BS: Pub Names

Subject: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad (Guest)
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 07:43 AM

I recently was aked for my opinions on names for a new pub opening in my town. The following were rejected.

'The Strangled Leper'

'The Septic Ferret"

'The Hugh Jarce Arms'

Any more out there?.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 07:52 AM

Ideally the name would have some relevance to the site or area the pub is in. I mean, you wouldn't call it the Station Inn if it wasn't near a station and didn't do rooms.

Or else maybe a historical connection. What was on the site before it was a pub ?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Billy Suggers
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 08:36 AM

I'm a regular at the "Temporary Sign" in Loose Chippings, (near Sodbury). Great name for a pub.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: skipy
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 08:39 AM

the "under new management"
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 08:55 AM

The Office... as in I'll be a little late home dear, I must pop into the office .

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: *Laura*
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 09:13 AM

The Septic Ferret!!
I am SO going to suggest that my local (The Masons Arms) changes it's name! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Stoatweasel
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 09:15 AM

Why do people think that if you put 'ferret' in a pub name, it's automatically funny?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 09:19 AM

The Centipede, or The Millipede, to spice up games of 'pub cricket'.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 09:21 AM

Nice one Laura

If your local is noted for its argumentative clientele,disputes sometimes settled by that
'Olde English' tradition of the car park punch-up then why not do as one pub near us did change its name from 'The G*****n' to 'The War Office'

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Rasener
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 09:56 AM

The Hooker's Inn
Big Willy's Inn
The Dogs Bollocks
The Cock and Pull Pub
The Dog & Dongle
The cat & Mouse
The Slug & lettuce
The Cockroach & Maggott

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 10:19 AM

Reminds me of a dear aunt who had lodgings in a delightful pub in a little village in Wiltshire.
She loved to hear of my adventures on foreign postings and to be kept abreast of all the queer goings on up the Khyber Many was the time our regimental postman would break into an inexplicable grun when I handed him yet another field postcard addressed to:

Miss Prudence Lykes,
The Olde Cock Inn,
Tillit,
Wilts.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 10:54 AM

Lots of pubs owned by the Greene King brewery in England are being renamed "the Greene King" - at least, that's how it looks. The brewery has started replacing the old pictorial signs (usually depicting the pub name) with a sign just showing the brewery logo. This has been causing a bit of friction with the locals - in one village, I gather they were able to get the brewery to restore the old sign.

As for pub names, I regret the trend in recent years to replace old pub names, which usually have some sort of local historical significance, with "trendy" new names, usually designed to attract yuppies or young "binge drinkers" (well, they're the ones with the disposable income, apparently). Although old buildings are protected against alteration by law, it seems old names are not :(

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Mingulay at work
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 10:57 AM

There is a pub in Uxbridge which was renamed 'The Ostler', it was previously called 'The White Horse'. A spokesperson for the brewery explained that the change of name was to better reflect the range of services on offer.

I would have loved to have walked into the bar leading a horse just to see if the 'services' reflected the name.

I also used to attend a watering hole called 'The Stag & Pheasant' which was better known locally as 'The Staggering Peasant'.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul Burke
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 11:06 AM

The Flat Horse and Slug- that's the pub name my daughter came up with when she was 3.

I always liked the Railway and Naturalist on Bury Old Road, Manchester.

And the Flying Saucer in Lutterworth.

There was one in Peterborough that was on the market so long that they renamed it after the estate agent- the Jackson Stops.

NON PC ALERT
Then there's the Quiet Woman at Earl Sterndale- complete with pubsign showing a headless woman. A former landlord is supposed to have been provoked to murder by his wife's nagging.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Rasener
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 11:12 AM

In Sutton Coldfield ther is a pub called Beggars Bush

I presume it was named after a female beggar

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 11:19 AM

I've seen more than one "Quiet Woman" shown as a headless woman. I think it was just a joke in most cases (albeit one that would be frowned upon by the PC brigade).

There was a pub "The Nag's Head" (I think in Islington IIRC) that showed the 'correct' horse's head one side, and a stereotypical picture of a harridan with curlers in and rolling pin on the other.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Mingulay at work
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 11:32 AM

Paul, the Jackson Stops is actually in the village of Stretton in Rutland right by the A1 and not far from the 'Ram Jam Inn'.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 11:42 AM

Ah, the Ram Jam Inn - that beacon of civilisation on the Great North Road. A place that puts all your hideous Welcoime Breaks and tacky Moto stations to shame. I go misty-eyed at the thought of the place...

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Rasener
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 12:18 PM

There's a road in Portsmouth called Fawcett Road, which has a pub called the Fawcett Inn. Their speciality drink used to be their own brand Fawcett Inn cider.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,John Keeps
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 12:24 PM

Please write to my sister, she will come up with some great names for pubs:- Miss Mary Keeps, The Old Cock Inn, Tillet, Herts.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Schantieman
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 01:05 PM

A pub in Liverpool used to be called "One Flew Over the Throstle's Nest". Clearly, the landlord and his mates (or the brewery?) didn't know what a throstle is (a mistle thrush, I believe) as the sign was merely a question mark. More recently the name has changed to merely "The Throstle's Nest" but there's still no picture.

And what flew over it?

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad (Guest)
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 02:20 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad (Guest)
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 02:42 PM

In this area, Lancashire (aka Gods Country) it is common to give pubs nicknames eg

The Golden Lion becomes the Brass Cat

The Black Swan becomes The Dirty Duck

Stanley Arms became Sally Up-Steps (the brewery eventually renamed it to its nickname)

The Horseshoe is known as 'The Last Chance Saloon ( If you haven't pulled yet)



Some less PC ones are The Eagle and Child whose sign is an Eagle and Child (surprised eh?) becameThe Bird and B**st**d.

And finally The angel Gabriel whose sign is an angel in a long white robe blowing a trumpet Is known as The C**t and Trumpet

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scoville
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 03:25 PM

Houston has the Mucky Duck (which is the official name, not a nickname) instead of the Dirty Duck, but the mascot is still a black swan. It's carved wood and sits on a shelf over the bar. It used to sit by the cash register but some idiot tried to steal it. While the bar guy was processing his tab, the dude grabbed the swan and ran out the back door. Fortunately, he had paid by credit card so the pub had all his information and the swan was recovered in short order. Don't you love stupid/intoxicated criminals?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 03:44 PM

Talking of stupid/intoxicated criminals A policeman frind ofmine was called to a break-in at a out of town pub. The miscreant had hidden in the adjacent field until the pub closed. Nature stepped in at this point and he needed a bowel movement. The only paper he had to wipe with was the addressed envelope that his Giro had been in. Yep! they got him.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Allen in OZ
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 04:35 PM

There is a pub along Parramatta Road Sydney named the "Wentworth". However, it is located where the sheep and cattle saleyards once operated and it was then known affectionately as the " Sheep Shit Inn" . Aaah , Halcyon Days indeed .

We also have the "Bull and Bush" and the "Jolly Frog" nearby

There was a thread along these lines about a year ago

Best wishes

AD 1943

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: ThreeSheds
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 04:46 PM

Recently I set a sat nav to shortest route rather than quickest and as a result I've been travelling all sort of odd routes,anyway somewhere near Wakefield (West Yorks) I spotted a pub name "Hail to Mopsy". Any Wezzies know the story behind this name?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Topsie
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 05:06 PM

Have you ever noticed that if you follow a footpath in a town or village it almost always leads to a pub?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Anne Lister
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 05:53 PM

All I know is that in these parts it's quite customary to navigate by pub names. Easiest way to find our house ... past the Labour in Vain and just down from the Sally.

Anne

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 06:12 PM

A pub in Weymouth, Dorset, was refurbished and, being on the harbour was renamed 'The Oar House'. Cynthia Payne was booked to open it but someone on the council decided this might not be the sort of thing a family resort like Weymouth should do...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Rowan
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 07:13 PM

In Sydney the Rose, Shamrock & Thistle has, for years been known as The Three Weeds. In Melbourne there is (was?) a pub named the Grace Darling, after a famous rescue. But it's always called the Grey Starling.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Cluin
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 07:13 PM

The Cock & Balls.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: lady penelope
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 07:22 PM

Actually, if you ask my Dad for directions, be prepared to remember many pub names rather than roads. It's just how they used to navigate....

Favourite pub names?
Anchor and Hope - Clapton (just 'cos it's contrary to the usual Hope & Anchor)
The Cheshire Cheese (Fleet Street)
The First In Last Out (FILO)
The Ring - Southwark (which was called such because of the boxing matches that used to go on in the back, but some opera nut re-did the sign as a gold ring with a bloke with an eye patch in the background....)
The Pond - Brighton.

An awful lot of years ago, the Kiwis and the Aussies back packing through London, nicknamed a pub in Tufnell park The Church, so they could honestly tell their parents that they went every Sunday.....

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 07 - 07:55 PM

Two not far from where I live in Kent.

"The Duke Without a Head", and "The Who'd 'a Thought It".

Neither, as far as I know, particularly recently named.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 03:49 AM

A lot of pubs have two names, the 'official' name that's on the licence and sometimes on the sign outside, and the colloquial. I used to go to a pub near the assizes in Norwich which everyone knew as The Murderers, but I have no idea what its 'real' name was.
Another was the pub under the old Daily Mirror building off Holborn Circus where many of the hacks would go to drink and grumble. Officially 'The White Hart', everyone knew it as 'The Stab'; as in 'the stab in the back'.
My local is called 'The Ramp' - no idea why, because the real name is (I think) 'The Miners'
Corruptions of existing names seem to occur all over the English speaking world, from the Mucky Duck and Brass Cat already mentioned to numerous others. I used to frequent a folk club held at 'The Lady of the Lake', which was known locally as 'The Bitch in the Ditch'

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Mo the caller
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 04:19 AM

Pubs in Beverley have tend to have 2 names.
The one with the rocking horse over the door (real but no rockers) called The White Horse is known to all as Nellies after a long gone publican.
Mills & Sowerby was always known as Push (well, thats what it said on the door). Its now officially called The Push.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: The Barden of England
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 04:43 AM

The "Salmon and Ball" on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Cambridge Heath Road in East London was always known locally as "The Trout and Knacker" - I thought that sounded much better.
John Barden

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 05:25 AM

Nicknames:

- there was (is?) a pub in the centre of Stevenage New Town, Herts, called the "Edward the Confessor", known to locals as "Ted the Grass".

- a pub in Cambs (I forget the nearest village), "The Downing Arms" featured a poorly painted sign showing the aforesaid family's coat of arms, a lion rampant on a shield. The locals called it the "Scratching Cat" (sadly the pub has long been closed and is now a private house, like so many country pubs in England).

Talking of intoxicated animals, mucky ducks etc., there's a pub in Barngates near Ambleside "The Drunken Duck", apparently so named after a duck consumed some of the Barngates brewery's ale - the pub and its ales come with a personal high recommendation from me, incidentally :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: gnomad
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 05:29 AM

ThreeSheds: I think the pub you saw will have been the "Hark to Mopsey" in Normanton, just NE of Wakefield. The sign shows a picture of a hunt in progress, so I would imagine that Mopsey was a particularly famous hound.

We have a "First in, last out" here in Whitby, that is its official name rather than a nickname.

I rather liked the pub in Tarrington [Herefordshire] which was called the "Glass Pig". Last time I passed I noticed it had reverted to its earlier name of the Tarrington Arms, more traditional I suppose, but somehow less fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 06:21 AM

Captain Ginger

'Miners' - 'Miner's Lamp' - 'Ramp'?


There used to be a pub in Bagshot called the Hero of Inkerman. The official name got shortened to The Hero, presumably because the full name was more than the clientele could cope with.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Mingulay at work
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 07:12 AM

Another pub I used to frequent was called the 'Horse and Panniers'nicknamed by the locals as 'Whores and Fannies'. Looking back, I seem to have spent a lot of time in pubs many with odd nicknames!!

Irthlingborough (Northants) has the 'Sow & Pigs'. One side of the sign shows a sow with piglets and the other an old method of making cast iron ingots with a main channel (sow) and side channels (pigs), a reference to former local ironworks.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Essex Girl
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 08:31 AM

Like Lady Penelope, my father always navigated by pub names. He was a fireman in Essex and the best landmarks, especially at night were the pubs. Where the roads had no names you could say "left at The Royal Oak", then past the Green Man" etc. When Harlow New Town was built all the new pubs were named after butterflies and the signs depicted the butterfly on one side, i.e. The Scarlet Admiral and a suitable picture on the other. The fact that most of the pubs were dreadful to drink in was beside the point.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Toobusybee
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 08:46 AM

Further to the Church mentioned by Lady Penelope.
The Church took place every sunday in Bagley's club at Kings Cross - I live on a narrowboat there and it was murder! Every Sunday we had a self imposed curfew from 11am until 1pm and 4pm until c6pm. I know the majority of the users were just being friendly - I found out my nephew had been a visitor when he was in the army; but there was a nasty minority who used to urinate in the gate of the mooring, throw things from the bridge above the canal - once it was a two litre bottle of water, another time I found a half bottle of gin (I think). They shouted abuse and really rude remarks, I also once saw a girl providing sexual relief to her boyfriend (?) on the Bridge on York Road. Eventually the club was moved to the Forum in Kentish Town. I am not averse to drinking and a bit of malarkey - I am know to partake every now and then but it used to be an absolute nightmare!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Rowan
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 01:36 AM

" a girl providing sexual relief to her boyfriend"

I love those deliciously quaint expressions.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad(guest)
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 04:01 AM

Toobussybee

I don't suppose you got her name or telephone number.

Jim ( no distance too far)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Toobusybee
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 08:07 AM

Not quaint, just trying to spare some people's sensibilities, but if you insist in giving it a name - a blow job.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 08:43 AM

Ah, so she was a hairdresser then?

ah... I see...

... I'll get me coat.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: eddie1
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 01:38 PM

Reading (UK) has a "World Turned Upside Down" - known as "The Double - ewe Tup.
I always liked the name Ronnie Corbett used for his local. "The Rat and Handbag"!

Eddie

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 05:43 PM

We have 3 pubs called "The Case is Altered" within a few miles of each other - Old Redding, Wealdstone and Eastcote (the latter being where the Herga Mummers start their Boxing Day tour). I don't know of any further afield.

Kitty

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 05:59 PM

Kitty, you got that just ahead of me - I only know the Eastcote one, though.
And in North Oxford, Tolkien's favourite pub is commonly known as "The Bird and Bastard" (Eagle and Child). Indeed, the first time I went out with 'er indoors, we sat on the bench with his commemorative plaque...

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Bob Hitchcock
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 06:08 PM

Why not call it "Free Beer"? be great for attracting customers.

Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 04:58 AM

Some vague memory in the recesses of a gin-sodden brain tells me that the name 'The Case is Altered' was thought to have been brought back by soldiers from Spain, and refers to the casa altera (sp?), or high house, selling hooch.
But I may be horribly wrong, of course.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 05:35 AM

Lot's of myths or near-myths about pub names, like the Elephant and Castle coming from Infanta de Castille, or the Square ond Compasses from the supposed puritan phrase His Care Encompasseth Us. Perhaps The Bulls Head came from Double Zed, the Wheatsheaf from The Witch Heath (as in Macbeth)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Captain Ginger
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 05:46 AM

Ah, a goo d can o' worms there, Guest.
Certainly there seem to be other views on The Case is Altered. And the Elephant and Castle would certainly seem to have nowt to do with infantas - or even Fanta - and more to do with knife handles.
There are some links and wittering here, and some more talk of fabled names on Wikipedia.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 06:26 AM

At what point, as you travel into London, are the pubs called the 'Jolly Farmer' replaced by the 'Jolly Gardener '?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul Burke
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 06:52 AM

About the point that the Red Lion is replaced by the Yellow Line.

I've always liked that name "The Gate Hangs Well"- which is apparently a reference to turnpike toll gates. The one at Chapel-en-le-Frith still has the little jingle outside:

This gate hangs well
And hinders none.
Come in, refresh,
And travel on.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Bill the Collie
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 06:54 AM

The "Queens Heid" in Burley in Wharfedale - not an unusual name but a damned good pub nevertheless.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Mr Red
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 09:15 AM

Well a relative of a relative (if you see what I mean) used to live between two pubs in Knighton Wales) - one is still there.

"The Lion" and "the Lamb" (probably "& Flag")

so his friends called him the Peacemaker.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Martyn
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 03:26 PM

Re the "Hark To Mopsey" in Normanton. When I was a kid the pub sign didn't show a hunt, but we were told that in years gone by there had been a fire at the pub and the Landlords dog Mopsey had raised the alarm and woken everyone up. The landlord then renamed the Pub.

It's a nice story but I suspect it's a fairytale.

Martyn

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 04:40 PM

A few of my favorites, from my youth:

Mickey & Vinnie's Dew Drop Inn
Lift a Latch
Cus from Ho (short for 'cousins from Hoboken')
Tavern at the Inn (the owner bought two generic neon signs)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 06:54 PM

Geoff Higginbottom tells a canny story aboot a toon in Cheshire (aah think) with two pubs - The Red Lion and The Golden Lion

A third pub wez built as the toon grew and was caalled The Pavillion but everyone referred to it as The Pavil Lion

Aah aalwez thowt a great name for a pub wad be 'The Frog & Nightgown' or 'The Ghost & Gumboil'

Divvent ask uz why - It's just summat me marra and me used te think ab oot when we wez kids

Gerramonsgstit Man!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Folkiedave
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 07:37 PM

One of the great sessions pubs (most nights of the week) in Sheffield is called Fagan's after a long-standing landlord Joe Fagan of whom there are many legendary stories.

Go in and ask Tom the current landlord to tell you some of them.

Joe was a Lancaster bomber pilot and used to tell how not only was he blown out of the sky and had to parachute down, he caught a fellow airman on his way down without a parachute. Not only that but he smoked a Woodbine on his way to earth.

When asked how he lit the Woodbine, since he was holding his fellow airman, Joe answered "flak".

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul from Hull
Date: 12 Jan 07 - 08:17 PM

*G*

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Mr Red
Date: 13 Jan 07 - 09:48 AM

Not funny but really rare - Brown Lion (Pleck, Walsall)
Rose & Lion Bromyard (seesions every Sun)
and just round the corner from me the Spa Inn which I often see as the Spain (you can't concentrate on pub names every time you drive).

I used to publish fictitiuos name/Location/pub signs combinations in Folkwrite eg "the Long and Winding Road" - Utrecht, "the Full Platter" - Chew Magna, "Prince of Wales" - Greene King etc I have hundreds of varying hilarity

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: bubblyrat
Date: 14 Jan 07 - 05:12 PM

Some pubs I have known---"The Trip to Jerusalem," Nottingham--"The Goat and Tricycle," Bournemouth--"The Royal Arms",Gosport,known to generations of sailors as "The C**T and Drums" .The Royal British Legion is always "The Leg-Iron" in naval parlance. I did find a pub once called "The Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe"--might have been in the West Country: can"t remember !! "The Donkey House " in Windsor is now a poseur"s restaurant. With regard to an earlier posting--You can"t say,or play the tune from,Captain Pugwash down under ---Pugwash means Blow-Job !!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 14 Jan 07 - 05:25 PM

Heard on the radio recently that a lot of English pubs are called the Marquess of Granby (I think it was), because the said marquess, as an officer, saw old soldiers falling into poverty without a pension. So, being a rich guy, he started buying pubs for his old soldiers, and of course they were all named after him - and many were successful.

Here's a toast to the Marquess of Granby!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 02:04 AM

"You can't say, or play the tune from Captain Pugwash down under"

Pity nobody told that to ABC TV when they had it on years ago...

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 06:34 AM

Just remembered an unusual pub name from my youth - near Southam (I think), in the West Midlands: The Blue Lias - supposedly named so because the bones of a prehistoric animal from the species with that name was discovered in the grounds.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 06:35 AM

The famous old pub Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham will probably have its sign replaced by a Greene King logo, if recent events elsewhere are anything to go by (the Hardy and Hanson brewery was taken over by GK and closed; and GK have aroused ire in many localities for replacing the old pictorial pub signs with their logo).

:-(((((((

(Very p***ed off at this state of affairs)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 06:37 AM

Correction: The Blue Lias is named after a kind of limestone which is abundant in the area, and has a dinosaur as its pub sign because dinosaur bones were found in the limestone some years ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul from Hull
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 07:38 AM

Scrump, thats blooy shameful indeed! Ive been in the Trip to Jerusalem only 3 or 4 times down the years, but I LOVE that pub! How long has it had the name do you know? (I could do a search for that, I suppose)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 08:29 AM

The Olde Trip is almost certainly one of the oldest pubs in England (there are many claimants to the 'oldest pub' title, but it's difficult to prove absolutely). It claims to be over 800 years old. I believe it was named because it was where the crusaders drank before leaving England.

I assume even GK wouldn't presume to rename this particular pub. As for the sign, I don't know - it's happened in many other places. The old pictorial pub signs are regarded by many as part of the local heritage (even though many of the signs have been repainted, sometimes by different artists, many times over the years). GK has been removing these signs and replacing them with a sign just showing the GK logo (as far as I know, they haven't actually renamed the pubs though). In one village (I forget where, for the moment) the villagers were up in arms and GK were forced to restore the old sign - so there's hope! I've seen plenty of GK pubs where the 'logo' sign has replaced the old one, though, so I guess GK are aiming to do this everywhere (there doesn't seem to be a 'campaign for real pub signs', unfortunately).

I used to like the Olde Trip too, but I wouldn't now, having seen the list of ales on their website (GK IPA and Abbot, 'Hardy & Hanson' mild, 'Morland' Old Speckled Hen - the new, significantly weaker version, of course - and 'Ruddles' County). What have these apparently different ales got in common? They're all made at the Greene King brewery in Suffolk, that's what :-(

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Snuffy
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 09:09 AM

When I moved to Suffolk in 1969 all Greene King pubs had identical signs, with the Greene King logo on the sign, and only the pub name differing according to location.

Sometime in the 70s they decided to replace these with pictorial signs, but now they seem to be going back to their old, traditional signs.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 09:14 AM

Very good, Snuffy :-)

Except they have changed their corporate logo at least twice since the 1970s, and the new signs bear their latest logo, not the 'traditional' 1970s one.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: HuwG
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 09:56 AM

Greene King, and other pub chains ("Pubcos") have recently come under fire for being even more insensitive to customers' tastes and local feelings than the brewery chains they replaced.

Some years ago, brewery chains who owned large numbers of "tied" houses were taken to task by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission as restricting competition in the trade. Unfortunately, the pubs they disposed of were snapped up not by sitting tenants or landlords, but by the pub management chains.

The pub management companies have come under fire for allowing pubs in Stockport and elsewhere to degenerate into derelict eyesores since no landlord could afford to take on the tenancy on the terms offered. As a result, the town council has had to compulsorily purchase the sites. The management company has suffered no penalties for allowing the sites to decay to this point.

And yes, GK and others (Wetherspoons) have fallen prey to the megalomaniac company desire to stamp their own logo all over the place. Why the McDonalds and other such tin god empires feel the need to spray their urine all over the walls of every town in which they have a foothold (and serve universally mediocre wee and force landlords to jack up prices) baffles me.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 11:35 AM

The "Beer Orders" which forced breweries to allow their managers or tenants to sell a guest beer from another brewery, and restricted the number of pubs that could be owned by a single brewery, were rescinded a few years ago. But when they were introduced, the large breweries at the time simply did deals with one another, where one would swap their brewing operation for the other's pubs, so instead of two big breweries each owning large numbers of pubs, there was one mega brewery company and another mega pub chain.

Greene King is rapidly becoming as bad as the original large pub-owning breweries were in the 1970s, taking over other breweries and closing them down. They are not the only ones - Marston's (formerly Wolverhampton & Dudley) and Fullers seem to be following their example.

Quite how sending large tankers and truckloads of beer all over the country, instead of brewing it locally, helps the environment I've yet to discover. Maybe there should be a mileage tax on beer.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 10:24 PM

Then there's the Cat and Custard Pot at Hawkinge nr. Folkestone. This served the pilots at the nearby RAF airfield during WWII - and the pilots were never given credit for sadly obvious reason!! I think this pub also has an old wooden beam that customers have forced pennies into over the years, and some of the pennies date back a couple of centuries. Haven't been there for a while so it's probably now called Greene King and the beams are plastic.


Arnie

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul from Hull
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 05:57 AM

I asked this on the thread about Pub signs, but it more properly belongs here...

Isn't there (or its maybe was...) a pub somewhere in UK actually called 'The Temporary Sign'?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 09:10 AM

I dont know about 'The Temporary Sign' but near here ( Gods Country) there is a pub called
Letters Inn, whilst nother pub is called 'Bobs Smithy' because a local Blacksmith spent so much time propping the bar up there it was decided to rename it in his honour.

We have a pub called 'The Griffin' whose nickname is " The War Office' because of the number of battles that take place therein and for the same reason 'The Grapes' became 'The Blood Tub'

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul from Hull
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 01:50 PM

God's Country, Jimlad? Nah, you only live next door dont you?...wrong side o't'Pennines?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GRex
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 02:09 PM

The "South Western Arms" in Southampton once changed it's name to "Nellie's Nob" with a picture of Nell Gwyn, a very buxom wench with a very low-cut dress. The name was changed back after numerous complaints by neighbours.

Also in Southampton the "Honest Lawyer" is close to the "Bent Brief"

Happy supping.
                   GRex

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 02:34 PM

Paul from Hull you must be a rare sort of feller,not many folk admit to cummin from theer
As the old saying goes

"From Hull,Hell and Halifax may the Lord preserve us."

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul from Hull
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 03:22 PM

Well, Jim, we dont like to gloat...*G*

Hmmm, actually, yes we do!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Arnie
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 04:13 PM

And speaking as someone from Halifax, I agree with Paul from Hull - now then, any 'Catters from that other place???

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 07:51 PM

Hi Arnie

You must have heard this one............

Yorkshire born,Yorkshire bred.
Strong in't arm,weak in't yed

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 10:32 AM

Isn't there (or its maybe was...) a pub somewhere in UK actually called 'The Temporary Sign'?

Not sure whether this question was tongue in cheek or not, but sometimes if a pub is having their 'swinging' picture sign repainted by a sign artists, they put up a temporary replacement with the words "Temporary Sign" on it. So I assume it was a joke, where someone misunderstood and thought the pub was actually called that (instead of its real name, e.g. "The Red Lion" or whatever).

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 10:35 AM

Yorkshire born,Yorkshire bred.
Strong in't arm,weak in't yed

I've heard this from many different counties, including Hampshire and Devon (except instead of "weak in t'yed" they would have "weak in the 'ead'", etc.)

No idea where it originated though. It's probably too old to be sure where it was first used.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Mr Red
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 12:41 PM

Gloucestershire

".... & thick in the 'ead"

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 04:49 PM

I heard today that the Dove in Sidmouth is an ex-Dove, indeed a deceased Dove. It was for a while an Irish theme pub called Finns, before reverting to the Dove, but has been converted into flats so isn't even a pub any more.

There was a time when so many members of the Herga Folk Club went to Sidmouth festival that we had the club AGM in the public bar of the Dove on the Monday.

Kitty

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 09:18 AM

There's an old pub in Newcastle upon Tyne called the Crown Posada, which I've always wondered about. Next time I go there I suppose I could ask (it has good beer btw).

I think Posada sounds vaguely Spanish (or Latin?). It just seems an unusual name and I assume there's some historical reason. It's not far from the Quay so maybe it was used by Spanish sailors or something?

Does anyone know?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 10:01 AM

Scrump

Geordies are just Scotchmen with their brains kicked out. They speak a strange tongue that is
unknown/understood anywhere else on planet Earth.

Your question "Does anyone know/" translates as "Duz any yan knaa" which may be understood by the literate 22% of Geordies. This may get you a (polite I hope) answer

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 03:05 PM

Scrump, 'posada' is Spanish for 'inn'. You could still go and ask them why though.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: terrier
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 09:08 PM

A pub in Warrington (Cheshire,UK),I can't remember it's original name now, was renamed 'The Cemetery'(it is opposite a cemetery). The locals complained about the name so much that it was re-re-named 'The Good Companions'!!!!!! A quiet lot in there ;~)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Mr Red
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 04:45 AM

in the dead centre - everyone dying to go there.


Just to get them over with

d8^)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,jimlad
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 01:36 PM

Did they serve Spirits?.

Feel free to groan.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: kendall
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 04:37 PM

When I travel in the UK I like to look for interesting pub names, such as, The Black Lion, The Rose & Crown. So much more class than our pubs.
The most interesting one we have here is probably Three Dollar Dewys.
Years ago it was a whore house, and the options were, 1.One dollar lookie, 2. Two dollar feelie and 3. Three dollar Dewy.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Alec
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 05:02 PM

The Crown Posada is on the list of architecturally important Pubs
on account of its magnificent stained glass window & beautiful wood panelling. The posada bit comes from Newcastle being a port. Spanish being a Major trading language (hence also the Bodega about a Mile further North West.)
As for what language jimlad was attempting to replicate, any one got any ideas?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: HuwG
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 08:52 PM

Many years ago, on long car journeys, my parents and brother and I played a game of pub names. One point was scored for each leg as part of a pub's name spotted by any contestant.

For example, the "Red Lion" would be four legs. (The rules committee i.e. my dad, ruled that how the lion was depicted was immaterial. In many cases the red lion would be depicted heraldically as "rampant" i.e rearing up on its hind legs, before you get the wrong idea, but it was ruled that the leg didn't actually have to be touching the ground to count.)

A reference to a heraldic badge e.g. the "Mason's Arms", was assumed to be singular, so the "Mason's Arms" would count as two legs. Likewise, the "Somerset Arms" would be assumed to refer to one holder of the title Earl of Somerset, and would also count as two legs.

A reference to a group too loosely named to be accurately counted e.g. the "Rescuers", was assumed to be two rescuers and counted four legs. (Assuming Lassie to be one of the rescuers was not allowed). A group too large to be counted e.g. the "Durham Light Infantry" was awarded an arbitrary 100 legs. The same did not apply to e.g. the "Dreadnought", as it was the ship which was named rather than its crew.

The game obviously had long boring spells during journeys which involved stretches of motorway, but could be fast and furious when passing through town centres. It led to some imaginative discussions as to the origins of some names. I don't recall that we saw quite such a name as "Hark to Towler". I assume in that case that we would eventually guess correctly that Towler was a foxhound and therefore counted four legs.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:10 AM

Many 'catters will know the wonderful 'Eel's Foot', in Eastbridge, Suffolk ('anything goes' sessions every Thursday evening - no appointment necessary, no disappointment possible). Another piece of transplanted heaven was the 'King's Arms' at Laxfield, where the traditional Tuesday afternoon/evening/night sessions were legendary, but a disastrous change of landlord meant a move of venue to Stradbroke. Luckily, none of them GK, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Leadfingers
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 12:03 PM

100 !!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,Bardan
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 05:18 PM

What about the last chance? I think it was in Wales and I assume had something to do with the proximity of the English border.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Scrump
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 07:14 PM

Never heard of that one, Leadfingers. Apart from the 100 Club of course.

I saw a pub today called "The Crown". How weird can you get!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: GUEST,up nooth
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 02:57 PM

the swinging ball

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 03:39 PM

Someone mentioned the Masons Arms... and the Somerset Arms... there have been a lot of pubs called the '..... Arms'.... OK!!! So I am suggesting you call this pub the '..... Legs'.... maybe the Queens Legs... or the Kings Legs..... or something similar..... OH and for obvious reasons!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Micca
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 04:02 PM

The Student Union Bar at The London college of Furniture, (now part of London Metropolitan University via number of metamorphoses) was, (in recognition of the not uncommon amputation injuries amongst wood machinists) Officially registered and named as the "Missing Arms" by a vote of the Bar committee.( I still have my membership card numbered 001)

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 04:54 PM

Organic Hot dog and beer joint:

THE GREENER WIENER

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Paul Burke
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 04:55 PM

Has anyone suggested the Grocers Arm's?

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 07:28 PM

Great one in Brunswick (a suburb of Melbourne) 'The Lambs Go Bar'

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Alice
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 08:38 PM

for a while, our session was at

The Pour House click


now it's at Pub 317 (supposed to mean March 17, St. Patrick's Day) click

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Allen in Oz
Date: 21 Sep 09 - 11:03 PM

In Sydney we have the "Rose Shamrock and Thistle" known affectionately as the "Three Weeds"

We also have (next door to what once were the Homebush abattoirs ) a pub called by the locals "The Sheep Shit Inn"

Best wishes

AD

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 01:36 PM

Here is a bibliography of Martha Grimes, a mystery writer who names all her books for English pubs:
The Man with a Load of Mischief
The Old Fox Deceiv'd
The Anodyne Necklace
The Dirty Duck
Jerusalem Inn
Help the Poor Struggler
The Deer Leap
I Am the Only Running Footman
The Five Bells and Bladebone
The Old Silent
The Old Contemptibles
The Horse You Came in On
Rainbow's End
The Case Has Altered
The Stargazey
The Lamorna Wink
The Blue Last
The Grave Maurice

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Sep 09 - 01:50 PM

Tom & Ray Magliozzi, the Car Talk guys on NPR, keep referring to a place called "The Horseshoe Road Inn"—at least I think that's how they would spell it.

Subject: RE: BS: Pub Names
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 04:07 AM

There is a pub in West London, not far from Ealing, called The Band At Rest. How widespread is this one? I know of no other examples.

And I remember from remote pre WWii childhood my parents being much taken with one called The Old Boot. So far as I recall, the sign showed a down-at-heel piece of footwear rather than a hard-to-please looking elderly female.