English Nicknames for Pubs
Everything in the United Kingdom has a nickname and that includes the corner pub. Some of these names are quite interesting because they refer to myths, landmarks and very old habits that go along with the prominent drinking culture in England.
Candlestick in West End Essendon Herfordshire might have gotten its name from an old story where the owner kept a single candle burning in the pub. The entire place always plunged into darkness when he went downstairs to fetch another beer barrel.
The Swiss Cottage is a pub in that was built in the Swiss Chalet style, which also influenced an entire area of London as well as the name of the nearby Tube Station. The standing pub was named after an earlier pub named The Swiss Tavern that was built in 1804 in the style of a Swiss Chalet and on the site of a former tollgate keeper’s cottage. This area is part of the ancient parish of Hampstead.
Some pubs got their name in an amusing way. For instance, the Jackson Tops pub in Stretton Rutland got it’s name from when it was out of business for a while and the only sign on the outside of the building was an advertisement for Jackson Stubbs. When it sold the new ones realized the name stuck and just called it Jackson Stubbs.
There are also many pubs in England with interesting literary or historical references. Many of them such as the Bent Brief in Southhampton, the Honest Lawyer in Folkestone, The Jolly Taxpayer in Portsmouth and the Honest Politican in Portsmouth.
There is also the famous Nowhere Pub in Plymouth and the Nowhere Inn Particular in Croydon. This way when the wife calls to find out where her drinking mate is he can truthfully answer, “Nowhere” or “Nowhere in particular.”
Names like the Dirty Duck in Stratford-on Avon were a play on The Black Swan in the same town. The Mucky duck in Portsmouth is a similar play on words. Another strange perversion on words is The Ostrich in Ipswich, which was originally called the Oyster Reach.
The Bag o’ Nails pub in Bristol England was thought to be a play on the words Bacchanals but really it was just a sign used by iron mongers.
The Push Inn in Beverly in the East Riding of Yorkshire was also stuck for a name. It is called Push after the sign on the front door which instructs you how to open it!