigarette in her mouth, the ash slowly getting longer and then dropping.
ReplyDeletePub signs are often little works of art. I love the dabbling ducks.
ReplyDeletePub signs used to tell more than their simple picture... The Green Dragon was a smuggler's pub sign in the New Forest...as was the Black Robin in Kent!
ReplyDeleteWhat great pub signs, John, and unfortunately, i did not take any during the very short time we spent in the UK on our recent trips. We did, however, partake of the offerings in several pubs.🍻
ReplyDeleteI'll be! Apparently I have been channeling Granny these days. I make soups the same way, and can rarely repeat the same recipe.
ReplyDeleteLove all the signs, and Larry loved all the pubs!
Interesting signs and soup colour chart. I like the Dabbling Duck:)
ReplyDelete1393! That's a long time ago but what a fascinating legacy for our modern world.
ReplyDelete