1English-bookseller
One of the delights of my week is the arrival of The Spectator which is always very readable. It can be read online of course but a subscription would be needed to access all the content. Anyway this week's issue has the following article by the writer Harry Mount.
I’ve just bought Tolkien’s pub in Oxford. Well, to be more precise, I and more than 300 fellow drinkers have bought the Lamb and Flag, the 400-year-old Oxford pub where the Inklings group of writers – including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis – drank.
Like so many pubs across the country, the Lamb and Flag closed, in January last year, thanks to the pandemic trading slump. Across the road, the Eagle and Child pub also closed, in 2020, because of Covid. Tolkien and Lewis drank there, too – they called it ‘the Bird and Baby’. It remains shut.
What rare survival stories these two pubs are – or were. The Eagle and Child, owned by St John’s College, opened in 1650. The Lamb and Flag, also owned by St John’s, opened in 1613 – there’s said to be a lost smuggling tunnel leading from the cellar, dug during the Civil War when Royalist Oxford was besieged by the Parliamentarians.
The Lamb and Flag was altruistic, too. When the going was good in the 2000s, St John’s wisely used the pub’s £50,000 profit to provide £12,000 scholarships for PhD students – a list of St John’s College Lamb and Flag Scholars hangs on one of its walls.
How tragic it would be if these two ancient, bewitching pubs disappeared, along with four centuries’ worth of memories of old drinkers, including some of the most famous writers in the English language. How worrying, too, for the British pub if they couldn’t survive, given their location at the heart of the world’s most famous university, with millions of tourists on their doorstep. I used to drink in both pubs when I was at the university 30 years ago. They had the unchanging, comforting feel of pubs that had lasted for ever and would continue for eternity. It was one of those little punches in the stomach which the cruel passage of time delivers when I heard both were closing.
How heartening, then, that the Lamb and Flag is reopening for a new generation of Oxford freshers. ‘It will hopefully be the first “normal” freshers’ week since Covid wreaked havoc and closed our beloved pub,’ says Dave Norwood, a director of the modern Inklings Group, the band of fans of the Lamb and Flag who’ve got together to save it. ‘In 1911, a young man arrived at Exeter College, Oxford, to read classics. A couple of years later, he changed courses to read English language and literature, which turned out to be quite significant. We reopen our pub at 6 p.m. on Thursday 6 October 2022, which is possibly, or exactly, 111 years to the day that J.R.R. Tolkien arrived in Oxford.’
As Tolkienologists will know, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens with Bilbo Baggins’s 111th birthday – or his eleventy-first birthday, as Bilbo put it. The new Inklings – locals, Oxford graduates and undergraduates – each paid a minimum of £1,000 for a renewable 15-year lease on the pub. I paid the minimum. Many paid much more – including one anonymous Inkling who paid for extra building work with a generous donation.
It isn’t an investment or a money-making opportunity – just a chance to save a unique pub. Financially speaking, the Inklings Group is a community interest company, with each Inkling having ordinary shares in the business.
The Lamb and Flag will have a renovated snug, celebrating the original Inklings in the spot where they liked to drink. The Georgian front room has been returned to its original dimensions, with an ugly 30-year-old bar removed. Events will be held in this room for the public, including talks by scientists, politicians and Oxford dons, and book launches.
It’s easy to mythologise pubs and never go near one. I certainly don’t drink in pubs nearly as much as I did at university, because it’s so much more expensive now. And some pubs aren’t really very nice, with unbearably loud music and other unwelcome additions. Tolkien and Lewis moved their pint glasses from the Eagle and Child to the Lamb and Flag when the landlady installed a dartboard – you can imagine their reaction to today’s modernising horrors.
But a good pub – particularly a really old one with these unique literary connections – is irreplaceable. Thank God the Lamb and Flag hasn’t been replaced.
I’ve just bought Tolkien’s pub in Oxford. Well, to be more precise, I and more than 300 fellow drinkers have bought the Lamb and Flag, the 400-year-old Oxford pub where the Inklings group of writers – including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis – drank.
Like so many pubs across the country, the Lamb and Flag closed, in January last year, thanks to the pandemic trading slump. Across the road, the Eagle and Child pub also closed, in 2020, because of Covid. Tolkien and Lewis drank there, too – they called it ‘the Bird and Baby’. It remains shut.
What rare survival stories these two pubs are – or were. The Eagle and Child, owned by St John’s College, opened in 1650. The Lamb and Flag, also owned by St John’s, opened in 1613 – there’s said to be a lost smuggling tunnel leading from the cellar, dug during the Civil War when Royalist Oxford was besieged by the Parliamentarians.
The Lamb and Flag was altruistic, too. When the going was good in the 2000s, St John’s wisely used the pub’s £50,000 profit to provide £12,000 scholarships for PhD students – a list of St John’s College Lamb and Flag Scholars hangs on one of its walls.
How tragic it would be if these two ancient, bewitching pubs disappeared, along with four centuries’ worth of memories of old drinkers, including some of the most famous writers in the English language. How worrying, too, for the British pub if they couldn’t survive, given their location at the heart of the world’s most famous university, with millions of tourists on their doorstep. I used to drink in both pubs when I was at the university 30 years ago. They had the unchanging, comforting feel of pubs that had lasted for ever and would continue for eternity. It was one of those little punches in the stomach which the cruel passage of time delivers when I heard both were closing.
How heartening, then, that the Lamb and Flag is reopening for a new generation of Oxford freshers. ‘It will hopefully be the first “normal” freshers’ week since Covid wreaked havoc and closed our beloved pub,’ says Dave Norwood, a director of the modern Inklings Group, the band of fans of the Lamb and Flag who’ve got together to save it. ‘In 1911, a young man arrived at Exeter College, Oxford, to read classics. A couple of years later, he changed courses to read English language and literature, which turned out to be quite significant. We reopen our pub at 6 p.m. on Thursday 6 October 2022, which is possibly, or exactly, 111 years to the day that J.R.R. Tolkien arrived in Oxford.’
As Tolkienologists will know, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens with Bilbo Baggins’s 111th birthday – or his eleventy-first birthday, as Bilbo put it. The new Inklings – locals, Oxford graduates and undergraduates – each paid a minimum of £1,000 for a renewable 15-year lease on the pub. I paid the minimum. Many paid much more – including one anonymous Inkling who paid for extra building work with a generous donation.
It isn’t an investment or a money-making opportunity – just a chance to save a unique pub. Financially speaking, the Inklings Group is a community interest company, with each Inkling having ordinary shares in the business.
The Lamb and Flag will have a renovated snug, celebrating the original Inklings in the spot where they liked to drink. The Georgian front room has been returned to its original dimensions, with an ugly 30-year-old bar removed. Events will be held in this room for the public, including talks by scientists, politicians and Oxford dons, and book launches.
It’s easy to mythologise pubs and never go near one. I certainly don’t drink in pubs nearly as much as I did at university, because it’s so much more expensive now. And some pubs aren’t really very nice, with unbearably loud music and other unwelcome additions. Tolkien and Lewis moved their pint glasses from the Eagle and Child to the Lamb and Flag when the landlady installed a dartboard – you can imagine their reaction to today’s modernising horrors.
But a good pub – particularly a really old one with these unique literary connections – is irreplaceable. Thank God the Lamb and Flag hasn’t been replaced.
2JudeCopperfield
It is heartening to hear the Lamb and Flag's reopening. I attend the University and it was a frequent haunt for me and co. I'll try to visit this evening but undoubtedly it'd be packed. Would be a pleasure to buy you a pint should you be there as well!
3English-bookseller
>2 JudeCopperfield: I spent the three most miserable years of my life in Oxford as a trainee Chartered Accountant (100% the wrong career for due to my innumeracy) but reading your kind offer (and the close connections of my beloved Jane with Oxford) perhaps one day that would be very welcome.
Enjoy the re-opening.
PS I do not blame Oxford for my miserable Oxford years. It was painful having just graduated from elsewhere having to work very hard doing the world's most boring job ... in such beautiful surroundings full of young people my own age really enjoying life.
Enjoy the re-opening.
PS I do not blame Oxford for my miserable Oxford years. It was painful having just graduated from elsewhere having to work very hard doing the world's most boring job ... in such beautiful surroundings full of young people my own age really enjoying life.
4ironjaw
I went past last year with Jonathan (boldface) and was dumbfounded to say at least to see it shut.
What a great achievement. I will make another trip to Oxford to have a drink.
What a great achievement. I will make another trip to Oxford to have a drink.
5TheEconomist
>1 English-bookseller: The Lamb and Flag was my local pub for a couple of years in the 1980s, but I hardly ever drank there because the college where I was studying (Keble) had, at the time, the best college bar in the university.
I have to say, though, that the pub most associated with the Inklings - at least whilst I was living in Oxford - was the Eagle and Child, not the Lamb and Flag. If you do a google search on Inklings and pubs it is the Eagle and Child that comes up.
I have to say, though, that the pub most associated with the Inklings - at least whilst I was living in Oxford - was the Eagle and Child, not the Lamb and Flag. If you do a google search on Inklings and pubs it is the Eagle and Child that comes up.
6ubiquitousuk
The Lamb and Flag is a convenient lunch spot for me. But the last time I was there the entire menu consisted of meat pies and I can only eat so many of those in a week before others in my household start complaining. Hopefully, the new ownership can get some other healthy pub classics like fish and chips and burgers on the menu, then I might have to make it a regular port of call.
I know tourists loved the E&C, but I always found its little nooks and crannies inconvenient when looking for a table in the busy lunch hours.
I know tourists loved the E&C, but I always found its little nooks and crannies inconvenient when looking for a table in the busy lunch hours.
7LesMiserables
>1 English-bookseller:
Interesting article, and the comments too! Some pickings...
Bilbo Baggins and his eleventy-first birthday. So now we know-Diane Abbott thought Lord of the Rings was a maths textbook.
...
St John's College is very rich and could afford to keep both pubs open if it chose. Or am I missing something?
...
Good job, well done. However, neither pub closed due to “Covid”, or “the pandemic.” They closed due to the suicidal demented act of “lockdown.” It’s important to be clear about these things.
...
Well done Harry Mount & partners. The very best of luck to you.
One question - how are you going to stop the global ‘pilgrims' in fancy-dress turning the pub into a kitsch shrine?
Often with the Speccie, the comments are priceless. :-)
Interesting article, and the comments too! Some pickings...
Bilbo Baggins and his eleventy-first birthday. So now we know-Diane Abbott thought Lord of the Rings was a maths textbook.
...
St John's College is very rich and could afford to keep both pubs open if it chose. Or am I missing something?
...
Good job, well done. However, neither pub closed due to “Covid”, or “the pandemic.” They closed due to the suicidal demented act of “lockdown.” It’s important to be clear about these things.
...
Well done Harry Mount & partners. The very best of luck to you.
One question - how are you going to stop the global ‘pilgrims' in fancy-dress turning the pub into a kitsch shrine?
Often with the Speccie, the comments are priceless. :-)
