Landlord discovers historical pub signs dating from the 1800s during refurbishment

  • Watch the report by ITV Meridian's Juliette Fletcher


A landlord from Reading has uncovered a little bit of the town's history while freshening up the front of his pub.

Andy Becalick, who is also a carpenter, decided to freshen up the outside of his pub, called The Moderation, as a project during the pandemic.

He discovered some much older signage hidden beneath, belonging to Simmonds Brewery, which is thought to predate the 1960s.

While, other signage found underneath, could be original and date back to the 1800s.

Some of the signs are from Simmonds Brewery and thought to predate the 1960s Credit: ITV Meridian

Andy took on a workshop just a couple of doors down from The Moderation in Reading, with his business partner Andy Trevorrow.

Together, they've been turning the historic signs into table tops for the pub.

Andy Becalick says for years the previous owners of the pubs must have added their signs directly on top of the old ones, meaning there were a series of signs beneath.

He says: "Everyone loves a bit of history and having the nostalgia in the pub is just great."

  • Andy Becalick, Landlord and Carpenter:

The two men are now turning the signs into tables for the pub at their workshop.

The hard work of refurbishing the signs involves cleaning, sanding and cutting them down.

Andy Trevorrow says it's a long process to make sure the signs are nice and polished.

He says: "You have to clean them, shape them, making the surrounds and make sure they fit. Then there's the resin, sanding back and polishing so they end up looking like they do now."

  •  Andy Trevorrow, Business partner:

Customer, Jon Leeming says it's really good to see the new tables in the pub.

He says: "They've got to be 100 to 150-years-old. It's really good to bring a bit of history."

While there are still more tables to complete, both men are making sure the pub retains the small insights into Reading's history. 

The signs are now being made into pub tables at The Moderation Credit: ITV Meridian