Maida Vale Pubs

Was Maida Vale really named after the Hero of Maida pub? I take a look into that, followed by a tour of the area's historic pubs.

Much of today's tour follows in the footsteps of a book titled "Back to the Local" written by Maurice Gorham, with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone, originally published in 1949, which gives a wonderful snapshot of pub culture in the mid 20th Century. The book is being reissued in June 2024 by Faber & Faber:
https://www.faber.co.uk/product/97805...

An electronic version (for Kindle etc) is already available now:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Back-Local-M...

Along the way we also touch on various bits of relevant history: The Battle of Maida, a brief introduction to the Palladian architectural style, the cost of building in 1859 versus 2024, the spate of billiard ball thefts in 1870s London, a pub which was demolished and rebuilt brick by brick, "improved public houses" and pub licensing hours in the 20th century, Delia Derbyshire and her pioneering work on electronic music at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 1960s, the surprising date when pubs started stripping out their partitions, and finally Bass pale ale: the first ever trademark. Oh Richard Branson gets a mention too,

Links etc:

Hero of Maida:
https://whatpub.com/pubs/WLD/16958/he...
https://londonwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/P...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...

Warrington Hotel
https://whatpub.com/pubs/WLD/16262/wa...
https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/70
https://historicengland.org.uk/listin...
https://londonwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/P...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War...

Carlton Tavern
https://whatpub.com/pubs/WLD/17223/ca...
https://ocrpubs.camra.org.uk/pubs/201
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton...
https://londonwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/P...
https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-...

Eagle
https://whatpub.com/pubs/WLD/16263/ea...
https://londonwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/P...

Prince Alfred
https://whatpub.com/pubs/WLD/16261/pr...
https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/69
https://historicengland.org.uk/listin...
https://londonwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/P...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_...

Warwick Castle
https://whatpub.com/pubs/WLD/16267/wa...
https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs...
https://londonwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/P...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick...
https://historicengland.org.uk/listin...

Chapters:

0:00 Intro: Was Maida Vale named after a pub?
1:46 Warrington Hotel
6:01 Carlton Tavern
10:46 Eagle
13:19 Prince Alfred
17:41 Warwick Castle
21:42 Outro from Little Venice