Let's talk about Pubs

Everybody knows about pubs. Even if you've never been to the UK, Ireland or Australia, you know about pubs. Even my 8th grade students, when the topic of my British travels came up, would ask "did you go to any pubs?" I've mentioned on here a few times how much I love these homey establishments. They range in the quality of their beverages and food from sandwiches and chips (premade and microwaved) to gastro-pub quality. Some of the best meals I've had in this country were in pubs. Few meals can top the pork belly I had at The Bull Inn in Wrotham, Kent last summer. Let's talk about pubs in more detail. What are they, really? What does the word "pub" mean? And what is the history of the pub?

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment which is part of British, Irish, Australian, and New Zealand culture. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller villages no longer have a local pub. In many places, especially in villages, a pub can be the focal point of the community. The writings of Samuel Pepys describe the pub as the heart of England.

The inhabitants of Great Britain have been drinking ale since the Bronze Age, but it was with the arrival of the Romans and the establishment of the Roman road network that the first Inns called tabernae, in which the traveller could obtain refreshment, began to appear. After the departure of Roman authority and the fall of the Romano-British kingdoms, the Anglo-Saxons established alehouses that grew out of domestic dwellings. The Anglo-Saxon alewife would put a green bush up on a pole to let people know her brew was ready. These alehouses formed meeting houses for the locals to meet and gossip and arrange mutual help within their communities. Here lie the beginnings of the modern pub. They became so commonplace that in 965 King Edgar decreed that there should be no more than one alehouse per village.


Thanks, wikipedia. Though that law no longer holds up. There are multiple pubs in each village, though now many pubs are closing down. Some villages have no pubs at all.

Now, something else we need to discuss is how unusual pub names can be. I think the strangest one I've ever noticed was The Black Boy in Sevenoaks, Kent. Though the Scared Crow in West Malling, Kent was also unusual. Probably the most common I've seen is The George and Dragon. Just like the Irish have St. Patrick, the British have St. George who slayed a dragon. Here is a list of unusual pub names in England and their location, should any of my UK readers want to visit.

The Whole in the Wall (Dumfries)
The Bucket of Blood (Cornwall)
The Inn Next Door Burnt Down (Bedfordshire)
The Drunken Duck (Ambelside)
The Quiet Woman (York)
Who'd a Thowt It (Middelton)
Bull & Spectacles (Staffordshire)
The Duke Without a Head (Wateringbury- heeey, I've been here. Never seen that pub, though!)
The Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower (London)
World Turned Upside Down (London)
The Office (Sheffield- get it? I'm guessing this is so men could tell their wives "I'm going to the office" but really go out and get drunk, but not really tell a lie...)
Bull & Bladder (Brierley Hill)
Sir Loin of Beef (Southsea- haha, love that one!)
Plumber's Arms (London)
Man on the Moon (Birmingham)
Crooked Chimney (Hertfordshire)
Jolly Taxpayer (Portsmouth)

These are just a few, but there are thousands of pubs in England alone, so if you want to find some more, go ahead and do some research. For now, I'm going to leave you with some amusing pub signs.

There. Now you have your "Something I learned today." Cheerio!