Green Man

A long week at Great British Beer Festival with much to share over the coming days.

Long time readers of this blog may remember that one of the first themes I wrote about some two years ago was the current trend to modernise pub signs.

I wrote a small piece here about this sign which had appeared at the Green Man in Putney Heath.
At the time it was clear that the regular drinkers at the pub were none too impressed with this illustration of the pub's historic name and there were moves afoot to make their dissatisfaction known to the pub's owners, Young's.




I passed the pub each night last week on my ride home from the Great British Beer Festival and noticed that the old sign, the one that was in situ before the gingerbread man, had reappeared.

In my CAMRA life, I have always been a fan of local campaigning, beer drinkers making their views known. If there is little to be gained by keeping the status quo, the pub operating companies can get a little more respect by bending their views a little in the face of customer concerns.


Bravo to the beer drinkers in the Green Man for making noise and bravo to Young's for accommodating their request.

Personally I am not sure which one I prefer but that is another story.

Pub History Society Conference

Last month the Pub History Society hosted their first conference at the National Archives in Kew. The conference was titled (as you might expect) The History of Pubs and followed a common format of five short illustrated talks followed by questions. The day began at 10.30 and closed at about 3.30pm. There was no charge.

The talks included :

The Lost Pubs of London where Jack Adams illustrated with an engaging style that pubs WILL always change over time and he described his research through anecdotes taken from his collection of books about pubs published over the last 250 years.

Then followed The Pub and the People where Simon Fowler, treasurer of Pub History Society and editor of Ancestors magazine, gave a talk about pubs during the inter-war years from working class boozers to grand hotel bars.

Before the break for lunch Patrick Chaplin, aka Dr Darts, delivered a presentation on Women, Darts and the Pub explaining in some detail how women did participate in darts from a very early period even though the public bar was very much a male dominated part of the pub and that many believed that women were "temperamentally unsuited to the game".

After the break for lunch, during which we were treated to a tour of the National Archives, we were entertained by David Roe who is the editor of the journal of the Inn Sign Society and has a collection of over 8,000 photographs of pub signs. He seems to spend much of his spare time giving this slide show of Pub Signs and Names to various groups. This is the second time I have seen his talk and he is most entertaining and knowledgeable.

Finally, we heard a talk on a Short History of Coaching Inns given by David Thomas. Again we were back to the fact that pubs will always change in character over time. The golden age of coaching being c1750-1850 being quickly overtaken by the age of the train and dormant by about 1825 - 1840 with many coaching inns making way for the "Railway Hotel" with a trip by rail costing about one tenth of the same trip by coach.

The day was presented and compered by Steve Williams (no relation) of the Pub History Society and I hope he was delighted with the way the day went.

It was an excellent day enjoyed by about 60-70 visitors. There was capacity for a few more so I recommend this if they do it again next year. I only learned of the event through my local paper so hopefully I will be able to help publicise the event for next year well in advance.

The best thing about the day was the cost - nothing, free, gratis, no charge - some history societies would see this sort of event as profit making and charge upwards of £20, all credit to the Pub History Society to treat it as educational and promotional.
The worst thing about the day was that there are no pubs very near the National Archives so the discussions could not be continued over a pint or two. Perhaps next year I will suggest a tour of the historic pubs of Mortlake a short walk along the riverside that I know extremely well.

Next year, make sure you attend this very enjoyable and educational day.

History of Pubs Conference

On Saturday 20th February, the National Archives in Kew will be hosting a conference on the History of Pubs organised by the Pub History Society.

The conference will explore themes such as coaching inns, pubs of the 1930s, darts, the lost pubs of London and the inn signs of the metropolis.

The event runs from 10.30pm to 4pm and entry is free though booking is required.

The details are here or call 020 8940 6884. I have been tardy in bringing this to the blog so hopefully there will still be places available.

Inn Sign Society

Continuing the theme of pub signs, I noticed that there is an The Inn Sign Society

Unfortunately, their 20 year history has only gained them about 400 members so they could probably use some more members.

The object of the Society is to bring together those who hold a common interest in the inn sign generally and to provide them with a platform for the interchange of information and also help with their research.

The Society is also building up an archive of written and photographic material (prints and slides) thus storing all the information for future generations.

A full colour quarterly Newsletter appropriately called 'At The Sign Of' is distributed to all members. This records all new signs, name changes, and provides for the interchange of information and the answers to any queries that may have been raised.

There is an annual subscription of £15.

Pub Signs

The Observer at the weekend carried a half page article entitled "Dismay at vanishing art of the pub sign"

Well, readers of this blog know otherwise. Pub sign art is alive and well in South West London - albeit a less traditional version.

Perhaps we should not be too harsh on Young's and others for their modern take on the traditional pub sign. After all, they are still ordering bespoke signs and supporting a dying trade.

Surely we would not want all pub signs to look like this one in Wimbledon :

The Green Man

Here is another from Young's new portfolio of modern pub signs. This one appeared after a recent refurbishment at The Green Man on Putney Heath, a pub dating from 1700 and owned by Young's since 1831.

The history and traditions of the name The Green Man are well documented but I can find no reference to its relationship with a gingerbread man.

Pub Signs

Not one from Young's this time but I spotted another more modern version of the traditional pub sign on my way to The Bricklayer's Arms Cumbria beer festival in Putney.

Dog and Fox

Continuing the theme, I happened across these examples of Young's new pub signs in Wimbledon last night. Did not manage to sample the pub's beer as I was hot footing it to a "meet the Downton brewer" evening at the Brewery Tap opposite, where the Quadhop was in great form; one of my current favourites.

Spotted Horse

At the Young's agm a month or so ago, there was a comment from the floor from a small shareholder that he was disgusted that some of the company's pubs now had pub signs that had been painted by the local kindergarten.

The only pub that I caught the name of was The Green Man at Putney Heath, though I have yet to visit to see for myself.

However, on my way home from the volunteers party after GBBF, I changed night bus in Putney. As I waited for my connection, I glanced across the road to see this :


Now I can't get worked up about pub signs - my campaigning is all about the actual drink that I love - however, I can concede that "disgusted of Wandsworth" does have a point. For a company that is working hard to convince us (not always successfully) that they are focused on their company's history and heritage, I cannot see the value in causing such a storm in a teacup by such nonsense.

A visit to The Green Man is now a must to see their new signs, I am led to believe they are not quite as "basic" as this one.