compliments of the season

[softmachine]

May you all receive jewel-concealing geese and/or interesting battered felt hats on the morrow

 

or failing that, hope you all find a snug corner of the Alpha Inn to enjoy some of the landlord's fine refreshment

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thank you, softmachine.  Same to you, and may you never suffer from carbuncles (blue or otherwise).

 

I had to look up the Alpha Inn, and discovered that there's an actual pub, still in existence, that was probably the model for the Alpha.  It's currently called The Museum Tavern, though it actually predates the British Museum across the street.

[Van Buren Supernova]

I understand every single words on its own .

 

I guess it's about Christmas XD.

 

Merry Christmas, peace on earth, at home and at work.

[softmachine]

 

I had to look up the Alpha Inn, and discovered that there's an actual pub, still in existence, that was probably the model for the Alpha.  It's currently called The Museum Tavern, though it actually predates the British Museum across the street.

 

must have a tipple there some day.....! (probably in the far future when i can afford a beano to London haha)

[Inspector Baynes]

On 12/24/2015 at 3:52 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

there's an actual pub, still in existence

Jumping on this most appropriate thread to include current "Compliments of the Season" to all who visit here.  And following on @Carol the Dabbler comments regarding the Alpha Inn, perhaps it's worthwhile to someone see Klinger's comments on the issue:

"Christopher Morley expresses the view that “the Alpha Inn” was the Museum Tavern. The other candidate is the “Plough” at the corner of Museum and Little Russell Streets, put forward on the tenuous grounds that Alpha is the largest star in the constellation of the Plough. Regardless of the choice, it is pleasant to think of Sherlock Holmes visiting these pubs in his pre-detective years. With his rooms in Montague Street (mentioned in “The Musgrave Ritual”), the Museum Tavern was less than two blocks away from Holmes’s first London lodgings."
He continues:
"David L. Hammer suggests, in For the Sake of the Game, that Watson concealed the name of the pub, which surely would not have suffered from publicity, out of sheer habit. British ale predates the Roman conquest of England, and British ale houses (pubs) were conducting their businesses before the Norman conquest. A neologism of the Victorian age, the “pub” (short for “public house”), an outgrowth of the coach-houses and taverns and inns necessitated by horse-powered travel, with its frequent stops, flourished even after the advent of the railways. In 1869, there were 118,602 licensed premises (almost twice as many as today)."

(Doyle, Arthur Conan. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Non-Slipcased Edition) (Vol. 1) (The Annotated Books): 0 (pp. 411-412). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.)

So if we think there are 'a lot' of places to imbibe today, we can be appreciative of the apparent tremendous reduction in their count. An interesting speculation is why alcohol has always been such an attraction for the species.

[Carol the Dabbler]

31 minutes ago, Inspector Baynes said:

David L. Hammer suggests, in For the Sake of the Game, that Watson concealed the name of the pub, which surely would not have suffered from publicity, out of sheer habit.

Either that, or he had some personal grudge against the place.  

 

[Inspector Baynes]

7 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

he had some personal grudge against the place.

Indeed, many speculations are available, aren't there..! 
Perhaps in revealing the name, they needed to seek permission from the Inn's Keeper, who asked for the Inn and his true name to be kept strictly out of the business, for example.

The wonderful thing about speculation is it has few limitations, other than some small possibility of 'reasonability'.