Adrian Davies of the Falstaff in King Street is not afraid of the extravagant initiative to draw in customers, such as his demonstration down Lord Street as part of his Campaign for Real Chips. Another example, as the Southport Drinker has reported, is the theatre he will be putting on in the pub on 9th May; click on Theatre at the Falstaff.On Thursday 14th May, he will hosting a Meet The Brewer event in the pub with Edward Theakston of Theakston's brewery, who will talk about Theakston's and the pub trade and will answer questions from the audience. He will be staying on for the regular Thursday night pub quiz. Whatever your views of Theakston's beers, this free event is likely to be interesting; it begins at 5.30 p.m.
I would be interested in how Old Peculier got its name. It's not in their literature from what I can see.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I have read about the origin of the name, but I'm sure Edward Theakston will be more authoritative:
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1100s, a Norman crusader returning from the Holy Land, Sir Roger de Mowbray, gave the parish of Masham to the archbishop of York as a gift. The archbishop, however, not wanting to trudge all the way to Masham to handle affairs, established a Peculier Court (“peculier” is Anglo-Norman for “special”) to handle the law in Masham. The court still exists today as an independent court for Masham parish consisting of 24 inhabitants of the parish, chaired by the vicar It can issue fines for, among other things, drunkenness and brawling. Their old seal is used by Theakston (founded 1827, so not as ancient as the Peculier Court) as their emblem.
I think this name has inadvertently encouraged some of the silly names that are given to beers by brewers who don't know (or don't care) that there is genuine history behind OP's name.