Pint Passport

25 pairs · 7 countries

Then and now

25 old pubs photographed decades apart, the older half of each pair taken between 1889 and 1992. Put side by side they answer a question a single photograph cannot: what actually changes about a house that has been serving for centuries.

Mostly it is the shopfront, the signage and the street. Brewery lettering goes, render comes off or goes on, a courtyard becomes a car park, and the roofline stays where it was. Several of these houses were rebuilt after a fire or a bomb and look older now than they did then, which is worth remembering when a pub's sign gives a date — see how historians date an old pub and how a grade is decided.

A pub appears here only when we hold both halves. The rest of the site's photographs are on the pubs' own pages.

  1. About 1889
    The galleried yard of the George in 1889, wooden galleries on the left and men standing by the range on the rightPhoto: London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company · public domain
    Today
    White inn with two tiers of open wooden galleries above a dark green bar front, in a cobbled yardPhoto: Matt Brown · licence

    The George Inn

    London, England

    The yard in 1889, photographed by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.

  2. About 1895
    Photograph of the vaulted Ratskeller in 1895, long tables down the arcade and a great carved wine tun in the foregroundPhoto: Zedler und Vogel, Darmstadt · public domain
    Today
    Huge carved and painted wine cask filling an arch of the whitewashed cellar, tables in front of itPhoto: Martin Rulsch, Wikimedia Commons · licence

    Bremer Ratskeller

    Bremen, Germany

    The cellar and one of its carved tuns in 1895.

  3. About 1898
    Black-and-white photograph of Weis Stue on the Torvet at Ribe in 1898, its frame then rendered and limewashed, with children outsidePhoto: Christian Axel Jensen · public domain
    Today
    Half-timbered house with a sagging tiled roof, herringbone brick panels and a dark green doorPhoto: Hjart · licence

    Weis' Stue

    Ribe, Denmark

    Weis Stue in 1898, the timber frame still under render.

  4. About 1903
    Black-and-white photograph of the jettied timber front of the Green Dragon in 1903, a man standing by the yard gatesPhoto: Godfrey Bingley · public domain
    Today
    Jettied timber-framed inn with a dormer and a green dragon sign, brick stacks abovePhoto: Steve Knight · licence

    Green Dragon

    Wymondham, England

    The Green Dragon in 1903.

  5. About 1910
    The slab-walled inn with its long verandah in 1910, a small child and two adults posed by the picket fencePhoto: Unknown photographer (National Library of Australia) · public domain
    Today
    Low slab-and-timber inn with a corrugated iron roof and wide verandah, red-hot pokers in frontPhoto: Maypm · licence

    Old Canberra Inn

    Canberra, Australia

    The inn in 1910, when it was called The Pines.

  6. About 1931
    A horse and cart standing outside the whitewashed Sloop Inn in 1931, the landlord's name on the board abovePhoto: Unknown photographer (scan by Mark Crombie) · public domain
    Today
    Whitewashed harbour inn with a tall chimney and painted sloop sign, on the cobbled wharfPhoto: Mutney · licence

    The Sloop Inn

    St Ives, England

    The Sloop in 1931, when Samuel Rogers held the licence.

  7. About 1935
    The clapboarded Wayside Inn with its dormers and porch, behind shrubs, photographed for a survey about 1935Photo: C. E. Peterson · public domain
    Today
    Red clapboard inn with brick chimneys and white sash windows, behind a stone wall and hedgePhoto: John Phelan · licence

    Longfellow's Wayside Inn

    Sudbury, United States

    A Historic American Buildings Survey photograph of about 1935, twenty years before the fire.

  8. About 1937
    The Old Absinthe House in 1937, shuttered and stripped, its stucco falling away at the corner of Bourbon StreetPhoto: Frances Benjamin Johnston · public domain
    Today
    Cream stuccoed corner building with an iron balcony hung with garlands and shuttered arched doorsPhoto: ajay_suresh · licence

    Old Absinthe House

    New Orleans, United States

    Photographed in 1937 by Frances Benjamin Johnston for the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South.

  9. About 1950
    Young and Jackson on the Flinders Street corner about 1950, neon signs on the roof and a crowd at the crossingPhoto: Robert Bolitho · public domain
    Today
    Ornate two-storey corner hotel in cream render with green ironwork and gold lettered signsPhoto: Rexness from Melbourne, Australia · licence

    Young and Jackson Hotel

    Melbourne, Australia

    The corner about 1950, photographed on a box camera by Robert Bolitho.

  10. About 1955
    Cobbled Mermaid Street in 1955, empty of cars, with the timber-framed front of the Mermaid Inn on the rightPhoto: Dr Neil Clifton · licence
    Today
    Timber-framed inn hung with ivy on a cobbled street, with leaded windows and a mermaid signPhoto: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · licence

    The Mermaid Inn

    Rye, England

    Mermaid Street in 1955, a ladder against the house opposite.

  11. About 1955
    The George Inn's timber-framed upper floors and stone archway seen from the road junction in 1955Photo: Derek Voller · licence
    Today
    The George Inn at Norton St Philip: stone ground floor, timber-framed upper storeys and a wide arched entryPhoto: Eirian Evans · licence

    The George Inn

    Norton St Philip, England

    The same view in 1955, before the road was widened and kerbed.

  12. About 1955
    The Wine Office Court doorway of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in 1955, with the round Rebuilt 1667 sign and the board listing reignsPhoto: Willy Pragher · licence
    Today
    Black-painted pub frontage in a narrow court, with a white hanging lantern sign abovePhoto: Ewan-M · licence

    Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

    London, England

    The doorway in Wine Office Court, 1955.

  13. About 1956
    The Fighting Cocks in 1956: octagonal tiled roof, tall white chimney stack and a motorcycle parked by the fencePhoto: Dr Neil Clifton · licence
    Today
    Low white-walled pub with a steep tiled roof, tall chimneys and picnic benches on the gravel outsidePhoto: Marathon · licence

    Ye Olde Fighting Cocks

    St Albans, England

    The same corner in 1956, with the brick building beside it that has since gone.

  14. About 1957
    The painted front of the Hotel Bären beside the Schwabentor clock tower in 1957, with cars of the period in the streetPhoto: Willy Pragher · licence
    Today
    Pink and white painted front with coats of arms and dates, lettered Hotel Bären, tables set out belowPhoto: joergens.mi · licence

    Zum Roten Bären

    Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    The house and the Schwabentor in 1957.

  15. About 1960
    The Riesen in 1960: carved timber frame above a stone ground floor with 'Hotel Riesen' painted across itPhoto: Willy Pragher · licence
    Today
    Tall half-timbered house with jettied upper floors, slate gable and a sandstone ground storeyPhoto: Jörg Braukmann · licence

    Gasthaus Zum Riesen

    Miltenberg, Germany

    Photographed for the Baden-Wurttemberg state archive in September 1960.

  16. About 1962
    Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in 1962, its painted boards weathered and a Morris Minor parked at the kerbPhoto: P L Chadwick · licence
    Today
    Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem under the sandstone of Castle Rock, its gable painted 'the oldest inn in England'Photo: Chris Andrews · licence

    Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem

    Nottingham, England

    The same frontage in 1962, when the boards read “the oldest home brewed inn in England”.

  17. About 1977
    The Old Wellington in 1977, standing on a brick podium among the concrete of a 1970s shopping precinctPhoto: David Dixon · licence
    Today
    The Old Wellington's black-and-white timber front in Shambles Square, with tables and umbrellas outsidePhoto: N Chadwick · licence

    The Old Wellington

    Manchester, England

    In 1977 the inn stood on a raised podium in the Shambles; it was moved to its present site in 1999.

  18. About 1982
    U Fleku's street front in 1982, render stained and peeling, the brewery's iron clock hanging over the pavementPhoto: Falk2 · licence
    Today
    The long ochre front of U Fleku with gilt lettering reading Pivovar U Fleku l.p. 1499 and the iron clockPhoto: Dr. Bernd Gross · licence

    U Fleků

    Prague, Czechia

    Kremencova street in 1982, before the front was repaired and repainted.

  19. About 1982
    The brick front of Ye Olde White Harte down its alley in 1982, arched door, hanging sign and a restaurant boardPhoto: Bernard Sharp · licence
    Today
    Brick and white-painted walls down a narrow flagged courtyard, with hanging baskets and a pub signPhoto: Stephen Craven · licence

    Ye Olde White Harte

    Kingston upon Hull, England

    The alley off Silver Street in 1982.

  20. About 1985
    Church Walk at Stoke Gabriel in 1985, drinkers on the inn’s front terrace and the church tower behindPhoto: Stanley Walker · licence
    Today
    The Church House Inn at Stoke Gabriel, its great whitewashed chimney breast rising above the streetPhoto: Hugh Llewelyn from Keynsham, UK · licence

    Church House Inn

    Stoke Gabriel, England

    Church Walk in 1985, the terrace in use.

  21. About 1991
    The Old Crown in 1991, its timber front intact but the ground floor whitewashed and shuttered, seen across the roadPhoto: Rob Newman · licence
    Today
    Timber-framed corner pub with close studding, jettied first floor and two brick chimneysPhoto: Chris Whippet · licence

    The Old Crown

    Birmingham, England

    Deritend in 1991, when the pub stood empty and boarded.

  22. About 1992
    The white-rendered Royal Oak at the bend of a lane in 1992, its inn sign on a post by the roadPhoto: Row17 · licence
    Today
    Whitewashed inn beside a stone church tower, parasol and benches on the terrace above the lanePhoto: Philip Pankhurst · licence

    Royal Oak

    Cardington, England

    The Royal Oak from the lane in 1992.

  23. Then
    Horse-drawn cabs waiting under the arcades of the Hofbrauhaus, with its oriel window and stepped gablesPhoto: Detroit Publishing Company (Photochrom Print Collection, Library of Congress) · public domain
    Today
    White gabled beer hall with an arcaded ground floor, oriel window and blue Hofbrauhaus letteringPhoto: Kiban · public domain

    Hofbräuhaus am Platzl

    Munich, Germany

    A Detroit Publishing photochrom print; the Library of Congress dates it between 1890 and 1900.

  24. Then
    Black-and-white survey photograph of the Union Oyster House at the corner of Marshall Street, its painted signs and gambrel roof, a 1930s car at the kerbPhoto: Arthur C. Haskell · public domain
    Today
    Brick house of three storeys with dormers and brown awnings, on a cobbled corner of the Blackstone BlockPhoto: Seasider53 · licence

    Union Oyster House

    Boston, United States

    The corner from Marshall Street, in a Historic American Buildings Survey photograph.

  25. Then
    The same Storgata front in an early photograph, lettered Dovrehallens Café and Dovrehallens SpisesalonPhoto: Narve Skarpmoen · public domain
    Today
    Ornate Storgata front with Dovrehallen Bar & Restaurant over the entrance and Dovrestua beside itPhoto: Helge Høifødt · licence

    Dovrehallen

    Oslo, Norway

    The National Library of Norway dates the negative only to between 1899 and 1930.

Updated 20 September 2026.