Save the British Pub Sign

Photo by PSD, via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Hand-painted markers outside British pubs date to Roman times. Now they’re threatened, mostly by corporate consolidation of pubs. “Only the 30 independent pub chains and breweries in Britain are still ordering individually painted signs,” writes Vanessa Thorpe.

It’s a shame.

The signs, preservationists rightly argue, are full of artistic value and symbolism. See for yourself at Flickr’s cluster of British pub signs.

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