Pub plaques in the Lamb and Flag. Image: Matt Brown
In celebration of the little-regarded pub plaque.
Anything can happen down the pub. Lovers meet; ideas hatch; fights erupt; revolutions foment; friendships renew; communities come together. All of human life is here, and sometimes animal life, too. This rich milieu is celebrated by an under-recognised but common phenomenon: the pub plaque.
Pub plaques are like bar snacks: they come in many different flavours. Some recall historical happenings. Others celebrate the pub's longevity or awards. Still others salute a retired landlord or a deceased 'regular'. All of them add character to the fascinating habitat that is the London pub. Let's seek a few out...
The personal pub plaque
The subtlest form of pub plaque is the small brass plate screwed into the bar, a table or wall. These typically commemorate pub regulars who have gone to the great brewery in the sky. These are a common sight in older pubs. The Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden (pictured above) has a particularly impressive collection, covering the southern end of the bar — a favourite perch for the many characters who've made this place their local over the years. The door frame, too, is covered in small plaques.
Similar memorials can be found in many other pubs. Here are a few we've chanced across:
A chair plaque in the Seven Stars on Carey Street remembers "Freddie from the Law Courts Bar". Said building is just across the road from the pub, which is a favourite among law professionals. Image: Matt BrownAn appropriately named customer who once frequented the Duke of Kendal near Paddington. Image: Matt BrownNot all pub plaques commemorate customers. This one in the Churchill Arms, Kensington recalls retired landlord Gerry O'Brien. Image: Matt BrownA celebrity plaque inside the Prince of Wales pub in Highgate. Image: Matt Brown
Historic pub plaques
London's pubs often persist on the same site for centuries. Consequently, they embody the history of London like few other businesses. Pretty much every West End pub carries a wooden board detailing the (sometimes spurious) history of the place. But some pubs have genuine stories of historical significance, recorded on official plaques. Here are a just a few.
A BBC Black History plaque commemorating leading boxer Bill Richmond, on the Tom Cribb pub near Leicester Square. Image: Matt BrownMusical plaques are fairly common on pubs; many famous acts began their careers playing to small crowds down the boozer. Ray and Dave Davies, fraternal nucleus of The Kinks, are commemorated on the Clissold Arms on Fortis Green. Image: Matt BrownBack to the Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden, which features London's only plaque (surely) to use the phrase "nearly done to death". The poet Dryden was badly beaten in the neighbouring Lazenby Alley, where another notice tells the story in more detail. Image: Matt BrownMany pubs feature potted history boards like this one. But few can claim somebody as important as JMW Turner among former inhabitants. This mini-biography appears on the Weir bar in Brentford. Another pub, Turner's Old Star in Wapping, also claims Turnerian heritage with a plaque. Image: Matt BrownSometimes plaques aren't quite what they seem. This one on the Long Acre in Covent Garden suggests a close connection to TV pioneer John Logie Baird. A closer reading reveals that he actually worked a few doors away at number 132. This is one of half a dozen plaques to JLB within a five-minute walk. Image: Matt Brown
Curious pub plaques
Plaques go up in pubs for all kinds of reasons. Here are a few other examples we've spotted on our wanders.
Accolade plaques showing awards from CAMRA or other judges of the brewing arts are reasonably common. This one on the Red Lion in Brentford is the oldest we've spotted — an Evening Standard award from 1967. The Victoria pub at the Bermondsey end of Old Kent Road displays a similar disc but from 1972. Image: Matt BrownAnother brass plaque, but this time not commemorating an individual, but reserving a place for a monthly meet-up group. The Handlebar Club (wearers of large moustaches) met for years at the Windsor Castle in Marylebone, but since its closure they've opted for the equally eccentric Heron in Paddington. Image: Matt BrownUntil 2017, the Leigham Arms in Streatham featured two politically charged plaques critical of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. Here's the one to Gordon. Image: Matt BrownGreenwich's wonderful Pelton Arms stood in for fictional Peckham boozer the Nag's Head, in Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips. Image: Londonist
