Pubs, Inns, Alehouses

There are lots of pubs in Canterbury. This is a picture of the oldest. It is supposed to date from 1372.

At the moment I am mourning pubs. The coronavirus lockdown has meant that all of the pubs in Canterbury are closed. It isn't a good time for the brewing industry. The new puritanism of the Millennials has led to the closure of hundreds of pubs in Britain over the last few years. In Bedford, where I used to live, this was accelerated by the influx of Moslems into some areas; Islam forbids a Moslem to drink alcohol although this custom is sometimes honoured in the breach. But Canterbury with its two Universities (almost as many students as there are residents of the City) and its large tourist trade has a lot of pubs ... or it had before the lockdown. Even so, there are the relics of closed-down pubs. Here is one, on the corner of King Street and St Alphege Lane:

The two windows coloured blue are etched 'Rigden's Fine Ales'. According to the brewery history wiki (accessed 10/5/2020) Edward Rigden founded a brewery in the early 1700s. It had a brewery in Court Street Faversham although there is also an advertisement dated 1858 for Rigden and Delmar's Superior Canterbruy Ales and Beer citing a brewery in Beer Cart Lane, Canterbury. Another source says that Rigden's "started in Faversham, Kent in about 1750 and became George Beer & Rigden's in 1921 after taking over George Beer's Brewery in Canterbury" but this latter clause conflicts with the date given for the advertisement from the first source. The Canterbury brewery was called the Star Brewery and stood in Broad Street. George Beer is buried in St Martin's churchyard.

This pub is the Bell and Crown. It is presently a free house but is has a sign advertising Truman, Hanbury and Buxton; Truman's Brewery in Brick Lane, London was the centre of what was at one time one of the biggest brewery companies in the world. One of the ground floor windows, however, is etched with the word Fremlins. Fremlins was a brewery in Maidstone, Kent founded in 1790 which became the biggest brewer in Kent by the mid-1900s. Fremlin's took over George Beer & Rigden (above) in 1949. It is speculated that Roald Dahl's book The Gremlins, about little creatures who damaged RAF aeroplanes, was inspired by stories told in Fremlin's brewery about a mischievous sprite who created havoc in the brewery and had to be appeased by publicans leaving dishes of beer on the street outside the pub.

The Bell and Crown also has a window advertising Geo Beer & Cos Pale Ales; Beer's was a brewery that owned the Star Brewery in Canterbury and amalgamted with Rigden's in 1922.