Pub/Cafe Gallery and the odd hotel!

[NewcastleFalcon]

There are plenty of examples from the archives on the subject but the little snippet of the Six Bells at Ruislip being the location where Jet and Hank had a ride out on their scooters and came up with the name "The Shadows" for their band had me thinking time for a thread to celebrate Pubs/Inns/Hostelries. They can be elevated out of their ordinariness and familiarity and be worthy of a shutter click from me for many reasons. I like the names/the art of the signs/the history and the trivia...

Small bit of evidence here

There is a random link between these pictures, one is at a cafe/restaurant at Blyth, the other a Pub in Kelso.

The link is in the spoiler.....more of a stream of consciousness courtesy of yours truly

Spoiler: show

Yes it starts with driving past a new housing development at Blyth with a road called "Albatross Road". How ridiculous....when was the last Albatross seen in Blyth?.......A cormorant flies past as we are having our coffee overlooking the river. Why wasn't the road named Cormorant road? Much more appropriate.

As far as namings go the Cormorant gets a raw deal. How many pubs are named the White Swan, or Black Swan, The Pheasant, The Blackbird etc but is there one pub called "The Cormorant" I doubt it.

Anyway when I saw the rather austere and foreboding Black Swan in Kelso I had to take a picture of it. I mean when was the last Black Swan seen in Kelso? About the same time the last Albatross was seen in Blyth. Dawlish yes, Perth in Western Australia yes...but not Kelso.

Blyth


Kelso

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Another snippet which turns an ordinary if picturesque village hostelry into an interesting story worthy of assembly on this thread.

Page 316 was also the start of the story of "Shag" Eckford DFC WW2 pilot.

I can add a further element to that story discovered today. A book "The Inn of the Few" written by the former Landlady of the White Hart Brasted, where "Shag's" name was written on the blackout. The current White Hart on its website makes no mention of its history, and looks like a corporate-it-could-be-anywhere, if nicely presented, sort of place.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... 74266&z=11

The White Hart at Brasted is the most famous Battle of Britain pub. It serviced the pilots of the RAF Biggin Hill squadrons that defended Kent during the Battle. When off duty they would drink here and many of the pilots signed a large blackout board. That blackout board is now preserved at the Shoreham Aircraft Museum. Unfortunately, the pub itself was refurbished a few years ago and very little of the period details and memorabilia were retained.

Shag Eckford's signature on the blackout board

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

I think this thread has plenty of opportunity to get filled up with a bit of interesting content. Pretty easy to contribute to. I'll keep it ticking over to get it started.

The Hat and Feather...a pub on the top of a hill overlooking the Derwent Valley near Consett, on the Roman Road Dere Street heading from York to Corbridge and the Roman wall and on up to Scotland. Now demolished just this year and to be replaced with some anonymous little housing development. Not that the pub was a success in recent times, pretty run down.

One of its claims to fame...the area will probably always be known as "The Hat and Feather" hope it still survives on the bus destination boards as it did in my youth on the nice blue Armstrongs Buses from Ebchester.

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Marginal change of title to get this in

Springing from Dormouse's post on POTD mentioning Dirleton, I learn from Wiki that a certain French/English film was partly filmed in the area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirleton
The 1967 British-French film Two Weeks in September (À cœur joie) was partly filmed in the area. The film starred Brigitte Bardot and Laurent Terzieff and was directed by Serge Bourguignon. Scenes for the film were shot on location in Dirleton Castle and on the beach at Gullane in September 1966. The principal cast stayed at the Open Arms Hotel in Dirleton.

A few places lay claim to Mary Queen of Scots or Charles Dickens sleeping there...but Brigitte Bardot is in a different League!

As with all these things I find the website for the establishment totally devoid of these little snippets of social history, and the "Open Arms" as a privately owned Hotel barely announces its own presence on signage, nevermind a blue plaque saying Brigitte Bardot slept here

Regards Neil

[Dormouse]

Marginal change of title to get this in

Springing from Dormouse's post on POTD mentioning Dirleton, I learn from Wiki that a certain French/English film was partly filmed in the area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirleton
The 1967 British-French film Two Weeks in September (À cœur joie) was partly filmed in the area. The film starred Brigitte Bardot and Laurent Terzieff and was directed by Serge Bourguignon. Scenes for the film were shot on location in Dirleton Castle and on the beach at Gullane in September 1966. The principal cast stayed at the Open Arms Hotel in Dirleton.

A few places lay claim to Mary Queen of Scots or Charles Dickens sleeping there...but Brigitte Bardot is in a different League!

As with all these things I find the website for the establishment totally devoid of these little snippets of social history, and the "Open Arms" as a privately owned Hotel barely announces its own presence on signage, nevermind a blue plaque saying Brigitte Bardot slept here



Regards Neil

Now that I didn't know given I was a teenager living just up the coast a bit at the time. I thought you would follow up on the De Vaux family connection.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Dont know if the de Vaux had anything to do with this but...

Vaux translates first to Vaux Breweries and its association with Sunderland. I got a lift once with a PhD Student in Chemical engineering who was researching how to make Vaux Beers drinkable but mustn't have come up with the answer, as they exited from the brewing industry.

https://wearsideonline.com/vaux-brewery/

I suppose a few folk "like a double Maxim" and it survives today but not under the Vaux Name.

http://www.maximbrewery.co.uk/

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

A former next door neighbour worked for Vaux in Sunderland.
His name was Adrian Beer.

[NewcastleFalcon]

In a trivia tangent from the Black Swans on the Christmas Island Stamp I discovered this website.

https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/

A little play around with the search facility and wasn't too difficult to compile a list of the 66 Pubs called the Black Swan in the UK. One of marginal member interest could be The Black Swan in Langport...very much CitroJim stomping ground and appearing in Cary's new itinerary of 1815 documenting the coaching stops of the great routes of England and Wales and part of Scotland.

I also let the random hand do its work and it selected the Black Swan at Pease Pottage (60) West Sussex from the 66. This then is probably the most comprehensive list of UK Black Swan's ever produced

Spoiler: show

Langport

Pease Pottage

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Twelve Pub (names) of Christmas

Using the search facility on this site, or anything else at your disposal select some pubs with names featuring the traditional 12 days of Christmas gifts. No pedantic accuracy or curation will be applied to entries creativity always encouraged. The search facility on this site is a good place to assist playing along.

https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/

So here's a Hertfordshire starter
1. Partridge
Probably not the most picturesque pub in the County!

Carpenders Park: The Partridge
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Nigel Cox - geograph.org.uk/p/1272954

Regards Neil

[bobins]

No turtles in sight, I'm afraid, and only a singular dove, but Micheldever Station (in the background) has featured in the OTCL before with a car related theme. The pub garden looks quite colourful.

The Dove Inn, Michel Devastation - Google Maps

[NewcastleFalcon]

No need to do them in order and if you come up with a "Partridge" or any other of the names from the 12 Days just lob them in. Plenty more picturesque pubs called "The Partridge" and "The Dog and Partridge" is a common name for pubs.

"The Turtle dove" isn't. Plenty pubs called "the Dove" and there is even a "Cosy Dove" at Spital Tongues up in Newcastle. The Spital bit refers to "Hospital" as in Spitalfields etc..
So a bit of a manufactured efforts for two Turtle Doves. In spite of the Turtle's uncommonness in the UK, until very recent times with a goodly number of escapees, there are a fair few pubs with Turtle in there name.

So here's my two Turtle Doves montage.

So we have the Turtle Bay (Leeds) and the Purple Turtle (Reading)
and The Two Doves (Bromley)

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

No turtles in sight, I'm afraid, and only a singular dove, but Micheldever Station (in the background) has featured in the OTCL before with a car related theme. The pub garden looks quite colourful.

I did notice a "Partridge" in Singleton reasonably adjacent to you!

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Only pub in the entire Country called the French Hen, so 3 images of the same pub for 3 French Hens

The French Hen, Bromsgrove Road, Lower Clent

Regards Neil

[bobins]

No turtles in sight, I'm afraid, and only a singular dove, but Micheldever Station (in the background) has featured in the OTCL before with a car related theme. The pub garden looks quite colourful.

I did notice a "Partridge" in Singleton reasonably adjacent to you!

Regards Neil

Been past it many times, but not been there in many years. On the subject of Partridges - sad to see that Partridge's of Hadleigh has closed its doors for the last time in nearly 200 years. They were a fantastic hardware and ironmongers shop - think "fork 'andles" but much larger. If Partridge's didn't sell it it was because either no one made it or it wasn't legal to sell it

Partridge's of Hadleigh - Google Maps

[NewcastleFalcon]

“Twelve Days” was first published in 1780, but it existed as an oral tradition long before that. And even after it was published, the song was most often just passed down from generation to generation. Over time, lyrics change.

In the original published version, it’s “4 colly birds” not “4 calling birds.” In England at the time, “colly birds” was a name given to blackbirds.

The Three Blackbirds is a pub name new to me, but by no means unique, this example is from Flamstead, Hertfordshire.

The Blackbird is a pub well known to yours truly in Ponteland Northumberland.

The Three Blackbirds, and the Blackbird =Four Calling birds

Regards Neil