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Pub History - Book Review
A PUB CRAWL AROUND ESSEX
by Graham Dover
It is a sad indication of my social life when I find so many pubs in Graham’s book that have been graced (or otherwise) by my presence over the past forty years or so. In some cases reading about them is like meeting an old friend after having been apart for decades (the Rayleigh Arms at Terling being one case in point). But do not let me lull folks reading this review that this is merely a book for Essex residents. Absolutely not. Whether you are Essex born and bred or visiting our county for the very first time (Or should that be ‘thirst time’?) this book is great taster of the quality of pubs that still survive within the county, a graceful, colourful and informative pub crawl of around 80 watering holes with Graham as our well-qualified tour guide. But it is far more than a pub guide. There are no indications of guest beers, the availability of accommodation or the camaraderie of the landlord or landlady. Graham leaves such data to CAMRA. Indeed Graham informs the reader in his Introduction that his book is different from the usual pub guides because it ‘contains tales from the often-colourful history of some of the pubs in the county’; a work packed with anecdotal stories, romantic legend and, I would suggest, historical fact. Colourful, indeed and the work contains over 120 colour photographs. A Pub Crawl Around Essex is packed with tales of smugglers and daring-do, of highwaymen lurking within and without the pubs to relieve weary travellers of their purses, of ghosts, seen and heard in bedrooms, bars and cellars of pubs throughout the county, of witches and heretics, of murder and intrigue… and so much more. I found A Pub Crawl fascinating reading and was encouraged to see that there is a ‘Date visited’ box for each featured pub. However, I was a little confused by the sequence of the presentation of the pubs. They are not in area (for example, parish or district) or alphabetical order and the readers (especially the casual visitor to the county) might be put at a disadvantage because of this. I know they are expensive to produce but I suggest that a map of the county of Essex showing the location of each pub might further illuminate this excellent book. My only other ‘Mr. Picky’ moment was with the bibliography. “Here’s Good Luck to the Pint Pot!” – A brief history of Maldon’s Inns, Alehouses and Breweries was not written by ‘Kevin Brown’ but by my ol’ mate and local Morris Men squeeze-box maestro Ken Stubbings. The book was in fact published in Maldon by another good friend of mine Kelvin Brown through his publishing company Kelvin Brown Publishing in 1988. Of course there have been numerous other books written about Essex pubs. I guess the earliest was Miller Christy’s The Trade Signs of Essex: a popular account of the origin and meanings of the public house and other signs (Chelmsford: Edmund Durrant & Co., 1887) and two of the more recent being Mavis Sipple’s Titbits and Tales of Essex Inns (Benfleet: Brent Publications, 2001) and Keith Lovell’s self-published History Thorough Essex Public House Signs (Tollesbury, 2000). Graham’s work is a welcome, original and extremely colourful addition to the library of works available on Essex pubs. A Pub Crawl Around Essex by Graham Dover was published in 2008 in softback by Colne Publishing of Halstead, Essex and is available direct from the publisher via sales@colnepublishing.co.uk or by phone at 01787 478803. More details can be obtained by visiting the website www.essexpubcrawl.co.uk. Patrick Chaplin © 2008 Patrick Chaplin NOTE: The original of this review first appeared in the Pub History Society’s Newsletter Winter 2008/2009. For more about the PHS visit www.pubhistorysociety.co.uk. |
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It is always good news when a member of the Pub History
Society gets himself (or herself) into print and, as an ‘Essex man’ it is
doubly good news when that member, in this case Graham Dover, publishes a book
about public houses on my home patch.