The Queen's Head Pub, Pinner
The Queen's head is half way up the hill of the main high street in historic Pinner, on the Metropolitan line in North West London. The pub (short for public house) is the eye-catching main landmark of the street.
Another old pub is opposite. A third is down the hill on that side, towards the station. If you are visiting the Heath Robinson museum in the Pinner Park, you could eat in the park restaurant, or visit any of the three pubs.
The Queen's Head is a beamed pub, a typical British historic pub, and now has a picture of the late Queen Elizabeth II in the room on the left.
At the back is a raised terrace where you can sit in the sun in summer. Or smoke a cigarette, away from the fumers of traffic. (LOL!) If you come by car you can park at the back. You just have to tell the people at the bar your car number.
The ladies toilet has an elegant two cubicle toilet. Above the wash basins are two bottles, one of pleasant hand washing gel, the other containing lotion, just like a five star hotel or Michelin restaurant.
I went there for a funeral tea. We started at 4.30 and went on to about 6 thirty. Our group had the room on the far left. The man who died was my lovely neighbour Loudon and one of his daughters had set up, on the back wall, on a shelf, three large glass frameless frames containing lots of photos of Loudon with the family or on his own. In the pictures he was, of course, smiling happily, as if he was pleased to see us at his funeral tea. (We had come from Breakspear Crematorium in Ruislip, about which I shall write in another post.)
Wikipedia says
Queen's Head Public House. Designated. 9 July 1968. Reference no. 1079700. The Queens Head is a public house, dating back to the 16th century, [1] at 31 High Street, Pinner, in the London Borough of Harrow, England. The timber-framed building was Grade II listed in 1968 by Historic England. [1]
Apart from Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II, I must admit my knowledge of queens of England was hazy. So, inspired by my trip to the pub, I looked up queens of England and found the one who had died the year before the pub was built.
Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714)[b] was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 8 March 1702 until 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. Anne continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1714.
Anne was born in the reign of Charles II to his younger brother and heir presumptive, James, whose suspected Roman Catholicism was unpopular in England. On Charles's instructions, Anne and her elder sister Mary were raised as Anglicans. Mary married their Dutch Protestant cousin, William III of Orange, in 1677, and Anne married Prince George of Denmark in 1683. On Charles's death in 1685, James succeeded to the throne, but just three years later he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Mary and William became joint monarchs. Although the sisters had been close, disagreements over Anne's finances, status, and choice of acquaintances arose shortly after Mary's accession and they became estranged. William and Mary had no children. After Mary's death in 1694, William reigned alone until his own death in 1702, when Anne succeeded him.
During her reign, Anne favoured moderate Tory politicians, who were more likely to share her Anglican religious views than their opponents, the Whigs. The Whigs grew more powerful during the course of the War of the Spanish Succession, until 1710 when Anne dismissed many of them from office. Her close friendship with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, turned sour as the result of political differences. The Duchess took revenge with an unflattering description of the Queen in her memoirs, which was widely accepted by historians until Anne was reassessed in the late 20th century.
Anne was plagued by poor health throughout her life, and from her thirties she grew increasingly ill and obese. Despite 17 pregnancies, she died without surviving issue and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. Under the Act of Settlement 1701, which excluded all Catholics, she was succeeded by her second cousin George I of the House of Hanover.
She had 17 miscarriages, poor woman. She is less remembered than Henry VIII's poor wives. but here is the Queen's head pub, recalling two famous queens.
Whatpub.com told me more. I thought the pub was named after the queen after she died, but there is a closer connection. She actually visited Pinner more than once. The pub was known as the Crown Inn until 1715 when the name was changed to the Queen's Head because Queen Anne used to change horses here when riding between Hatfield and London.
Changing horses! Horses, like people running marathons, got tired running, or gallopping, long distances for hours. So the rider and horse stopped for a drink. The rider took another horse, which had more energy, leaving the first one to rest.
Useful Websites
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Head,_Pinner
What Pub
https://whatpub.com/pubs/MDX/11940/queens-head-pinner
Pinner History Society
London Borough of Harrow
Facebook
Pub Owner
https://www.queensheadpinner.co.uk/
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