Spot the Dog

This picture was taken in Manor House, where I lived briefly with a bunch of lovely, if slightly mad, Italians. When I first moved this pub caught my eye - I'm an ale fan and somewhere named 'Ale Emporium' is lightly to make me a bit excitable. Unfortunately at closer look it appeared to sell mainly lagers and always had the football on, loud. I never drank there. Anyway- I still walk past this pub on my way to the supermarket and the other day I passed it at the same time as a man with a dog. And the dog was going mental. I could hear another dog barking back but despite looking pretty much everywhere I couldn't see one, the owner of the dog was doing exactly the same and getting very annoyed. Finally I thought to look up and there he was- a lovely little white staff peering over the lip of the roof. A curt shout and whistle summoned him back out of view and he was gone. Every time I walk past now I'll look up and see if he's there.

My Goodness My Guinness

I love this old advert for Guinness above a pretty chavvy looking pub in Colchester. My boyfriend and I are looking for a place to live around that area and although I love this vintage sign- I cant see myself drinking here anytime soon! I'm not sure if the clock that tops it all off is part of the sign or has just been whacked on to complete this pyramid of circles. Either way I like it. Guinness O'Clock!

'Just make your way down to The Crown & Anchor'

I noticed this this pub mainly because it reminded me of the Small Faces song Rene which sings about a pub bearing the same name. Whilst smiling at the notion of Rene entertaining her 'dockers' in such a place I saw the pretty smart looking sign above it. I love when buildings have the date they were built on them, it always makes me appreciate how long they have stood there and makes me think of how much has changed between its last brick being laid and the world today.

All's Fair in Love and Football

I live quite near to the Arsenal stadium and silently curse whenever there's a home game on as all the supporters clog up the tube and buses. This pub, round the corner from Finsbury Park Station, is obviously very patriotic about their team but I can't help but think that this sign sums up everything I dislike about football culture in this country. It's not the game I take issue with, it's the mentality of some of the supporters, giving it a bad name, that puts me off.

Post, by horse

Lovely scene above a pub in Guildford, previously the home of both the posting house and a livery stables. Did post get delivered by hoof in those days? I guess all 'post vans' would have been powered by horse...

Full of Fancy

I walked past this pub every day for a solid week before noticing this sign. I hope it is legible (I have made this photo bigger in the hope that it is, my camera zoom is getting rapidly more rubbish) but this old enamelled sign reads 'Toys and fancy goods'. Sounds delightful! 

Time Keeper

Above a pub in Oxford, this white dog is propping up the time.

Pie in the sky (well on the ceiling)

My boyfriend took me to this lovely pub in Colchester the other weekend. Whilst enjoying a pint of ale we sat under this sign inside. After admiring it for a while I noticed that someone had written pie on the adjoining wall. Wonder what type of pie they were referring to...

Bread and Butter

It seems that next to the Old Dairy pub in Stroud Green there used to be a bakers. Long before the days of the  all encompassing supermarkets, you would go shop to shop buying your milk, bread and meat separately. In my head every shop used to have a big painted sign such as this. Big, bold and now decidedly retro.

Decorative dome

Whilst admiring this pretty funky looking pub I noticed that it was topped with a very smart marble dome. I'm not sure what it is all about, but ever a fan of outdoor marble tiling, I quite like it.