The Cathrine Wheel has had that name since the year dot so tell me why today it has a signboard going up renaming it "The Jack of Newbury".

That name will no doubt attract a totally new group of customers......

Quoted from brian

That name will no doubt attract a totally new group of customers......

Not really being into the pub scene, what kind of crowd did it have when it was the Catherine Wheel, and what kind of crowd is it likely to attract now? It always looked pretty grim whenever I walked past.

The usual reason for a pub to change its name is an attempt to change its image and to appeal to a different clientele, perhaps the Jack of Newbury will prove to be more popular than the Catherine Wheel?

It's sad to see the Catherine Wheel going this route - it was one of only four pubs open today that have operated continuously under the same name since 1761 (along with the Dolphin, the Gun and the Coopers' Arms).

Quoted from blackdog

The usual reason for a pub to change its name is an attempt to change its image and to appeal to a different clientele, perhaps the Jack of Newbury will prove to be more popular than the Catherine Wheel?

It's sad to see the Catherine Wheel going this route - it was one of only four pubs open today that have operated continuously under the same name since 1761 (along with the Dolphin, the Gun and the Coopers' Arms).

I knew it had been going with that name for a long time, but didn't realise it was 250 years. Pity that the name can't be listed like a building as it has historical value to the town.

By the way, my apologies, I spelt the name wrong. You were all too polite to point it out.....

SOME PUB NAMES ARE WORTH fighting for[ the castle at donn. e.g.] but why was it called the catherine wheel in the first place,and lacking a decent answer to that......it might as well try a new one.....but the "jack" dont seem a good replacement for the "CAT",,....my name ,if i had been asked would have been.........answers on an email!

Why is the Castle at Donnington a name that is more worth fighting for than the Catherine Wheel - as I see it the only difference is that the Castle was renamed the Pig in Clover (how naff can you get?) while the Catherine Wheel is becoming the innocuous Jack of Newbury.

Okay the Castle is named (we assume) after the castle - which is hardly a major issue.  The Catherine Wheel has been around for well over 250 years under that name - so there is no-one to ask why the name was chosen.  Perhaps it was named after Queen Catherine (of Aragon) when she visited the town with Henry VIII.  Its the fact that the name is a long standing part of Newbury's history that makes it an unfortunate loss, not that it is inherently special in itself.

Given the recent examples of the Hatchet and Monument - how about a sweepstake on when the Jack of Newbury reverts to being the Catherine Wheel? Even the Clock Tower and Snooty Fox are reversions to previous, if far more recent, names - and let's hope the Purple Lounge reverts to a previous name soon.

Talking of which, when is the Hatchet to reopen? Seems to have been closed a very long time now. No makeover takes that long.

Talking of which, when is the Hatchet to reopen? Seems to have been closed a very long time now. No makeover takes that long.

Quoted from fencer

Talking of which, when is the Hatchet to reopen? Seems to have been closed a very long time now. No makeover takes that long.

They have recently applied for planning permission for some internal changes required after dry rot was discovered.  I think they have had a number of problems associated with planning and listed building consents as they kept turning up new problems.  Open for Easter perhaps?

Quoted from blackdog

The Catherine Wheel has been around for well over 250 years under that name - so there is no-one to ask why the name was chosen.  Perhaps it was named after Queen Catherine (of Aragon) when she visited the town with Henry VIII. .

And one of the pubs clientèle nicked a wheel from her carriage?

Quoted from Uncle

SOME PUB NAMES ARE WORTH fighting for[ the castle at donn. e.g.] but why was it called the catherine wheel in the first place,and lacking a decent answer to that......it might as well try a new one.....but the "jack" dont seem a good replacement for the "CAT",,....my name ,if i had been asked would have been.........answers on an email!

What i really meant was....THE CASTLE had a real campaign in getting status quo,whereas THE CAT. has not.....yet?

Quoted from Uncle

What i really meant was....THE CASTLE had a real campaign in getting status quo,whereas THE CAT. has not.....yet?

It was easy to work up a campaign against renaming an pub the Pig in Clover - regardless of what it was called before.  Surely the campaign was more against the new name than in protection of the old one.

The reality is that few people care about the Catherine Wheel being renamed the Jack of Newbury - let's face it virtually no one complained about the Bricklayers becoming the Purple Lounge. CAMRA used to campaign about name changes, perhaps even they recognise that a name change is a small price to pay if it means the pub's survival for a few more years.

The Jack of Newbury is now being operated by Lee from the Canal Bar etc.

He's re-done the interior, taken away the pool table, and the juke box. (although the later might return).

Apparently the rather grim, unwashed, job-free, crack-heads, dope fiends and smack-heads that used to get in there are now being shunted finding their way to the Wetherspoons (Diamond Tap) over the road. (no surprises there then)

Threep.

Quoted from Threepwood

He's re-done the interior, taken away the pool table, and the juke box. (although the later might return).

Standard tactics for a problem pub - change the landlord, change the name, redecorate and get rid of pool table, pinball, juke box etc.

An acquaintance spent years spending six months or at pub after pub doing just this for a large brewery.

Yep...it's Enterprise (I do believe) behind this one.


Threep.