WHAT’S IN A LONDON PUB NAME?
A new book reveals the story behind the names of over 650 pubs across Greater London. What’s in a London Pub Name? features pubs from all 32 boroughs and the City of London itself. It also includes over 100 photographs, many of which were taken especially for the book. Authors James Potts and Sam Cullen said, “ In telling the story behind so many London pub names, we’ve found that they reveal so much about the capital’s social, cultural and political history. From historic inns like Old Doctor Butler’s Head in the City through to the latest wave of micropubs springing up in London’s suburbs (such as the Broken Drum in Bexley), the book covers the huge variety in London pub names. In uncovering many of these stories, we have been very grateful to CAMRA members who helped solve some of these mysteries. We hope you enjoy reading it and finding out more about our great city and one of its most enduring institutions, the pub !” What’s in a London Pub Name? is published by Capital History at £8.95 and can be purchased online as well as from other book sellers.
REAL ALE IN SOUTH HERTS
This is not a pub guide but, very unusually, the history of a CAMRA branch. The Hertfordshire branch was CAMRA’s earliest, formed in November 1972 at the Farriers Arms in St Albans. The event is now marked by a blue plaque. By 1983, as CAMRA expanded, Hertfordshire had split into five separate branches. This book, written by Les Middlewood, sets out the history of the South Herts branch from then on. It has been an active branch and its life and times make for interesting reading, as a microcosm of the Campaign as a whole over its fifty years. There are lots of photos, images and lists, including branch chairs, weekend trips, Good Beer Guide entries and branch Pubs of the Year. It also covers local CAMRA guides and beer festivals. Something that I did not know was that the Hertfordshire branch ran a one day ‘beer exhibition’ (26 beers from 14 local brewers) in St Albans on 30 March 1974, well in advance of the first national event at Covent Garden. The book (A5 24 pages) is available by post from the branch here for £4.50 plus 70p postage. I recommend it, especially as a companion to Laura Hadland’s book, 50 Years of CAMRA.
WALTHAM FOREST PUBS
The Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop, a voluntary organisation, has recently released the latest edition of its most popular publication, a guide to local pubs called Behind the Bar: the licensed trade in Waltham Forest. To quote from their website, ‘ it looks at the history of pubs from the 16th century to the present day, their legal framework, changes in brewing practice and their place in the social fabric of the area over the centuries’. It has been revised and expanded over more than 15 years, for this version by Mike Custance and Joanna McGavin, and now runs to 600 pages. It includes a history of every pub in the borough, through to the present day and including the recently opened local brewery taprooms. Behind the Bar is available as a free download here and an e-book is planned. My thanks to Mike Custance for letting me know about it.
WORLD’S GREATEST BEERS
The latest offering from CAMRA Books is a definitive guide to the best 250 beers in the world today. This is in the opinion of eight well known beer writers: Pete Brown, Claire Bullen, Jonny Garrett, John Holl, Emma Inch, Lotte Peplow, Roger Protz and Joe Stange. Each of the beers is fully described with a personal recommendation from one of the contributors. There are plenty of full-colour illustrations, with details on brewing, flavour, style and food pairings. The book is paperback, 288 pages, and will be published on 2 August 2022. ISBN: 9781852493790. The cover price is £17.99 but a discount is available to CAMRA members. Go here to buy on-line or pick up a copy at the Great British Beer Festival.