The Milford Arms Review: The Warm and Welcoming Local
The Milford Arms Review: The Warm and Welcoming Local | A classic ‘Arms’ pub named ‘The Milford Arms’ – the warm, welcoming, traditional local at the heart of its community
Tag: traditional pub
Goat Tavern Review: The Ancient, Slightly Devilish Beast
Goat Tavern Review: The Ancient, Slightly Devilish Beast | The goat is one of the oldest animals in pub heraldry – linked to fertility, mischief, wine, and a whiff of the diabolical
Eagle Review: The King of Birds and the Emperor’s Standard
Eagle Review: The King of Birds and the Emperor’s Standard | The eagle is the supreme bird of power – emblem of Rome, of empires, and of a famous nursery-rhyme pub
Hand and Flower Review: A Gentle Old Sign of Welcome
Hand and Flower Review: A Gentle Old Sign of Welcome | The hand offering a flower is one of the sweetest and oldest of pub images – a simple gesture of welcome and goodwill
The Bedford Arms Review: The Warm Backstreet Local of Dawes Road
The Bedford Arms Review: The Warm Backstreet Local of Dawes Road | A warm, well-loved backstreet local on Dawes Road in Fulham, a proper neighbourhood pub doing the traditional things well, with a genuine welcome and a loyal local following
Dukes Head Review: The Noble Duke and the Classic Inn Sign
Dukes Head Review: The Noble Duke and the Classic Inn Sign | A classic old inn name – the Duke’s Head, flying the portrait of a noble duke in the honoured tradition of the English inn sign
Courtfield Review: A Field Named for a Court, or a Court for a Field
Courtfield Review: A Field Named for a Court, or a Court for a Field | A big, busy Gloucester Road pub whose name blends two of the oldest elements in English place-naming: the court and the field
The Sun Inn Review: The Golden Sun and the Warmth of Welcome
The Sun Inn Review: The Golden Sun and the Warmth of Welcome | A classic old pub name – the sun, that great golden giver of light, life and warmth, one of the oldest and warmest of all inn signs
Shepherd and Flock Review: The Oldest Image of Care and Guidance
Shepherd and Flock Review: The Oldest Image of Care and Guidance | The shepherd guarding the flock is one of humanity’s most ancient and beloved images – of care, guidance, and the old pastoral world
The Cock and Bottle Review: An Old-Fashioned Back-Street Charmer
The Cock and Bottle Review: An Old-Fashioned Back-Street Charmer | A 4.4 pub from 1,014 reviews named the Cock and Bottle, an unashamedly old-fashioned Notting Hill back-street local
Morton Arms Review: The Honest Local of Old Oak Common Lane
Morton Arms Review: The Honest Local of Old Oak Common Lane | A traditional neighbourhood pub on Old Oak Common Lane in Acton, an honest and welcoming local doing the simple things well, warmly wished continued good fortune
The Kings Review: Royalty, Pluralised, Over the Pub Door
The Kings Review: Royalty, Pluralised, Over the Pub Door | A 4.3 pub named simply The Kings, invoking royalty in the plural, the grandest and most common of pub associations
King’s Head Review: The Loyal Sign With a Grisly Double Meaning
King’s Head Review: The Loyal Sign With a Grisly Double Meaning | The King’s Head is a classic loyal pub name – but after 1649, an English king’s head carried a very dark resonance
Greyhound Review: The Aristocrat of Dogs
Greyhound Review: The Aristocrat of Dogs | The greyhound is the ancient noble hound of kings and coursing – the fastest dog on earth, and a favourite pub name
The Manor Arms Review: The Lord of the Manor and the Old Estate
The Manor Arms Review: The Lord of the Manor and the Old Estate | Named for the manor – the ancient estate and its lord, the fundamental unit of the old English countryside and feudal order
Nags Head Review: The Pub That Bans Your Phone
Nags Head Review: The Pub That Bans Your Phone | London’s smallest pub, allegedly, with a landlord who will throw you out for using a mobile and berate you for your coat
Builders Arms Review: Named After the Men Who Built Chelsea
Builders Arms Review: Named After the Men Who Built Chelsea | Someone had to actually construct the grand terraces of Chelsea. The pub named after them is now full of the people who own them.
The Wentworth Arms Review: The Cherished Local of the Backstreets
The Wentworth Arms Review: The Cherished Local of the Backstreets | A beloved traditional local bearing the Wentworth name – a proper, warm, community-hearted backstreet pub
Prince of Teck Review: Named for Queen Mary’s Obscure German Family
Prince of Teck Review: Named for Queen Mary’s Obscure German Family | The Princes of Teck were a minor German royal house that produced a Queen of England – and a surprisingly grand Earl’s Court pub
Old Swan Review: The Royal Bird of the River
Old Swan Review: The Royal Bird of the River | The swan is one of England’s oldest pub symbols – a bird of beauty, royalty, and a genuinely strange ancient law
Black Lion Review: The Heraldic Beast in Its Darkest Colour
Black Lion Review: The Heraldic Beast in Its Darkest Colour | The lion is the king of pub signs – and the black lion is a specific heraldic beast tied to queens, emperors and old English families
Champion Review: The Word for a Winner, and Its Fighting Roots
Champion Review: The Word for a Winner, and Its Fighting Roots | A champion is a winner now – but the word began with the champion who fought your battles for you, sword in hand
Hop Poles Review: Named for the Very Plant That Makes Beer
Hop Poles Review: Named for the Very Plant That Makes Beer | The hop pole supports the climbing hop vine – the plant whose flowers give beer its bitterness, aroma and soul
Scarsdale Tavern Review: A Hidden Gem Named After a Lost Manor
Scarsdale Tavern Review: A Hidden Gem Named After a Lost Manor | Tucked in a leafy Kensington square, the Scarsdale takes its name from an old aristocratic title and the manor that shaped these streets
The Duchess Review: The Grand Goldhawk Road Pub of Live Music and Quiz Nights
The Duchess Review: The Grand Goldhawk Road Pub of Live Music and Quiz Nights | A grand traditional pub on Goldhawk Road serving pints and pub grub, with a lively schedule of live music showcasing local talent and weekly quiz nights
Biddy Mulligan’s Review: The Irish Pub and a Dublin Ballad
Biddy Mulligan’s Review: The Irish Pub and a Dublin Ballad | Biddy Mulligan is a character from a famous Dublin music-hall song – the archetypal Irish pub name, warm and full of song
White Horse Review: The Ancient Symbol Carved Into the Hills
White Horse Review: The Ancient Symbol Carved Into the Hills | The white horse is one of England’s oldest symbols – carved into chalk hillsides millennia ago, and emblem of the Saxons
Stanhope Arms Review: The Family That Gave Us the Printing Press and the Lens
Stanhope Arms Review: The Family That Gave Us the Printing Press and the Lens | The Stanhopes were earls, inventors and eccentrics – one built an unpickable press, another gave his name to a magnifying lens
The Green Pub Review: The Colour of the Common and the Modern Age
The Green Pub Review: The Colour of the Common and the Modern Age | Green means the village green, the natural world, and now the environmental movement – a colour with a rich and shifting meaning
The Pelton Arms Review: The Beloved Backstreet Local of Greenwich
The Pelton Arms Review: The Beloved Backstreet Local of Greenwich | A cherished traditional backstreet local – the honest, unpretentious neighbourhood pub, named for its street in the old heart of Greenwich