I have mentioned nostalgia several times in this edition. This book certainly meets the dictionary definition of ‘a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations’. Here we are not dealing with the likes of Wetherspoon’s, BrewDog or funky new brewery taprooms, much as they have their respective merits. The subject matter is the London pub, as it used to be, in the decade after the Second World War. It was written by Maurice Gorham, who worked for the BBC and later became the Director of Raidio Eireann, and is beautifully illustrated by Edward Ardizzone.
The book was originally published just before the war and simply called The Local. Alas, the premises of its publishers, Cassells, in Belle Sauvage Yard (near Ludgate) were bombed and all the printing plates and stock were lost. Happily, the pair decided to try again in 1949, calling the revised version Back to the Local, which is what we have here.
It isn’t a pub guide as such, although it contains some very good descriptions. It covers the customs, habits and etiquette that existed in pubs at the time, along with acute observations on the people who used them. There are chapters describing the characteristics of the different types of bar (public, saloon etc), something largely lost to us these days. It contains many echoes; one chapter describes ‘Irish Houses’ and mentions Mooney’s which was the original name of the recently reopened Tipperary. There is a fascinating glossary of terms to do with drinking, plus an index of all the pubs mentioned.
As someone who was born in the mid-1950s into a pubgoing family, this book resonates deeply. I thoroughly recommend it and am grateful to Tara at Faber & Faber, who are publishing this reprint, for bringing it to my attention. It will be published on 6 June, price £10.00 or £8.99 for the e-book. The ISBN number is 978-0-571-38698-7. It will be available through Faber direct here.
Tony Hedger
PS. Reader Bob Hawkes shares my enthusiasm for this book and has made a list of all the pubs mentioned in the 1949 edition and has researched, as far as he can, what has happened to them. He kindly sent me a copy of the list but it is too large to print. As he says, it really breaks your heart. Of the 172 pubs listed in the index, only about 85 still exist. Most of these will be unrecognisable and many have changed names. Many pubs were, of course destroyed in the war. Bob also notes the loss of the several chains of Irish pubs such as Henekey’s and Mooney’s.