Ruislip: The Breakspear Arms
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Ruislip: The Breakspear Arms by Nigel Cox as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Ruislip: The Breakspear Arms
Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 6 Oct 2007
Just what a 1970s pub on the outskirts of Ruislip has to do with Britain's only pope is a mystery...! Nonetheless a venerable figure, with more than a passing resemblance to Rasputin after a night out, or possibly even Spike Milligan with a beard, looks gloomily down on the passer-by from the inn sign, and presumably this is Nicholas Breakspear aka Pope Adrian IV. All I know is that the pub is at the junction of Breakspear Road with Breakspear Road North near to Breakspear Crematorium. However Nicolas Breakspear was, by all accounts, prior to his election as Pope, born in Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire, so the connection is not known. However to be serious there has been a public house here for a long time, and certainly way before the suburban spawl of Ruislip reached up to its doors.
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Image Location
Latitude
51.579701
Longitude
-0.44854