Born in South Michigan in 1962, the Grandson of an immigrant from Newcastle, England, and of three other Grandparents born in the Southern United States all of British descent, Brian has always been an Anglophile. His surname "Papworth" is actually a place name for two towns 50 miles due north of London, and 12 miles west of Cambridge, England, in what used to be Huntingdonshire. Click [here] for images of the 2 towns.

He visited England personally in 1995 intending to do extensive family research, but instead managed only to procure information pertaining to English Cask Ales, and driving on the wrong side of the road. He has extensive plans to return to, and visit England often, hopefully not only to finally find out more about his family, but also to bring back more cool stuff to decorate the walls and grounds of the Tavern.

The Fox & Parrot Tavern became a reality on September 9, 1998 when Brian pulled, and then served the first of what would become many, many pints of beer. At that time, the Tavern building was still under construction, and beer was served in the Papworth Photographic Gallery. Originally planned as the expansion of the Gallery, the Tavern building quickly became a two-story building due to the slope of the property. Always having loved not only a decent beer, but being surrounded by good friends, Brian envisioned the Tavern as being the kind of place that travelers would have frequented during the carriage trade in the late 18th century. His personal collection of British artwork is complemented not only by breweriana, but also representative artwork from around the Arts and Crafts Community of Gatlinburg.

Public Houses or Pubs

A public house, usually known as a pub, is a drinking establishment found mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries influenced by British culture. A pub which offers lodging may be called an inn or hostelry. In Australia, pubs often bear the name of "Hotel", even though most no longer offer lodging.

Overview

In the 1930's the Anglo-French writer Hilaire Belloc penned the following cautionary warning:

When you have lost your inns drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England!

Public houses are culturally and socially different from other places found elsewhere in the world such as cafés, bars, bierkellers and brewpubs. There are approximately 60,000 public houses in the United Kingdom (UK). In many places, especially in villages, a pub can be the focal point of the community, playing a similar role to the local church in this respect.

Pubs are social places for the sale and consumption of mainly alcoholic beverages, and most public houses offer a wide range of beers, wines, spirits and alcopops. Beer served in a pub can range from pressurised "keg" beer, to "cask-conditioned" real ale beer brewed in the time-honoured fashion. The beer lends most pubs a pleasant, memorable aroma. Often the windows of the pub are of smoked or frosted glass so that the clientele are obscured from the street.

The owner or manager (licensee) of a public house is known as the publican, and may be referred to as "guv" (short for guv'nor, or governor) in some parts of the country. Each pub generally has a crowd of regulars, people who drink there regularly. The pub people visit most often is called their local. In many cases, this will be the pub nearest to their home, but some people choose their local for other reasons: proximity to work, a traditional venue for their friends, the availability of real ale, or maybe just a pool table.

History

The inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland have been drinking ale since the Bronze Age, but it was with the arrival of the Romans and the establishment of the Roman road network that the first inns, in which the weary traveller could obtain refreshment, began to appear. By the time the Romans left, the beginnings of the modern pub had been established. They became so commonplace that in 965 King Edgar decreed that there should be no more than one alehouse per village. A traveller in the early Middle Ages could obtain overnight accommodation in monasteries, but later a demand for hostelries grew with the popularity of pilgrimages and travel. The Hostellers of London were granted guild status in 1446 and in 1514 the guild became the Worshipful Company of Innholders.

Traditional English ale was made solely from fermented malt. The practice of adding hops to produce beer was introduced from the Netherlands in the early 15th century. Alehouses would brew their own distinctive ale, but independent breweries began to appear in the late 17th century. By the end of the century almost all beer was brewed by commercial breweries.

Pub Image to right: The interior of a typical English pub, showing three common features: the bar (left), an old-fashioned fireplace (left of centre), and a modern fruit machine (right)[NB: fruit machine is Brit-speak for a slot machine].

The 18th century saw a huge growth in the number of drinking establishments, primarily due to the introduction of gin. Gin was brought to England by the Dutch after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and started to become very popular after the government created a market for grain that was unfit to be used in brewing by allowing unlicensed gin production, whilst imposing a heavy duty on all imported spirits. As thousands of gin-shops sprang up all over England, brewers fought back by increasing the number of alehouses. By 1740 the production of gin had increased to six times that of beer and because of its cheapness it became popular with the poor. Of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London over half were gin-shops. Beer maintained a healthy reputation as it was often safer to drink ale than water, but the drunkenness and resultant lawlessness created by gin was seen to lead to ruination and degradation of the working classes. The distinction was illustrated by William Hogarth in his engravings Beer Street and Gin Lane. The Gin Act (1736) imposed high taxes on retailers but led to riots in the streets. The prohibitive duty was gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1742. The 1751 Gin Act however was more successful. It forced distillers to sell only to licensed retailers and brought gin-shops under the jurisdiction of local magistrates.

Pub games and sports

Numerous traditional games are played in pubs, ranging from the well-known darts and billiards to the more obscure Nine Men's Morris and Ringing the bull. In recent years the game of pool (both the British and American versions) has increased in popularity.

Increasingly, more modern games such as video games and fruit (slot) machines are provided. Many pubs also hold special events, from tournaments of the aforementioned games to karaoke nights to pub quizzes. Some play pop music, or show football on big screen televisions. Despite the wide range of distractions now available in pubs, doing nothing (other than drinking of course) remains perfectly acceptable.

Pub food

Traditionally pubs in Britain were drinking establishments and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food. The usual fare consisted of specialised English snack food such as pork scratchings along with crisps and peanuts. If a pub served meals they were usually basic dishes such as a ploughman's lunch.

Food has now become much more important as part of a pub's trade and today most pubs serve lunches and dinners (colloquially this is known as pub grub, or in Australia, counter meal or simply countery) in addition to snacks consumed at the bar. Many pubs serve excellent meals which rival the best restaurants and going for a 'pub lunch' can be a real treat. Certain pubs with a focus on quality food have come to be known as gastropubs.

The Fox and Parrot, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee has become quite famous for it's traditional British food, despite being locates in a former colony. The list is too long for this column, so check their British Pub Fare menu.

Pub signs

In 1393 King Richard II compelled landlords to erect signs outside their premises. The legislation stated "Whosoever shall brew ale in the town with intention of selling it must hang out a sign, otherwise he shall forfeit his ale". In the past, pictures were more useful than the words for identifying the pub, as many of the patrons were illiterate. Many British pubs still have highly decorated signs hanging over their doors. These signs bear the name of the pub, in words and in pictorial representation. If the pub's name refers to real objects or animals, then the picture will usually be a straightforward one; if the pub is named after a person of nobility, then the sign will often bear that person's coat of arms. Some pub signs are in the form of a pictorial pun or rebus. Many of the traditional pub names were chosen in order to provide a memorable pub sign.

Pub names

Pubs often have traditional names.

Here is a list of categories:

reflecting local trades: The Mason's Arms, The Foresters
local sporting activities: The Cricketers, The Fox and Hounds
a noted individual: The Marquis of Granby, The Lord Nelson
an historic event: The Trafalgar, The Royal Oak
alluding amusingly to everyday phrases: The Nowhere Inn Particular, The Dewdrop Inn
with a royal or aristocratic association: The King's Arms, The King's Head, The Queen Victoria, The Duke of Cambridge
with the names of two objects which may or may not be complementary: The George and Dragon, The Goat and Compasses, The Rose and Crown
with names of tools or products of trades: The Harrow, The Propeller, The Wheatsheaf
with names of items, particularly animals, that may be part of a coat of arms (heraldic charges): The Red Lion, The Unicorn, The White Bear

And, of course, the world famous Fox and Parrot in Gatlinburg Tennessee.

Many names for pubs that appear nonsensical may have come from corruptions of older names or phrases, often producing a visual image to signify the pub. For example, the name The Goat and Compasses is apparently a corrupted version of the phrase "God encompasseth us". These images had particular importance for identifying a pub on signs and other media before literacy became widespread.

Another example of a mistaken Pub name is the Oyster Reach pub in Ipswich, England. This pub spent several decades being called the Ostrich, before historians informed the owners of the original name. More possible but uncorroborated corruptions include "The Bag o'nails" (Bacchanals), "Elephant and Castle", (Infanta de Castile) and The Bull and Mouth which purportedly celebrates the victory of Henry VIII at "Boulougne Mouth" or Harbour. While these corruptions are amusing there are usually more substantiated explanations available.

Pub chains

In recent years a number of pub chains have sprung up which use semi-traditional sounding names (The Rat and Parrot, The Slug and Lettuce, The ... and Firkin) for all of the pubs in the chain. Newly acquired pubs are renamed and many people resent the loss of traditional names. These pubs are often owned by brewing companies and their beer selection is mainly limited to beers from that particular company. However; by law, pubs owned by breweries must allow their landlords the choice of offering at least one alternative beer (known as a guest beer) from another brewery and that beer must be a cask conditioned or bottle-conditioned real-ale.

Campaign for Real Ale

A society with a particular interest in the traditional British beers and the preservation of the 'integrity' of the public house is CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. CAMRA were instrumental in lobbying for the 'guest beer law'.

In 1998 there were 60,000 pubs in the United Kingdom (53,200 in England and Wales, 5,200 in Scotland and 1,600 in Northern Ireland). Perhaps more significant is the overall trend reflected in two other statistics: while the number of licences is up from around 75,000 in the mid-1970's to over 85,000 in 2002 (this included licences for other types of establishment such as restaurants), the number of barrels of beer sold at pubs (and bars) has dropped from over 36 million to less than 24 million during the same period. These statistics reflect the trend in the UK away from drinking at the local pub. (Source: BBPA Statistical Handbook).

Notable British public houses

• The Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, London (formerly a favourite haunt of journalists) Dirty Dick's in Bishopsgate, London (an historic London pub)
• The Llandoger Trow in Bristol
• The Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (Britain's smallest pub, according to the Guinness Book of Records)
• The Royal Standard of England, Beaconsfield, Bucks. (dating from 1066, claims to be the oldest free house in England. King Charles hid here during the English Civil War, and the pub is named for his flag.)
• The Eagle and Child in Oxford (frequented by The Inklings, a writing circle that included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis)
• Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham (incorporates a cave and claims to be the oldest pub in the UK)
• The Fox and Parrot, in Gatlinburg, Smokey Mountains, Tennessee (frequented by world famous entrepreneur and photographer Brian Papworth)
• Ye Olde White Harte in Kingston upon Hull, the home of 'The Plotting Parlour' where it was decided not to allow King Charles I into the city, supposedly starting the English Civil War in 1642.
• The King's Head, Aylesbury, the oldest pub with a coaching yard in the south of England and the only pub in England run by the National Trust
• The Eagle in Cambridge, the pub in which Francis Crick and James Watson announced that they had "discovered the secret of life" (the structure of DNA). Was also frequented by Alan Turing and friends.
• The Tan Hill Inn in Yorkshire is the highest inn in England (1732 ft above sea level). Tan Hill is a high point on the Pennine Way.
• The Drayton Court in Ealing, converted into a pub from a hotel in the 19th Century, has the largest 'beer garden' in London and indeed any city pub in the UK.
• The Crown Liquor Saloon, one of the only pubs in the UK to be owned by the National Trust.
• Canterbury Arms, Large Pub in Ashton Under Lyne, famous for its large beergarden and hauntings.

Pubs in British popular culture

All the major soap operas on British television feature a pub as their focal point, with their 'pub' becoming a household name. The Rovers Return is the world famous pub on Coronation Street, the top British 'soap' broadcast on ITV. The Queen Vic (short for the Queen Victoria) is the pub on EastEnders, the major 'soap' on BBC1, while The Bull in The Archers and the Woolpack on Emmerdale are also central meeting points. The sets of each of the three major television soap operas have been visited by royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II. The centrepiece of each visit was a trip into the Rovers, the Vic or the Woolpack to be offered a drink.

US president George W. Bush fulfilled his ambition of visiting a 'genuine English pub' during his November 2003 State Visit to the UK when he shared lunch and a pint of non-alcoholic lager with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Dun Cow pub in Sedgefield, County Durham.

Irish public houses

Superficially there is little difference between an Irish pub and its English counterpart. However, closer scrutiny will reveal some differences. There is more live music in an Irish pub, some of which are known in the Irish language as Ceilí Houses, and a customer is more likely to entertain the assembly with a song. The atmosphere in such places is called "craic" or "crack" (a word for fun). In Ireland pubs usually bear the name of the current or a previous owner, e.g., Murphy's or O'Connor's Pub. Famous pubs in Dublin include O'Donoghue's, an Irish music pub in Merrion Row frequented by American tourists, Doheny & Nesbitt, where politicians, journalists and writers drink together, the Horse Shoe Bar in the Shelbourne Hotel, where journalists like Eamon Dunphy are regular drinkers, and The George, Dublin's largest gay pub. Individual pubs are also associated with famous Irish writers and poets such as Patrick Kavanagh, Brendan Behan and James Joyce.

'Irish Pubs' have been opened throughout the world, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, from New York to Frankfurt, Johannesburg to Beijing. Main drinks consumed in Irish pubs include stout or ales like Guinness, Smithwicks and Kilkenny, lagers such as Budweiser, Heineken, Carlsberg and Harp and other spirits like whiskey and Baileys. Alcopops are also becoming popular with the youth market, many of whom no longer drink beverages such as Guinness. Cider is also a drink which is consumed much in the pubs in Ireland with Bulmers (sold as "Magners" outside of the Republic of Ireland to distinguish it from the internationally recognized Hereford cider-makers, H.P. Bulmer and Company, with which it shares a common heritage) being the leading brand. Non-alcoholic drinks are also available. The smoking ban in the Republic has noticeably changed the Irish pub experience; many pubs now offer enclosed and often heated outdoor smoking areas.

Speaking of Smoking Areas...

For 8 years now, publican Brian Papworth has run the Fox and Parrot as a non-smoking pub. This is, however, just a bit misleading to his potential customers that smoke.

The Fox and Parrot sits on 2 acres of land ( 87118.91663 square feet ). The actual tavern is 1,100 square feet. So, in reality, only 1.3% of the property is non-smoking.

There is a 500 square foot patio/deck out front and a 200 square foot deck on the side of the tavern. Brian would much prefer that you smoke in these 2 areas as opposed to wandering about the 2 acre property as bears abound on his land, which borders on the park.