The HARPIST

[Evie]

The photo we have is an original, sent to relatives in Adelaide, South Australia by the photographer Joseph Gale in 1883.

Do you know if your relatives had any connection with Joseph, did they originate from England? It intrigues me as to why he should send them that particular photograph.

[Meredith48]

Sorry Evie! That bit wasn't worded very carefully. Joseph sent the photo to his nephew William Arthur Berrill who had migrated to Adelaide from Cotton End, Bedfordshire in 1877. Arthur is my husbands great grandfather. That is how we have ended up with the photo, but do not know it's significance.
Since Joseph travelled all over southern England taking his photos, often depicting everyday life and people, this photo could have been from anywhere. I can't help thinking that the building's decoration is significant to the reason for the photo.

[Little Nell]

That's a good thought about the brewery.

I wonder if these people may be able to help?

http://www.breweryhistory.com/index.htm

Nell

[Lynntony]

Nell,

I looked through loads of listings last night, including their's! The only one that came close was  "Bailey and Tebutt's" which was in Cambridgeshire. Whether these two amalgamated at some stage I don't know. I don't think the sign looks as though it includes two names. It may be worth contacting them and including a picture on the off-chance that someone recognises the building or the area.
I do think that Evie's search on The Butts (Railway Hotel) is worth more exploration - even though I Googled for images of any Railway Hotels and went through 50 pages of pics looking for anything remotely like Meredith's pic - and came up empty!
 There is obviously the possibility that the hotel or the building no longer exists, which would be a pity.

Tony

[Geoff-E]

I'd be very surprised if breweries built their own hotels in those days.

I imagine there was only one Railway Hotel/Inn at Clutton http://tinyurl.com/y95wvst

[Lynntony]

I'd be very surprised if breweries built their own hotels in those days.

I imagine there was only one Railway Hotel/Inn at Clutton http://tinyurl.com/y95wvst

They may not have built the hotel Geoff. More often than not the sign was merely to advertise whose beer the hotel was selling, and would be supplied by said brewery.
 If it was a Railway Hotel I would assume that the brewery would be chosen for it's locality by the company/owner of the hotel. The hotel itself would/could also have been "adopted" or "sponsored" by whichever railway served the area. A lot of ifs/coulds/maybe admittedly but, at the time of writing, that's all we have got!
All this does not necessarily mean that this was a railway hotel - merely a possible area to search for records and pictures as, at the moment, we are still pretty much in the dark!

Tony

[Evie]

On the sign reply #4 is that a G in the middle? Not that it will help much.

Would there have been a lot of corn exchanges around at the time or just in certain areas?

Many images of corn exchanges seem quite elaborate compared to this one.

Evie

[Geoff-E]

They may not have built the hotel Geoff. More often than not the sign was merely to advertise whose beer the hotel was selling, and would be supplied by said brewery.

The 'UTTS sign is surely built into the stonework of the hotel (i.e. when it was built), it's not an advertising feature (and is hidden behind foliage). 

[Lynntony]

They may not have built the hotel Geoff. More often than not the sign was merely to advertise whose beer the hotel was selling, and would be supplied by said brewery.

The 'UTTS sign is surely built into the stonework of the hotel (i.e. when it was built), it's not an advertising feature (and is hidden behind foliage). 

I think the recess is definitely built in, as is some of the patterning, the wording itself could be painted and shadowed to give the effect of depth.
I do get the feeling that the foliage is somewhat temporary in nature, as if to celebrate some event,pretty much as we decorate buildings today for Christmas. It's only a gut feeling and you could well be right - just exploring all possibilities!
It's certainly an intriguing one!
Tony