The local has long been the focal point of the community. A home from home where we gather to socialise, to play, to celebrate and to feats. Yet how many of us ever stop to think of the name of the sign hanging outside? Where do they come from, why were they chosen and do they have any significance?

Discover how pub names are almost a dialect of their own. Learn the origins and thus the meaning of some of our commonest and also our most unusual names. Find out how they relate to England's history, its people and events. Unlock the secret messages and codes found on the sign. And, most surprisingly, discover how the pub sign, and thus the name, is older than the pub itself.