This was my first major published book after recovering from bowel cancer surgery and acquiring a stoma for life. My struggle there coincided with Covid and lockdown. Amberley asked me to write the book when I provisionally proposed a different pub writing project to them. It took zero arm-twisting for me to accept their gracious invitation. I got onto it right away, and with input, advice and donated photos by members of the Inn Sign Society and others, it came to be over the two years preceding the 2024 publication.

Upon release I launched the book at a pub, Vinyl Tap, in Preston, (included in the work). I got a huge attendance from personal friends and the pub’s customers, including the city mayor. The landlord kindly provided free food for everyone attending.

The editors, friends who sent in images, and my general readership have all been incredibly supportive and the book is proof to me that I still have so much to give and live for. There are so many people to thank. My one regret was that my mother died from her dementia just a month before publication, as it would have been great to share my achievement with her. I hope she would have been proud of me.

Signs
Vinyl Tap, No. 30 Adelphi Street, Preston, PR1 7BE (Pub Signs, Amberley Publishing)

I started collect pub sign photos c.2012, since then I have given talks, and done a few articles, plus a previous pub signs book (commissioned after a talk I gave to a science fiction convention on signs related to the genre). Amberley’s book is much more mainstream.

I’m an ex-cult member, a former English Civil War Re-enactor, writer, of fiction, drama and performance poetry, some related to pubs.

It is the exterior signage that means the most to me about pubs (even more than real ale), and finding some of the beautiful artwork displayed on inn signs is a never-ending joy to me. 

Naturally, I began with pubs close to home, (I lived in Manchester when I started, and then moved to Preston), quickly exhausting the supply of easily reached fresh local signs. I gradually had to travel further afield, (despite not being a driver) and when I head to conventions, arts festivals or performances I always try to take extra time out to explore pubs wherever I go. I also get people to share signs they spot on their own journeys, though I only feel I have truly collected a sign when I have taken the photo personally. Over a third of the images in the book are my own, and I never leave home without at least one of my cameras, pens and notepads to hand.

I have over 10,000 images taken personally (about 40,000 to go). I research the pub histories through books, libraries, tourist information centres, beer and pub journals, websites, and established literature, including many Amberley titles. My pub walks can cover eight miles a day. The pubs themselves are of course a vital source of information. It becomes detective work, and one hobby begats another. From many signs depicting heraldry, I have started studying that too.

Signs
Upton Muggery, No. 58 Old Street, Upton-upon-Severn, Worcester, WR8 0HW (Pub Signs, Amberley Publishing)

I like beer, though I drink in only a fraction of the pubs I have signs for. On one walk I photographed 130 pubs in a single day, so drinking in all of them would have been impossible.

I meet many lovely people in my research, both when out with my cameras, and from plugging my book at performances and readings. Though my other books and individual poems have gained some modest positive attention, Pub Signs is my most successful work to date. Many readers tell me how much some of the pubs included mean to them and share their own stories. A couple in Preston were delighted to see the Upton Muggery pub, in Worcester included as they visit the area and the pub on occasions. Thanks to their interest, the pub now has its own copy of the book too.

Writing is not the lonely profession it is often made out to be. It is an interactive, dynamic adventure. Meeting readers, publicans, pub customers, and other writers, after the long isolation my own health crisis and Covid generated has been such a joy. After my cancer very nearly killed me, I now feel more alive than ever. I’ll be travelling again soon to get more signs under my wing. I plan to visit Belfast in the spring.

If you have ideas for books, write them down and get them out there. Amberley are great for history and cultural studies, and you should consider approaching them with your ideas or work. Check their submission guidelines. Their editorial support at every stage of the creation of Pub Signs was wonderful.

Once accepted, work on your book really begins, editing and proofing, going over everything with a fine-tooth comb. Then with publication, there is publicising your pride and joy, contacting the media, creating social media awareness, giving talks, signing copies, and starting to make notes for potential sequels and follow up work. Happy reading, happy writing.

Pub Signs by Arthur Chappell is available for purchase now.