The Broad Face

I read that the number of pubs in England are in rapid decline.  I guess the Covid lockdown was a game-changer for many - people stopped going out and maybe by the time lockdown was lifted their habits had changed.  A lot of pubs now rely on food to boost their profits - and then you have the dreaded 'gastropubs' (whoever thought up that 'orrible name has a lot to answer for if you ask me).  I do have a lot of sympathy for the pub landlords, to be honest - rising utility bills, rents, raw material and staff costs combined with fewer customers must mean many are in financial trouble.  Pubs, even ones which have been around for hundreds of years, aren't exempt from the basic laws of economics. The simple answer is we all just need to get back out there and support our local businesses - especially our pubs!

Anyway, pubs.  Or, more specifically, pub names.  You get the classic Rose and Crown, King's Arms, Red Lion, Royal Oak and so on.  Occasionally you come across one you've never seen before and that was the case when we had a little day trip to the town of Abingdon, just outside Oxford.  The Thames flows through the town and not far away from the river we came across The Broad Face.  Now that was certainly one I'd never seen before and I reckoned it warranted a frame of 35mm film.

The Broad Face, Abingdon, complete with 'Men at work' sign - 'cos there's roadworks everywhere,
all the time nowadays (or so it seems). 
FP4+ exposed at 320; HC110 on Foma 133 paper.

The various theories behind the name is written on the wall of the pub (an unusual curved corner it is too!).  Some say it was the face of the local hangman (the town jail was just opposite the pub) but I've read that the pub predates the jail so maybe that's not the origin of the name.  Alternatively, it's the swollen face of a man's body fished out of the Thames. That seems unlikely to me, but then What do I know?  I guess you can't beat a good old-fashioned mystery when it comes to pub names - 'tis a good topic of conversation over a pint or two, that's for sure.  Cheers!