DPI-055



The public bar of the Castle Hotel in Tamworth fronts Market Street. In the new millennium the bar was called the Bow Street Runner, a name commemorating London's first professional thief-takers founded in 1750 by the novelist, playwright, journalist and magistrate Henry Fielding and his blind half-brother John. The Bow Street Runners quickly gained the nickname of Robin Redbreasts, on account of their scarlet waistcoats. The small force were attached to the court house in Bow Street established by Sir Thomas de Veil in 1740. Travelling throughout England, the main duties of the "Runners" was to serve writs and to arrest offenders. The mandate of the Bow Street Runners ended when the member of parliament for Tamworth, Sir Robert Peel, established the Metropolitan Police Force in September 1829. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 19th March 2006 Source: Kodak DC4800 Max Size: 674x768 Pixels Max File Size: 1.71 Mb Format: JPEG
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The Adam and Eve name was quite common in the late 18th and 19th centuries but few pubs bearing the sign seem to have survived. The illustration refers, of course, to the original sin but there is another reason for the Adam and Eve pub name - the couple were adopted on the arms of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers whose motto is Arbor Vitae Christus, Fructus Per Fidem Gustamus. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 09-06-2006 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 688x934 Pixels File Size: 2.07 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-095



This sign was found upon a sign in a housing estate at Tyldesley. This is quite close to the Bridgewater Canal, the brainchild of Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, the famous Canal Duke. He commissioned the waterway from Booth's Bank to Worsley, and on to Manchester. The canal received Royal Assent on 23rd March 1759. Engineered first by John Gilbert, and later by James Brindley, the waterway was operational by 1765. Ten years later the canal was extended to the River Mersey at Runcorn. This sign is based on an line engraving dated 1766 though the artist is unknown. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 02-05-2005 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 1009x1172 Pixels File Size: 292 Kb Format: JPEG
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DPI-096



Although located in Glazebury, just to the south of Leigh, I have also encountered this pub sign in Denbighshire. However, the measure does not look like a gill - more like a half pint. There are, incidentally, four gills (pronounced jills) to a pint. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 02-05-2005 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 2160x1400 Pixels File Size: 801 Kb Format: JPEG
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DPI-097



One can often find pubs of this name in major towns which may seem a bit odd. However, the beehive is a traditional symbol of industry in addition to being a colourful sign. If we see a pub of this name in the countryside we often wonder if the original licensee was also a beekeeper. The most famous beehive sign that has existed in Britain is that of the Grantham pub of this name. A real 'living' sign, a beehive can be found wedged between the branches of a tree outside the building. This example of the Beehive sign can be found at Harthill in South Yorkshire. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 19-10-2004 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 2160x1440 Pixels File Size: 1.87 Mb Format: JPEG
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This sign generally emerged when there is/was a nearby Saxon building, particularly a church or ancient monument. This example can be found at Kiveton Park between Sheffield and Worksop, an area settled by Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century. Kiveton means 'the settlement in the hollow' - the Saxon term 'kyfe' meaning dish or hollow vessel and 'ton' meaning stockaded camp. When the Roman empire was in decline, the 'new' settlers advanced from being pirates of the North Sea and established themselves along the coasts of Gaul and Britain. Of course, you can't even begin to explain this to any football yob who also thinks St.George is English through and through. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 19-10-2004 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 1368x1536 Pixels File Size: 1.5 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-099



This illustration of a sugar loaf and cutting tongs can be found on an historic pub in Bristol, a port that prospered on both the Atlantic slave trade and slave-produced commodities such as cotton, cocoa, rum and sugar. Bristol became a centre of sugar production where many sugar houses were established to store and process imported sugar. This pub took its name from a nearby sugar refinery that was destroyed by fire in 1859. Fires were a common hazard for such buildings. Indeed, as a result of fires, Bristol lost no less than eleven sugar houses between 1670 and 1859. The subsequent high cost of fire insurance led to the founding of the Bristol Fire Office in 1718. This was absorbed into the Sun Fire Office by 1837. Consumption of sugar can be traced back to the late Saxon period though it was a luxurious commodity. By Elizabethan times, the best sugars were sourced from Madeira, Morocco and the Canaries. However, production spread to the Americas following its introduction by explorers like Columbus. The African slave trade led to intensive sugar production in the English Caribbean and by the 18th century sugar had become relatively cheap, wiping out earlier centres of production in Venice and Sicily. Barbados and Jamaica became the main sugar producing islands in the 18th century where it was said that the rule was one slave for every acre of sugar. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 29-10-2005 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 2160x1400 Pixels File Size: 942 Kb Format: JPEG
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To be honest, I'm not too sure why this sign hanging in Park Street, Bristol shows Isambard Kingdom Brunel looking at his plans for the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge and that the plans feature a ram. We love the sign but it's a bit of a mystery to us. A bridge across the gorge at Clifton was the idea of the merchant William Vick who left money in his will for its construction. However, the cost of a brick bridge was too great so a competition was launched to find an alternative design. With the self-interested Thomas Telford acting as a judge, the first competition was a farce but Brunel won the second contest and work started in 1831. The Bristol riots put paid to the project and work did not start again until 1836, by which time the funding was inadequate with only the Egyptian-influenced towers completed. Indeed, the iron was sold off and used on the Royal Albert Bridge at Plymouth, another of Brunel's projects. Isambard never did live to see the bridge completed. Following his death in 1859, it was decided to finish the work as a memorial to the engineer. The bridge was completed in 1864. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 29-10-2005 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 2160x1440 Pixels File Size: 522 Kb Format: JPEG
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DPI-101



Not only is this Bristol pub called the Golden Guinea, but it is located in Guinea Street. This coinage played a key part in the slave trade, commerce of which Bristol was a key player. The coin is named after the West African (Guinea) coast from which much of the gold was sourced. Although the last guinea was issued in 1813, we can remember the term very well because it was still used up until decimalisation in 1971, particularly for expensive goods such as cars and universally throughout the auction houses. We used to visit Kidderminster market in the 1960's and we can remember items being sold in guineas. At that time the guinea was worth twenty one shillings (there used to be twenty shillings to the pound before 1971). The guinea was established in 1663 when King Charles II was the sovereign but they were worth exactly one pound or twenty shillings in that period. The change in value occurred as a result of the changing bullion value of the gold, particularly at times of war - in the late 17th century a guinea was worth thirty shillings. During this period the London-based Royal African Company had a monopoly on the English trade in gold, ivory and slaves along the coast of Guinea. The company's emblem was the elephant and howdah or castle. The guinea illustrated on the sign of this Bristol pub bears the date 1695, the peak of the golden coin's value. This side of the coin features the arms of France, Scotland, Ireland and England and bears the legend MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX and the date. The guineas of King William III's reign weighed 8.4 grams, were 25-26 millimetres in diameter and had a diagonal milled edge. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 30-10-2005 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 2160x1440 Pixels File Size: 535 Kb Format: JPEG
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This sign in Bath shows King William IV. The third son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, William IV was also known as the Sailor King. Born in 1765, he married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in 1818. He served in the navy from the age of 13 until he was 25. In the following year, 1791, he began his long liaison with the actress Dorothea Jordan by whom he eventually had ten illegitimate children. The two children he had with his wife Adelaide both died in infancy. He was succeeded by his niece, Victoria. A sign depicting him can often provide a clue to how long a pub of this name has been standing in the town or village. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 19-01-2004 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 1348x1536 Pixels File Size: 1.64 Mb Format: JPEG
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This sign has been updated a few times in the last thirty years. However, it always has two different images - one on each side. Inside the pub you'll also find the original designs for the sign which are different to the current version. The sign was first designed in 1974 by Mr.G.E.MacKenney. Located in Amblecote, the pub was originally called The Dudley Arms but legend has it that on one cold winters night a bygone licensee turned away a poor starving beggar from his door and his body was found dead in the road next morning. Thereafter, the pub became known colloquially as The Starving Rascal or The Starver. The sign therefore has two sides - one showing the starving beggar being banished to his death in the snow by the Dickensian landlord of The Dudley Arms, and on the other, the ghost enjoying a pint in the pub. The original design however shows the ghost being welcomed back to the glowing portals of the pub named in his honour. The sign was dedicated by Ray Barlow a former West Bromwich Albion star who had a newsagents just down the road. His wife, incidentally, was lead singer of the Brian Pearsall Band. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 07-06-2001 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 1536x1024 Pixels File Size: 1.01 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-387



This is the other side of the signboard [DPI-386 left]. Here the ghost is enjoying a pint in the pub. The original design however showed the ghost being welcomed back to the glowing portals of the pub named in his honour. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 07-06-2001 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 1536x1024 Pixels File Size: 831 Kb Format: JPEG
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A sign commissioned by Davenport's brewery of Bath Row Birmingham for the Talbot Head Hotel at Upton-on-Severn. More detail on the Talbot name can be found to the right at DPI-5034. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1980 Source: 35mm Slide Max Size: 3483x2554 Pixels Max File Size: 2.40 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-5034



This sign features a spotless Talbot dog though it is common to see them with spots. The sign can help to date a truly historic pub because the name derives from the Talbot family who first used this breed of dog on their coat-of-arms during the fifteenth century. A variety of hound, the Talbot has a white coat and black spots. Typical of hounds, they have quite floppy ears but, more uniquely, feature a heavy jaw. A forerunner of modern fox and stag hounds, they apparently have the most remarkable powers of scent. I have read that they were used for tracking and hunting but also that they were run alongside coaches on Britain's ancient highways. Their use on the road could be one reason for the widespread use of the breed on pub signs. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1980 Source: 35mm Slide Max Size: 3483x2554 Pixels Max File Size: 2.40 Mb Format: JPEG
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In today's political climate, this sign inevitably became highly controversial. This sign in Oldswinford was been removed from the building's exterior and mounted on a wall in the rear porch of the building. It has since been removed altogether. The sign depicts two women attempting to scrub a black boy white. Understandably, black people find this offensive. Those who oppose this view claim that the subject is tongue-in-cheek and, in any case, emerged before there was any racism in Great Britain. I can appreciate both sides' argument however it is worth noting that the pub was called the Malt Shovel in 1822. There are similar signs around the UK although it is claimed that they were originally meant to imply that any attempts to brew ale to the same high standards as they do would indeed be labour in vain. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 12-12-2001 Source: Kodak DC4800 Maximum Size: 1536x1089 Pixels Maximum File Size: 1.48 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-5041



With over 500 examples around the country, this sign remains the second most popular pub name. Its origin goes back to the days of Charles II who, along with Colonel Carless, avoided capture by Roundhead soldiers pursuing him after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The king and his comrade hid from noon to dusk in the Boscobel Oak, near Shifnal in Shropshire before making their escape. Following his restoration to the throne it was declared that 29th May, the King's birthday, should be celebrated as 'Royal Oak Day' as an act of thanksgiving. The sign's wide appeal attests to the monarch's popularity during this period and inns and taverns around the country proudly named their pub The Royal Oak. As is the case with this first example at Charlemont, the sign usually combines a tree with full foliage and a crown although some actually show the king himself hiding in the tree. There are some signs which, rather than illustrating a crown, display the medal which was struck to commemorate the King's hiding though this is quite a rare sign. This sign was photographed at the Royal Oak Inn at Painswick. Located in the Cotswolds, it has no association with the actual hunt for the king but, like the great majority of Royal Oak signs, commemorates the fact that King Charles avoided capture. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 16-09-2002 Source: Kodak DC4800 Maximum Size: 1536x1089 Pixels Maximum File Size: 1.03 Mb Format: JPEG
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Bearing the logo of Greenhall's Brewery, this sign stands at the front of the Birch Tree Inn on Amblecote Bank. It is thought that the first licensee of the pub, Elijah Wilcox, chose the sign of the Birch Tree because a fair number of the plants were growing on the many pit and shale mounds on the hill around the old cottage. For more information on the Birch Tree Cottage please see DPI 308 [above]. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 30-07-2007 Source: Canon EOS 400D Maximum Size: 3888x2592 Maximum File Size: 6.23 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-391



This superb sign illustrates the viaduct at Stambermill, just a stone's throw from this pub on the Penfields estate near Stourbridge. The sign has a slight art deco style about it and shows a steam engine crossing the Stour Valley high up on the massive construction. The first viaduct across the Stour Valley was a traditional timber-trestle style mounted on brick pillars on the valley floor. However, when the Great Western Railway absorbed the OW & W, they replaced it with the double-track brick structure which still stands today. Traces of the foundations of the original can still be found alongside the arches of this famous landmark. At its highest point, the viaduct stands 98 feet above the valley floor and each of the arches have a span of 46 feet. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 08-05-2005 Source: Kodak DC4800 Maximum Size: 2160x1440 Pixels Maximum File Size: 428 Kb Format: JPEG
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This sign was hanging outside the pub of this name in Leicester's Belgrave Gate. The origins of the pub's name can be found in the 1861 census in which Loughborough-born Thomas Cattell is recorded as a "turner of bowls." He kept the pub with his Kilby-born wife Frances for a generation. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 22-01-2000 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 2160x1440 Pixels File Size: 583 Kb Format: JPEG
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DPI-389



An ageing sign found in Leicester. The sign shows that the pub was operated by Mitchell's and Butler's. Located on Belgrave Gate, we presume that the name is a reference to the neighbouring Haymarket Theatre. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 22-01-2000 Source: Kodak DC4800 Size: 2160x1440 Pixels File Size: 713 Kb Format: JPEG
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DPI-390



The Waggon & Horses pub name is naturally very common as they were the principal means of transportation before the advent of the railways. Moreover, it was not just beer deliveries that involved pubs and inns - many publicans acted as agents and all manner of goods could be left there where they would either be forwarded or collected by locals to whom they were addressed. The Oxford Dictionary prefers the spelling waggon, but wagon has also been in use for many years and is also seen on many pub signs such as the one shown here in Birmingham's Adderley Street. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 09-09-2001 Source: Kodak DC4800 Max Size: 1353x1536 Pixels Max File Size: 1.23 Mb Format: JPEG
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A very nice rural image but the artist of this sign really should have walked into the pub and done a little research before creating this illustration. Grocer John Flavell named the Little Pig Inn in 1825. His alehouse was named after the small mugs called 'pigs' that were used for dipping into pails of ale. Although quite a rare pub name these days, there was another nearby - in the 1880's Mrs Elizabeth Allchurch was the publican of a Little Pig in Coventry Street, Stourbridge. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: 17-09-2003 Source: Kodak DC4800 Max Size: 1055x1536 Pixels Max File Size: 1.19 Mb Format: JPEG
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Produced for Greenall Whitley, this was a fine image for the Good Companions with two jovial-looking characters in stove-pipe hats. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1980 Source: 35mm Slide Max Size: 2361x3522 Pixels Max File Size: 2.78 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-5029



A superb action shot was painted on this signboard which was probably in the south of England. The wicket keeper can only look on anxiously as the batsman sweeps the ball for a possible boundary. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1980 Source: 35mm Slide Max Size: 2125x2932 Pixels Max File Size: 2.45 Mb Format: JPEG
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DPI-5030



On this sign painted for Ansell's, there is a desperate bid to stop the ball here as it has eluded the batsman and the wicket keeper. The long stop is the term given to a fielder who is positioned behind wicket-keeper. Generally, the position is only filled if the wicket keeper is a bit, er, dodgy. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1980 Source: 35mm Slide Max Size: 2151x2606 Pixels Max File Size: 1.63 Mb Format: JPEG
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Captured in the 1970's, this is an excellent pub sign for the Ball and Wicket at Hale near Farnham. The pub faces the village green where cricket is played during the summer months. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1975 Source: 35mm Slide Max Size: 1842x2290 Pixels Max File Size: 1.70 Mb Format: JPEG
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A superb Jack-in-the-Green inn sign for Bass Charrington. It was painted by one of the real masters - Stanley Chew of Buckfastleigh. A tradition that was very popular in the 18th century, the jack was normally a young chimney sweep who was covered in ivy leaves for the May Day celebrations. The tradition is maintained in some towns and among Morris groups. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1978 Source: 35mm Slide Max Size: 1906x2514 Pixels Max File Size: 2.09 Mb Format: JPEG
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A sign painted by Graham Jones for Greene King but met with indifference by the pub's landlady so a replacement was commissioned. © Digital Photographic Images TECHNICAL DATA Date: c.1985 Source: 6" x 4" Photograph Max Size: 1615x2116 Pixels Max File Size: 3.15 Mb Format: JPEG
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