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
