West Cumbria U3A
Published at 11:10, Thursday, 17 May 2012
TREVOR Green gave a fascinating talk entitled ‘A Sign of the Times’, on April 17, a history of pub signs from the wayside taverner of Roman Britain to the present day.
An ale pole from Roman times drew attention to ale houses and ale gardens. A visual prompt of this nature was essential then and even more so in Anglo-Saxon time as so few people could read and write.
An act in 1393, in Richard II’s reign, regularised the position, requiring such signs to be prominently displayed and immediately recognisable.
The rich variety of pub signs with which we have grown up is decreasing as many pubs close and the big breweries and distilleries prefer their in-house titles.
Mr Green gave us an interesting analysis of the themes of pub signs, reminding us so many signs referred to past times. Many had religious themes. Examples of this type include The Mitre, The Three Crowns and The Saracen’s Head, which would hardly be regarded as politically correct now!
Locally many signs have a nautical flavour, like The Distressed Sailor and The Dolphin. Animals grace many pub signs like The Red and White Lion(s). We saw a distinctly quirky one on our recent trip to Bletchley Park – The Pickled Pig.
More mundane themes are farming and trade, The Three Tuns, The Woolpack and the very common The Plough are signs of this type.
Very many signs are associated with past royalty, The Rose and Crown and The King’s Head being the most common in England.
There are a variety of deliberately unusual choices for pub signs. The Hole in the Wall and The Load of Mischief are the results of somebody’s fertile imagination. Sports and pastimes are represented by The Fighting Cocks, The Chase, and in Hambledon, Hampshire, where cricket was said to be first played, The Bat and Ball.
We are losing some of our highly individual West Cumbrian signs to choices of the national pub chains. How many of The John Paul Jones, Sal Madge, Oily Johnnies will survive?
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk
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