Pub gone to the dogs

 

The Talbot in Cheadle has now closed, possibly forever.  It's a shame; it was just an old boozer, but a great old boozer.

'Talbot' was the family name of the Earls of Shrewsbury, who owned lots of land in and around Cheadle, even into the last century. 
The dogs that you can see in the shield of arms are of course hunting Talbots, and it could be that this breed of dog is so-named because the family adopted them for their arms some 600 years ago.

 

 

End of harvest times

The pub sign for the New Inns at Kiddemore Green induces a real feeling of relaxation - and a need for a cooling drink.  Especially at harvest time. 
Perhaps that's the point....
Or, that is to say, was the point.  The New Inns has gone the way of so many country pubs.  It has now closed.

In at The Knot? Or not?

Two more 'Stafford Knot' appearances for my collection!  The Stafford Knot is the symbol of the county, and I like to collect the different interpretations that artists give to the rebus.
In this instance, the knot is the right way up - unlike the example in my last post.

It vaguely amuses me to wonder how the staff at the Knot Inn answer the phone. They surely don't pick it up and say "K/Not in...", do they?

(Stafford) Knot Inn

Yet another sighting for my Stafford Knot collection. Hurrah!

This one is at The Knot Inn at Rushton Spencer.

By George...

Pub signs are an art form: and I rate this pub-sign at Alrewas. It has a nice imaginative thought behind it, I think

And it's topical to post it today - the feast-day of St George.

Unique hedgehog

There is only one 'Hedgehog Pub' in the UK (maybe the world?) - at least that's what an internet search seems to suggest.
I don't know why this fact interests me, but it does.

The Hedgehog is on the outskirts of Lichfield.  It dates back to the eighteenth century.

Vigorous dragon-slaying

The George at Alstonefield is a fabulous pub, right in the middle of an unspoilt village in the Peak District - so it attracts lots of walkers.

Unsurprisingly, its pub-sign features the most famous George of them all, Saint George, slaying the dragon. It's a vigorous, stylish piece of painting, especially for a pub-sign, but, sadly, I couldn't get information about the artist.

It's Saint George's Day tomorrow (April 23rd).

Grim pub sign

The Black Friar Pub in Newcastle-under-Lyme has a strange & curious sign - as you see.

Yes, a black friar; yes, you see a pint in his hand... but what does the scythe imply?  Surely that makes for a rather uncomfortable resemblance between this figure and the Grim Reaper himself - Death!

Not sure I'd want to go into a pub which has that figure for its 'guardian' - but actually, they do a pretty good pint...

Modest pub with extravagant sign

The Brushmakers Arms is a totally unassuming, very quiet, truly local local pub in the small village of Oulton.  Just the place for a quiet moment away from the hurly burly.

By contrast, it has this totally ornate pub-sign which features a rising-sun, a Stafford Knot, two fleur-de-lys, a shield - and four brushes.All on a startling blue background.
One day I determine to find out what it all means.

Princess Royal in Dresden

Princess Victoria? Yes indeed, this pub is named after her; and the pub-sign shows a likeness of this Victoria Princess Royal.
However, this is not the lady whom we know as Queen Victoria, but her daughter - who had the same name.
The man who built this pub (in the 1850s) in the Dresden district of Stoke-on-Trent was clearly of a monarchist turn of mind, and clearly was determined to tie in his fortunes with royalty.

However, the pub (and its sign) only confirm in my own mind that walking through parts of Stoke-on-Trent is like going back in time. Where else would a pub not only retain the name of a long-forgotten princess, but still have her portrait hanging outside?

(If you enjoy such facts, you'll be pleased to know the pub-sign picture is based on the work by the painter Winterhalter).

No respect for Bear

The Bear in Stafford looks out over the main street through the town and has done for many years, so (you'd have thought) he deserves some respect.
However, the pigeons just don't seem to care...

Fame for Bagot Goat

Abbots Bromley is famous for lots of things – including the Bagot Goat. This breed of goat is one of the oldest in England, being first recorded in the 14th century.
It ran wild for centuries round here, but, no longer sadly. It’s now only to be found in rare-breed centres.
I don't know why, but British regiments often choose this type of goat to be their mascots.

I guess it is a type of fame to be represented in a pub-name.

The Bagot Arms is in Abbots Bromley. I suppose it might be argued that the pub is named after the local Bagot family (which maintained, and gave its name to, the goat for all those years), but I prefer to think the pub is named in honour of the goat itself.

Audley's butcher Bouchiers

The Butchers Arms in Audley sports this pub-sign, which (at first) appears to have little to do with butchers.

The guy I spoke to at the bar said though it is a corruption of the word Bouchier, which was the name of the important land-owners hereabouts.  All over this historic pub are crests and symbols of the Bouchiers.

His theory sounds like it must be correct; but I couldn’t find any evidence for it after a quick Google-search.

Bow Street Runner - Bolshevik style

The Bow Street Runner pub in Tamworth was given a Russian theme some years ago, being billed at the town’s first ‘vodka bar’.
Yet, the Russian hammer & sickle seems to me strangely at odds with the heritage name of the pub. (The ‘Bow Street Runners’ were the precursors of England’s formal police force – which, in turn, was founded 200 years ago by the town’s then MP, Robert Peel).
And so this pub-sign looks very odd indeed.

But, branding moves on, so the sign may be due a new look in the near future as the pub’s disco has recently been re-named ‘Decadence’.

I wonder what a new sign with that theme would look like!

Link: Bow Street Runner  

Ship Inn & South Pole

The polar story of The Ship Inn (at Wincle) seems a good one to tell in this present wintry weather.

The ship on this pub-sign is not just any ol' ship but The Nimrod, which carried Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the South Pole in 1907-9. The group included the young Sir Philip Brocklehurst, who was from nearby Swythamley Hall.
The expedition, sadly, had to turn back just 100 miles from the Pole, and Philip was badly frost-bitten, but it was clearly an experience which stayed with him.
And that explains the pub-sign!

Link:  Brocklehurst at the South Pole / Ship Inn, Wincle

Black's Head

I was surprised to see The Blacks Head in Tean still sporting its long-time name.  A lot of these kinds of pub-names are now deemed politically incorrect, as they hark back to a time of widespread racial prejudice.
For example: ‘The Black Boy’ at Cobridge, whose sign showed a young black lad in servant’s livery, closed for economic reasons some time ago, but had had issues with the community…

The story of the ‘Labour in Vain’ pub in mid-Staffordshire is the daftest, as its sign related to a folk-tale of two ignorant peasants trying to wash clean the first African lad they ever came across. The sign was taken down in 2003 as politically incorrect, but put up again in 2009 (as it was re-interpreted: as ‘part of local tradition’).

It’s all very confusing, and is part of the problem that anyone has in trying to ‘correct history’.  (Should we leave statues up of Oliver Cromwell – whose troops massacred so many in Ireland?  It’s a moot question).

But I do notice that the pub-owners here in Tean have not attempted to put up a pictorial pub-sign.  Neither has another ‘Blacks Head’ – the one in Stoke.
It’s probably for the best.

Link:  Labour In Vain sign restored