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In a way, this has been a lost alphabet, although very unexpected when it was first photographed in the late 80s. Beards themselves stopped brewing in 1958 at their Fisher Street brewery in Lewes, and, although they still retained their pubs, neighbouring brewer Harveys (sigh) continued to brew the beers. There appears to be no trace of Beards now, except of course on signs like these. The writing was on the wall when the pubs were sold to Greene King (aka Allied Breweries) in 1998. I came across the superbly painted letters after a summer afternoon rattling up and down the nearby Bluebell Line, but very irresponsibly failed to make a note of where it was. So up until last night it was in the drawer marked 'Unknown', a picture without a map pin. And then I thought of Mr.Dudley, who knows his way around this neck of Sussex. After much searching with dogs and lamps a whistle was finally heard and the quarry cornered. The letters are on the tile-hung wall of The Sloop in Scaynes Hill near Haywards Heath. You can see it here, and wonder, as I do, if our sign is still lurking underneath that smart green board. My thanks to Mr.Dudley, who will receive pints of Harveys once I've renewed my passport.
Knowing my predilictions, a friend lends me his copy of this postcard. The original owner is the last man in Leicestershire making proper old-fashioned mattresses, and as a boy helped dig the tank pit for the new-fangled petrol pump on the left. Apparently the landlord of The Crown in Theddingworth, George Smith, was told by a regular that he ought to be selling fuel "As there's no pump between Market Harborough and Husbands Bosworth" and paid for its installation, presumably for a cut of the ensuing profits. We reckon the safest, albeit vague, bet for a date is pre-war. But what a host of detail is in here. The petrol is Regent Super (with an added 'British'), the car is an early Leicestershire registration, and the beer is NBC. That's the Northampton Brewery Company, who took over the other firm on the sign, Market Harborough brewers Edey & Dulley. In an attempt to ensure their rightful place in heaven, Dulley's also provided the wherewithal to build the Wellingborough Strict Baptist Tabernacle where my grandfather was inducted as pastor in 1909. The local jibe that the chapel was built on beer barrels was ignored and never spoken about by his congregation or offspring. Except by my mother who thought it was very funny, considering everyone she knew as a child was not only teetotal but got very excited by the thought of a comforting bedtime Bournvita.
In a way, this has been a lost alphabet, although very unexpected when it was first photographed in the late 80s. Beards themselves stopped brewing in 1958 at their Fisher Street brewery in Lewes, and, although they still retained their pubs, neighbouring brewer Harveys (sigh) continued to brew the beers. There appears to be no trace of Beards now, except of course on signs like these. The writing was on the wall when the pubs were sold to Greene King (aka Allied Breweries) in 1998. I came across the superbly painted letters after a summer afternoon rattling up and down the nearby Bluebell Line, but very irresponsibly failed to make a note of where it was. So up until last night it was in the drawer marked 'Unknown', a picture without a map pin. And then I thought of Mr.Dudley, who knows his way around this neck of Sussex. After much searching with dogs and lamps a whistle was finally heard and the quarry cornered. The letters are on the tile-hung wall of The Sloop in Scaynes Hill near Haywards Heath. You can see it here, and wonder, as I do, if our sign is still lurking underneath that smart green board. My thanks to Mr.Dudley, who will receive pints of Harveys once I've renewed my passport.
