Monday, 26 October 2026
Sunday, 25 October 2026
London's oldest restaurant given to the National Trust - preserving history (UK) 14/Oct/2026
Rules,
London’s oldest restaurant, donated to National Trust
Historic
eatery in capital’s theatreland given to heritage charity after changing hands
only three times in 228 years
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Esther Addley and George Francis Lee
Wed 14
Oct 2026 01.01 CEST
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/oct/14/rules-london-oldest-restaurant-donated-national-trust
When
Thomas Rule served his first oyster to diners on Maiden Lane in London’s Covent
Garden, “mad” George III was on the throne of England, John Adams was US
president and William Pitt the Younger had just come up with a wheeze called
income tax to pay for the Napoleonic wars.
More than
two centuries later, Rules, the restaurant
Thomas founded in what became the capital’s theatreland, has outlasted nine
British monarchs and 45 prime
ministers – but has changed hands only three times. The interior of its
four-storey home, stuffed with historic playbills and vintage caricatures and
gilded antlers, is little changed from the 19th century, nor has the tone of
its determinedly meaty menu – think rabbit rillettes, shin of veal and roast
guinea fowl.
Established
in 1798, Rules was once frequented by the likes of Charles Dickens, Laurence
Olivier and Charlie Chaplin. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian
Rules was
beloved by Dickens and Thackeray, inspired Graham Greene and was a favourite of
Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier and Ava Gardner. But even London’s oldest
restaurant can feel vulnerable to the winds of change, leading the man who
bought Rules in 1984 to take perhaps the most significant step in its long
history. JP Mayhew has now donated the restaurant’s historic home to the National Trust,
assured that the heritage charity will “protect this place in a way that no one
else could”.
“With
many years of hard work, and some extraordinary strokes of luck, Rules has
survived everything from redevelopment plans and changing tastes to the blitz
,” Mayhew said. By taking on the historic and listed 34-35
Maiden Lane, he added , the National Trust would “[safeguard] its bricks
and mortar, its famous interior and its invisible atmosphere too. I am grateful
to them for believing in this idea and for protecting this building and two
centuries worth of stories for people to enjoy forever”.
The
interior of its four-storey home, stuffed with historic playbills and vintage
caricatures and gilded antlers, is little changed from the 19th century.
Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian
The £11m
“landmark” gift is one of the most valuable in the National Trust’s recent
history, and will mark its first entry into the restaurant business – although
its portfolio includes 39 historic pubs and a number of country house hotels,
including Cliveden
in Buckinghamshire.
Not that
the heritage charity will be taking on the napkin-folding and the slow cooking
of pork cheeks. While Mayhew is donating the historic building and its
contents, he sold the restaurant business to Ricky McMenemy, its
longstanding general manager, in 2022; McMenemy will become a commercial tenant
of the National Trust.
Diners
can expect little change to the menu, said Lucy Porten from the National Trust:
‘It’s not a National Trust menu … there will be no scones.’ Photograph: Jill
Mead/The Guardian
“Our
involvement, day to day, will probably be very light touch,” said Lucy Porten,
a national curator for the charity. “It will always be run as a restaurant. We
will look after [the building and its contents], but we recognise that they
will have to evolve if they are going to continue to meet diners’ needs.”
Diners,
however, can expect little change to the menu, she said – and crucially, no
scones. “It’s not a National Trust menu, this is a very successful business in
its own right. There will be no scones. That’s not their business.” Nor will
there be preferential access or prices for National Trust members, “because it
is a business, and it has to be successful,” she added. Instead, the charity is
exploring options for virtual visits and other ways people could “feel like
they are visiting the space” from afar.
It was
several years ago when Mayhew first approached the National Trust about a
possible gift. Porten said while “excited by the offer”, they looked carefully
at whether it was the right organisation to take on the building.
The
storied restaurant has outlasted nine British monarchs and 45 prime ministers.
Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian
Porten
said: “The nature of the National Trust, and the fact we have this
extraordinary ability to take on places inalienably, for ever, means that we
have to think about what’s right for now, but also to think about looking after
them for future generations. That’s quite a big thing … It had to be quite a
balanced response and decision.”
Part of
its value to the trust, she said, lay in helping the charity “tell different
histories which are hard for us to tell at our other properties”.
“You get
a sense of all the delicious food which has been enjoyed here, the fine wines
that have been consumed, the good company that’s been enjoyed. There’s
something in the air about the conversations and the celebrations, the
flirtations, the deals that have been struck, the heartbreak. All that hangs in
the air, in a very magical way, [as] the backdrop to lots of different
historical moments and lives.
“It’s an
extraordinary slice of the social history of London, and to have been here for
so long - in this site and doing this business – is a very rare and special
thing.”
Saturday, 24 October 2026
20 Pubs in Britain That Are Older Than the Country Itself / Which is really England’s oldest pub?
Which is
really England’s oldest pub? Tree-ring dating helps settle debate
Historic
England archaeologist says some inns’ claims to date back 1,000 years are
inaccurate and oldest is from 1430
Fri 23
Oct 2026 18.17 CEST
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/oct/23/oldest-pubs-inns-historic-england-archaeologist
With
their low ceilings, timber beams and roaring fires, many of England’s inns lay
claim to being the oldest in the land and to have been visited by Vikings and
Saxons.
But an
archaeologist who worked on behalf of Historic England says not one of the more
than two dozen pubs that make this claim is being accurate.
While
many claim origins dating back 1,000 years, Dr James Wright, a buildings
archaeologist, said it was difficult to verify whether any pubs were built and
used as inns or ale houses and kept in continuous use prior to the 1400s.
After
painstaking investigation, including tree-ring dating on the wooden beams of
pubs – a process known as dendrochronology – Wright named the George Inn, of
Norton St Philip, Somerset, as the oldest pub in England. It has fabrics dating
from the late 14th century.
Inside
the George, set up in the 14th century by the monks of Hinton Priory.
Photograph: PR
He told
the Guardian: “Not one of the claimants to be the oldest pub (and there are
over two dozen of them) are even vaguely close to being so in reality.”
Of the
George, he said: “The architectural history of the George Inn’s stone and
timber suggests that this building has been in continuous service for over 600
years.” He said the pub was set up in the 14th century by the monks of nearby
Hinton Priory.
Tree-ring
dating had helped “to understand scientifically exactly how old the timbers
are,” he said. “Because we know medieval carpenters didn’t muck around at all
and they would fell the timber when it was green and build almost immediately
afterwards, the actual date of felling gives us the near date of construction.”
Ye Olde
Fighting Cocks in St Albans, Hertfordshire, claims to have been established
around AD800, and the Bingley Arms in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, declares on its
site: “It’s the original English pub – officially the oldest in Britain –
dating back over 1,000 years to a time when Vikings were conquering parts of
the country.” Similarly, the Royal Standard in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire,
boasts that it was a favoured watering hole of King Alfred the Great’s West
Saxons in around AD880.
The Royal
Standard in Beaconsfield claims to have been frequented by King Alfred the
Great’s West Saxons in the ninth century. Photograph: Nathaniel Noir/Alamy
Wright
said most of these claims seemed to be “modern marketing strategies”. “The
Fighting Cocks is often said to date to AD793. This date was probably not
arrived at until 1926 when it appeared on a postcard. Prior to that, it was
speculated to date to 1030, 770 and 672,” he said. “There does not seem to be a
basis in reality for any of those claims. Instead, the building started as a
monastic dovecote, built around 1400. The earliest date when we can say for
sure it was active as a public house is the first decade of the 19th century.”
Many of
the pubs claiming to be the oldest say they were mentioned in the Domesday
Book, but the historian said: “There are no pubs mentioned – at all – in the
Domesday Book, so any pub claiming to be in it is having you on.”
Wright
added: “The claims are likely to originate less in folklore and more in canny
marketing strategies by landlords, tenants, breweries and pub companies. The
claims potentially rely upon the public not being aware of how to accurately
date historic buildings.”
The
King’s Head in Shrewsbury is a serious contender for the title of one of
England’s oldest pubs. Photograph: Nick Hatton/Alamy
He provided the Guardian with a list of the pubs he believes to be the oldest in the country. His methodology was to determine that it was purpose-built as a public house, that it had been in continuous service and that there was archaeological, archival or dendrochronological evidence for the existence of significant primary fabric remaining from the original construction.
“I did
consider buildings which had been converted and others which had periodically
changed in land use,” he said. “Even with those taken into consideration, there
are only about 12 to 16 genuine contenders which have been doing trade since
the medieval period. Of these, the oldest date to the 14th and 15th centuries.”
Revealed:
Wright’s list of oldest pubs
- George Inn, Norton St Philip,
Somerset: late 14th century and 1430-32.
- Bull Hotel, Ludlow, Shropshire:
14th and 15th centuries.
- King’s Head, Shrewsbury,
Shropshire: 1426, 1430-31.
- New Inn, Gloucester,
Gloucestershire: 1432.
- White Hart Inn, Hook, Hampshire:
1419-51.
- George Hotel,
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire: mid 15th century.
- Angel Inn, Andover, Hampshire:
1445-55.
- Kings Head, Aylesbury,
Buckinghamshire: 1445-55.
- Angel, Grantham, Lincolnshire:
circa 1450.
- George and Pilgrims Inn,
Glastonbury, Somerset: 1461-83.
- Saracen’s Head, Southwell,
Nottinghamshire: 1460s.
- George Hotel, Odiham, Hampshire:
1486-87.
This
article was amended on 23 October 2026. A previous version said the Saracens’s
Head is in Lincolnshire; it is in Nottinghamshire.
Friday, 23 October 2026
The Jockey Club de Paris
Between 1833 and 1860 the Jockey Club transformed the Champ de Mars into a racecourse, which has been transferred to Longchamp. One front of the Café de la Paix is in rue Scribe, which ends at the façade of the Opéra Garnier. On the wall a memorial plaque on the Hotel Scribe, at number 1, records the former premises of the Jockey Club, which occupied luxurious quarters on the first floor from 1863 to 1913.
During the Second Empire and the Third Republic, the gentlemen of the Jockey Club held numerous boxes at the Opera, "many little suspended salons" in Marcel Proust's phrase, where the required ballet expected in every opera was never in the first act, when the Jockey Club would habitually still be at dinner. One result was the famous fiasco of the "Paris Tannhäuser" of 1861, when Wagner insisted on inserting the requisite ballet into the first act, and the second act, with the members of the Jockey Club arriving to view their favourites in the corps de ballet, was all but hissed off the stage: Wagner never permitted another production in Paris. Proust's Charles Swann was a member, a fact that Proust more than once noted as a signal honour, given his Jewish background.
On the ground floor beneath the Jockey Club was the fashionable Grand Café. There, on 28 December 1895, a stylish crowd in the Salon Indien attended the public début of the Lumière brothers' invention, the Cinematograph.
The Jockey-Club is directed by an annually-elected committee of a president, four vice-presidents and twenty-five members. New members are sponsored by two current members and must receive five-sixths of the members' votes, unfavourable votes annulling five favourable ones.
Lord Henry Seymour-Conway (1805–1859)[2] : 1834-1835
M. Anne-Édouard de Normandie : 1835-1836
Napoléon-Joseph Ney, prince de la Moskova (1803-1857)[3] : 1836-1849
Comte Achille Delamarre : 1849-1853
Armand de Gontaut-Biron, marquis de Saint Blancard (1839-1884): 1853-1884
Sosthènes de La Rochefoucauld, duc de Doudeauville (1825-1908) : 1884-1908
Aymeri, duc de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1843-1912) : 1908-1914
Comte Elie d’Avaray : 1914-1919
Armand de la Rochefoucauld, duc de Doudeauville, son of Sosthènes de La Rochefoucauld : 1919-1962
Philippe, duc de Luynes : 1962-1977
Charles de Cossé, duc de Brissac : 1977-1985
Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld, duc d'Estissac : 1985-1997
François de Cossé, duc de Brissac : 1997
«Le Jockey, c'est une grande famille. Ici, la règle est de ne jamais se présenter entre membres. Tout le monde est supposé se connaître», explique le président de cette vénérable institution, le duc de Brissac, qui confie toutefois, avec un clin d'oeil, recourir parfois à la mémoire «infaillible» du maître d'hôtel ! Rares sont les heureux élus (1 200 membres) autorisés à franchir, le pas assuré et le sourire entendu, la lourde porte en chêne du 2, rue Rabelais, l'une des adresses les plus secrètes de France. De tous les cercles parisiens, le Jockey Club, créé en 1834 par la Société d'encouragement pour l'amélioration des races de chevaux, est l'un des plus sélects. Sans doute parce qu'il ne suffit pas, pour y entrer, d'avoir réussi dans les affaires ou d'occuper le devant de la scène médiatique. Ici, seuls le pedigree généalogique (les deux tiers des membres appartiennent à la noblesse française) et la réputation comptent. Mais il faut aussi être coopté par ses pairs, au terme d'un vote qui laisse peu de chances aux cas limites : un vote négatif annule cinq votes positifs ! «Mieux vaut présenter sa candidature quand on est encore jeune : on a alors moins de chances de compter des ennemis !», remarque un membre.
Les jeunes, justement, se pressent à l'entrée, appréciant de pouvoir croiser un Henri de Castries venu en voisin (le président d'Axa a ses bureaux à deux pas), discutant en toute camaraderie avec le baron Albert Frère ou Edouard de Rothschild ! «Une cinquantaine de nos membres ont moins de 35 ans, précise le duc de Brissac. Ils nous apportent beaucoup. Ils sont vraiment charmants, bien élevés, très détendus. Et pas du tout coincés !» En entrant au Jockey, ils savent aussi qu'ils auront accès à de nombreux cercles équivalents à l'étranger, comme le Knickerbocker Club à New York, ou le Turf Club et le Boodle's à Londres. Sans parler de la possibilité de piquer une tête quand bon leur semble dans la piscine de l'Automobile Club, et de déjeuner l'été dans les jardins de l'Interallié.
Ghislain de Montalembert et Jean-René Van der Plaetsen Mis à jour le 30/04/2010 in Le Figaro
Under the patronage of the Jockey Club, the Prix du Jockey Club (1,500,000 euros) has been run at the racecourse of Chantilly at the foot of the Château de Chantilly, the first Sunday in June, since 1836. The race at the Hippodrome de Chantilly is the proving-ground of the best of the three-year-olds, the French equivalent of the Epsom Derby run at Epsom Downs or in the U.S. of the Kentucky Derby.
Until 2004 the course was 2400 meters; since then it has been run at 2100 meters. In France, only the Prix de l'Arc du Triomphe has a richer purse (1,600,000 euros); that race was inaugurated by the Jockey Club in 1863 as the Grand Prix de Paris, and run at the Hippodrome de Longchamp. The racecourse was painted by Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso, among others.
