The year of the Cheshire Cat

This stamp is one of a set of 10 issued by Royal Mail
to mark the 150th anniversary

The world-famous grinning cat turned 150 years old in 2015. Not bad for a literary creature that was originally imagined simply to amuse a small girl named Alice (daughter of Henry Liddell, the Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and friend of author Lewis Carroll). Since its publication in 1865, Carroll’s masterly tale Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has never been out of print and, in the subsequent 150 years, the work has been translated into more than a hundred languages.

Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson on 27 January 1832, spent his early years in the village of Daresbury, in Cheshire, where his father Charles Dodgson was the vicar (from 1827 to 1843) of the local church, All Saints’.

Not surprisingly, Daresbury is proud of its famous son. In the church, Carroll is commemorated in a special stained glass window. As well as a Nativity scene, the window also depicts scenes from Carroll’s life: the Cheshire Wheatsheaf, representing the country where he was born; the shields of Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was educated; and a pair of compasses and the Lamp of Learning, symbolising his considerable skills in mathematics. And, at the bottom of the window appear some of Carroll’s unforgettable fictional characters, including the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, the mad March Hare, the Mock Turtle, the Dormouse sitting in a teapot and, of course, the inimitable Cheshire Cat. (Unfortunately, I haven’t yet been to Daresbury but you can see the window here.)   

I’m sure it will also come as no surprise that the whole of Cheshire celebrates its name being associated with the famous grinning cat. There are Cheshire Cat public houses in Christleton and in Nantwich (its signs appear in the photograph below), a company of that name provides themed parties and events, and you can enjoy tea and cake in the Dormouse Tea Rooms in Daresbury.

The inspiration for the fictional Cheshire Cat character is claimed by several places. There is a 16th-century sandstone carving of a grinning cat on the west face of St Wilfrid's Church tower in Grappenhall, a village very close to Daresbury, but there is also a cat carving in Croft church, where Carroll’s father was rector for 25 years, and a cat gargoyle in St Nicholas Church in Cranleigh, where Carroll used to visit.

The origin of the Cheshire Cat, though now largely associated with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, does, in fact, predate the book and it seems Lewis Carroll merely elaborated on the idea of a grinning cat when concocting the mischievous character for his tale.

During the six months I lived in Cheshire earlier this year, I searched for the famous grinning cat but never found him. The cats I encountered never displayed that famous grin and were, on the whole, rather taciturn. Certainly, none shared any pearls of wisdom similar to those uttered by the fictional Cheshire Cat, which are what I love most about the character. I’ll leave you with some of my favourite quotations:

‘I myself don't need a weathervane to tell which way the wind blows.’

‘Every adventure requires a first step. Trite, but true, even here.’

‘Those who say there's nothing like a nice cup of tea for calming the nerves never had real tea. It's like a syringe of adrenaline straight to the heart!’

‘Only a few find the way, some don't recognize it when they do – some ... don't ever want to.’

‘If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.’

And, my particular favourite, ‘I’m not crazy – my reality is just different from yours.’

Cheshire: pubs and their signs 6

I spent a couple of hours recently exploring Nantwich: so many beautiful old black-and-white buildings, so many pubs which, of course, means pub signs! So, here’s a little history of Nantwich told through its public houses.

The biggest thing that ever happened to this Cheshire market town was the Great Fire on 10 December 1583 and, wouldn’t you know it, it was caused by a brewer who accidentally set fire to his kitchen. Chaos reigned as a bucket-passing human chain tried to quell the flames with water from the River Weaver, all the while dodging the bears that were running through the streets – a landlord who provided the horrendous entertainment of bear baiting had let his animals loose when the fire got near his premises.

The townsfolk’s efforts were in vain and much of the town was destroyed but their misery has become our delight. As Nantwich played an important role in the Cheshire salt industry, good Queen Bess organised some national fundraising and herself contributed wood from nearby Delamere Forest so many of the beautiful old taverns we can see today date from the time of town’s rebuilding.

The Cheshire Cat, Nantwich

Let’s start with the pub with the cutest name, The Cheshire Cat. The black-and-white part of the pub was originally built in 1637 as three cottages. In 1676-77, in memory of his beloved wife, local man Roger Wilbraham, had the cottages converted to almshouses, to house six impoverished local widows and so they remained until the 1930s.

In 2002, the buildings were redeveloped for their current use as a pub, restaurant and small hotel, hence the rather modern cat sign – the Cheshire Cat artwork is by local artist Tori Chantler. I’m not sure I’d want to stay there though – apparently, the building has its share of ghostly inhabitants!

 

The Malbank, Nantwich

Malbank was the name of the family that owned Nantwich and much of the surrounding area in Norman times. Although the Romans had settled here earlier, in order to mine the extensive local salt deposits, William Malbank, third Baron of Wich Malbank (an earlier name for Nantwich) is credited with putting the town on the map.  

This building wasn’t always a pub – I found a photograph dating from around 1910 which gives its name as Acton’s Stables, and the pub sign appears to be a modern artist’s rather fanciful interpretation of how William Malbank may have looked in full battle armour – not exactly historically accurate, if the Bayeaux tapestry is anything to go by.

The Oddfellows Arms, Nantwich

As you may know, the Oddfellows is a Friendly Society, formed in 1810 but derived from the trade guilds of medieval times, which has the aim of ensuring that their large, 280,000-strong membership ‘join[s] together to enjoy the social side of life, as well as providing care advice and support in times of need’. Though the building occupied by the pub dated from the early 19th century and the arms displayed in the pub’s sign are those of the Oddfellows Society, I’m not sure if there is any connection. Perhaps the building was originally constructed for the society.

I particularly like the additional sign for Oscar’s Bar on the wall adjacent to the pub itself. Oscar was obviously a much-loved patron!

The Black Lion, Nantwich

Not far from The Oddfellows Arms is The Black Lion. Built in 1664, it still retains many of its original architectural features (stone floors, beams, and wattle and daub construction) and is the longest-running public house in Nantwich. No surprise then that this is another pub that’s said to be haunted.  

Though I’ve not found anything on the history of The Black Lion’s name, animal names coupled with colours are often heraldic references – The Red Lion, for example, is the most common pub name in England.

The Red Cow, Nantwich

According to their own website ‘The Red Cow is a charming 15th Century traditional pub close to the centre of Nantwich Town’, which underwent ‘a full and stunning refurbishment in March 2013’.

I found a wonderful snippet about The Red Cow’s history on a website quoting local historian Andrew Lamberton:

There is information regarding the public house in the booklet by Dr A.J. MacGregor called the ‘Inns and Innkeepers of Nantwich’. The address was 9 Beam Street, and it was originally an alehouse in 1792 called the Red Cow. In 1830 it was known as the Old Red Cow to distinguish it from the new one which was further down the street, the proprietor having taken the name with him when he moved to the new premises. The "new" Red Cow is still a public house in Beam Street.

The Crown, Nantwich

This wonderful old building was built in 1584, soon after that disastrous fire had decimated the town, and still has many original features as you can probably tell from its rather wonky shape. No wonder it’s Grade I listed. An inn named The Crown and Sceptre was referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086, and there is speculation that this was the original site of Nantwich Castle, which was built prior to 1180, so this location has seen a lot of history. You can read more on Wikipedia.  

Pub names like The Crown, which refer to royalty, have long been popular and are thought to have indicated the landlord’s loyalty to authority (at least publicly). The Inn Sign Society’s website also notes that ‘The sign of the crown has been used as an inn sign for hundreds of years as it was easily identifiable for the majority of the population, most of whom were illiterate.’

The Talbot, Nantwich

I was fascinated to learn that The Talbot’s name ‘comes from a breed of dog first put on their coat of arms by a family called Talbot’. Apparently, ‘the dogs were used for hunting (like a fox hound) or for running alongside stage coaches’.

Though it was originally named The Talbot, former owners changed the pub’s name to The Frog and Ferret – a rather bizarre combination of creatures. Locals celebrated when the name was changed back to the original in 2007. Photos of some of this pub’s previous signs can be seen on A Dabber’s Nantwich’s website – I think I like the current sign best.