1 The Guildford Tup
Guildford
The Tup boasts being Guildford's foremost rugby and sports pub with 8 TVs, 3 Sky Boxes, and live music. Ladies beware --- all that sport and Tup: an uncastrated male sheep.
2 Dick Turpin
Wickford, Essex
Numerous pubs are named after this well-known and romanticized highwayman including pubs in Newcastle, Bordeaux, and Sweden. We picked this one in Wickford, Essex. Such a beautiful pub to be named after a notorious criminal.
3 DIRTY DICKS
Bishopsgate, London
Before the beginning of the 19th century, the pub was called The Old Jerusalem, but the owner William Barker renamed the pub after an infamous resident who owned a warehouse around the corner. The original Dirty Dick, was Richard Bentley, a prosperous city merchant living in the middle of the 18th century, who owned a hardware shop and warehouse, and is said to be the inspiration for Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. Bentley had been quite a dandy in his youth, but following the death of his fiancée, he refused to clear up or clean anything, including himself. His house, shop, and warehouse became so filthy that he became a celebrity of dirt.
The pub that perpetuates the name and legend was also known as a very dirty place as well and by the end of the 19th century, its owner was producing commemorative booklets and promotional material to advertise the pub. For years it kept cobwebs, dead cats, and other disgusting things in the cellar bar, but these have now been tidied and moved to a display case. Now it gets lots of good reviews on Yelp!
4 Man Loaded with Mischief
Cambridge (closed)
Too bad this one has closed. Couldn't find much history. The theme is an old one, of a miserable-looking man laden with a magpie (harbinger of misfortune), a monkey (monkey on your back), and a gin-swilling wife. There are numerous prints and paintings of this theme. You wouldn't want to be this man. I suppose this was the watering hole this man could go to to get away from his load!
5 The Jolly Taxpayer
Portsmouth
There's not a lot of information online about this pub, but what I did find seemed to be a great local that people enjoy. Also an independently owned pub. Facebook page abandoned. No Yelp. But a few good reviews on Trip Advisor, thank you very much. No time for social media, only good beer and good times.
6 My Father's Mustache
Louth, Lincolnshire
My Father’s Mustache describes itself as "a one-of-a-kind eatery serving Old World favorites from an English and Irish background." offering a pub atmosphere with darts, billiards, shuffleboard, and more. It also looks as if it is a good place for Latin dance lessons. There doesn't seem to be any history to the name, but the pub is lovingly referred to as "the Stache"
7 The Quiet Woman
Earl Sterndale, Buxton, Derbyshire
"Here is a woman who has lost her head. She's quiet now --- you see she's dead"
or "Since the woman is quiet, let no man breed a riot"
The name of the pub, the Quiet Woman could be tied to this story of Juthware in Dorset and is sadly temporarily closed. A good English tale worth a read:
8 Legend of Oily Johnnies
Winscales, Workington, Cumbria
Previously known as the Royal Oak for around 100 years, Oily Johnnies was given its name after one of the pub's landlords, James Kirkpatrick, who used to sell paraffin oil from a shed adjacent to the pub. He was known as Oily Johnnie. Looks as if the pub has gone a bit posh and reduced the name to just Oilys. Thus we believe in losing some of its old-world charm and yet keeping with the times. One hundred years from now a new generation will be wondering how it got the name Oilys.
9 The Hung Drawn and Quartered
London
The Hung Drawn and Quartered takes its name from the traditional punishment dished out to traitors of the realm, often on nearby Tower Hill. A quote from Samuel Pepys, describing how he went to see a man subjected to the punishment ("He was looking as cheerful as any man could in that condition") is on a plaque outside. This actually looks like a high-end lovely pub. In fact, next time you're in London you should put it on your itinerary. The food looks delicious!
10 The Bucket of Blood
Phillack, Cornwall
The Bucket of Blood supposedly gets its name from an incident hundreds of years ago, when a landlord went to fetch water from the well, but pulled up a pail of blood instead. It turns out that a mutilated body had been dropped down it. No one knows who it was or why.