1. : Coaching Houses
These formed the Premier League of pubs,
when they were known as Inns.
In later times, often described as Hotels.
Invariably, there was a large marshalling yard beside
or behind the Inn, for the vehicles and the horses.
We should remember that, in the coaching era,
accommodation and food were more important
than alcoholic refreshment !!.
Although Coaching Inns had the ground cut from under
their feet in the mid-19th Century - by the railways -
they have shown remarkable resilience.
A surprisingly high proportion made it well into the
20th Century. A few, such as The Bell and Maid's Head,
are still focal-points for the whole community.
In the earliest extant printed records (directory lists)
of 1783 and 1802, the authors only dealt with the
comparatively tiny list of such Inns - which is a
very great shame for the researcher.
In 1783, what we would now call pubs (see below)
were listed, along with shops and other trades,
merely in the form :
"Joe Bloggs, victualler, Anystreet".
Sometimes, for 'victualler', read 'innkeeper'.
2. : Taverns etc.
Taverns and Ale-houses were older names for
simple pubs : those not keen to get into the market
for accommodating travellers.
It is not clear [to me] when or why
the term 'tavern' fell into disuse.
Later published lists (Directories) tended to lump
Inns and Taverns together; sometimes under the
omnibus heading : "Hotels, Inns, Taverns etc.".
Beer-houses, specifically Beer Retailers,
form a more esoteric category.
Lists of these appear alongside the lists of taverns,
but usually without any pub-name ("inn-sign");
indicating an inferior status, similar to that of a shop.
The heyday of (unregulated) beer-houses was [1]
between 1828 and 1840; although they (apparently)
reached a peak of over 100 around 1859, and some
persisted well into the second half of the 20th Century.
[1] See the Licensing Section.
However, many a famous pub began life as a mere,
anonymous beer-house; and the status of others seemed,
unhelpfully, to vary from one Directory List to another.
3. : Pretensions
Over a very long period, some run-of-the-mill pubs
(taverns) have tried to enhance their "image" by styling
themselves as "Inns". Perhaps one spare bedroom, and
a cheese sandwich was considered enough to qualify!.
Unless these "inns" survived until recent times, it is
difficult to validate their claims to having a higher status
than that of a mere "boozer". Clearly, this is an early
example of marketing techniques; of which we
now have far too many.
Another example of 'one-upmanship' relates to
"stores" (para. 4) : where a simple grocer's shop, or
General Store, wanted to upgrade by selling alcohol;
but not necessarily in vastly impressive quantities.
4. : Stores
So our next odd category is the "store"; almost
invariably taking its name from the location (i.e. street-name).
In many cases, e.g.
West Pottergate Stores,
it has become indistinguishable from any other pub. It must be presumed, however, that the older premises
with this title originally had more of a bulk-supply
function - than merely serving individual pints of ale.
In which case, the analogy with modern "off-licences"
would seem even stronger than for beer-houses
(see 2 above). This point is underlined by the number of
". . . Wine and Spirits Stores"; there being little doubt
that they would sell bottled beers as well.
However, around the turn of the 20th C., the word
'Stores' was sometimes added to the pub name as a fashion-statement.
In para. 8 below we note the subtle difference between
an individual store and the operations of merchants
- i.e. importers; who may possess their own retail outlet(s).
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5. : Minimalism ?Older readers will be familiar with the way in which
most 20th C. pubs underwent a marked decline (from
the days of "real" inns), regarding the provision of
food; or indeed anything comestible other than beer
or spirits and crisps (or pickled eggs??).
Roger Cawdron, landlord of the Ribs of Beef, celebrates
40 years in the trade in 2010. When he began :
food in pubs was virtually unheard of and
you were lucky to get a packet of crisps.
It is little wonder that the term 'victualler' gradually
went out of fashion too; at least among drinkers
and the general public !!.
The licensees' professional body was, until quite
recently, the L.V.A. This subject is pursued under the
Trade heading in
Demise : Section D
The exact opposite of 'minimal' describes
our final category of traditional pubs :
The "tap".
This is where a larger concern, not necessarily fully
open to the public, maximises its income by "attaching"
a smaller premises and using it as a pseudo-regular public house.
The two possibilities are : A brewery or An hotel
The latter is essentially private
- as far as the residents are concerned.
The names are generally either "The X Brewery Tap"
or "The X Hotel Tap" or perhaps "....Stores".
At one time the Maid's Head Hotel had
two such ancillary outlets !.
6. : Modernism
Closely allied to the rampant marketing notion of
changing the pub name
(see Re-Namings) is the
fashionable creation of "Theme Pubs"; often with
an Irish slant.
(Why? - are stouts at last back in fashion??).
The demarcation-lines are being further blurred, not
just by night-clubs[2], but by specialist bars : majoring
in space-age decor and alcoholic offerings far removed
from common ale (e.g. Bacardi Breezers and cocktails).
These establishments invariably cater for the younger
and more "trendy" customers. In this City, most are
being set-up in brand-new buildings.
Older, or smaller, buildings are also being used as plain
"bars" (or 'café-bars') : with an equal emphasis on
coffee and other drinks, plus various types of food.
This is, of course, a throwback to much earlier times;
when coffee-houses and pubs were regarded as
two sides of the same coin. Sadly, today's cafés
usually only have Real Ale (if any) in bottled form.
[2] These have been around for ages and are,
of course, still proliferating.
Also see notes re newly-opened premises.
7. : Exclusions
There have to be some limitations to this part of
the website; or I might need to use more than one
Internet Service Provider, for a spillover-site !.
Despite recent relaxations in opening hours,
I have excluded [2] all 'genuine'
Night-clubs.
Clearly, hotels which are either self-declared as
"Temperance" or Private cannot qualify as pubs.
Off-licences are now more numerous than ever.
Almost every supermarket/general store is - in effect -
such an outlet. Therefore "offies" launched in
recent times can be readily excluded.
However, bearing in mind the remarks in para. 4 above,
we may need to refer to any stores which (over time)
transformed themselves into pubs; and, for
completeness, refer to a few which were likewise "down-graded".
Licensed restaurants are another class of business
currently proliferating.
It would be futile to try to include all past or present
ones; despite (or because of) the fact that most
contemporary pubs seem to have ambitions to
"overlap" into the Food Sector.
But also see notes re
newly-opened licensed restaurants.
Some pubs have long since deserted the Mere Drinker
and gone up-market as plain Restaurants or - to use a
much older term - "Eating Houses".
8. : Merchants
Finally, the select ranks of Wine & Spirits Merchants,
also mentioned in 4. above, have been a perennial and
very important part of the local scene. Usually they also
imported bottled beers from other parts of the country.
Although their premises might have looked very
differen from a standard pub, they often seemed to
cater for drinking on the premises - in as much as
there was an "inn-sign".
The chosen sign was commonly associated with the
trade itself : e.g. The Tunns, or The Grapes
or The Vine.
Some well-known firms have had a significant
impact on the Licensed Trade of the City.
Therefore separate lists have been devoted to them,
including many of the smaller fish.
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