There's a Bear and Ragged Staff in Crayford, Kent (why? - it's a long way from Warwick), which some joker decided to rename the Orange Kipper. Local outcry, and "what have you done with the sign?" which was a beautiful piece of wrought iron. "I don't know," says the manager, but I don't think we put it on the skip." More outcry. Result. No kipper. Sign back. Name back.

Not so with the Hobgoblins. The Pie and Kilderkin at Forest Hill. The George Canning at Brixton (in small print, though). Or the Geese. The Goose and Granite - once the Plough at East Dulwich, with roads named after it. The Goose on the Green - once the Horse and Harrow at Catford - still proclaims that on the plasterwork.

McDonald's now has the Yorkshire Grey - landmark pub in Eltham (Elt-um), but it still says the name in small print.

When they built the bypass in Dover, they did for a few good names. The cause is altered - something political, I believe, possibly Civil War. And the Five Alls.

Penny