Long Arm Short Arm, Lemsford - Pictorial Pub Signs on Waymarking.com

‘The Long Arm & the Short Arm’ was originally a cottage and blacksmith’s shop and dates from 1734. When the Great North Road went through Lemsford it is said as many as 150 coaches a day, carriages and wagons would pass through the village daily. All the inns would have offered food and drink for the travellers. Accommodation would be provided if required. Wheelwrights and blacksmiths were available to service the wagons and horses. Stabling for the horses would also have been provided.
Many theories exist as to the origin of the name - here are a few: The name ‘The Long Arm and The Short Arm’ would seem to refer to different lengths of the two roads leading out of the village either side of the pub up to the Great North Road i.e. Brickwall Hill and Lemsford Mill Lane. The name has been attributed also to a signal board that was there before the bridge was built in 1775 that denoted the depth of water in the ford – long arm of the signal for deep water and a short arm for shallow water. Another suggestion put forward by Mr Jeremy Summers is that a coach & four horses as depicted on the pub sign has to be driven by coachman with the reins of one pair of horses (in his left hand) on a ‘Long Arm’ and the other pair on the ‘Short Arm’ . (It should be noted here that the artist who painted the original sign for the pub, John Fredrick Herring, was a noted ‘whip’ and an excellent coachman who regulary drove coaches through Lemsford from London to York and return).Margaret Boland emailed another reason for the name 'After buying the pub in 1885 for the then princely sum of £350, McMullen dug its own well to solve the ‘long arm; short arm’ problem caused by excessive water carrying from which the pub takes its name!'.However, other suggestions have been put forward over the years and the reason for the name remains a riddle to this day.
(Source Lemsford Historical Society)

Date of first pub on site: 1734 Name of Artist: Not listed Date of current sign: Not listed

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