Cricketers’ Inns celebrate 150 years

He is a cricketer and a politician. But William Nicholson also opened a pub. Now the pub chain’s 150th anniversary still bears his name.

Nicholson’s can be found in large parts of the UK and has around 1600 pubs in total.

The whole journey started in 1873 when William Nicholson opened the first pub and a lot has happened since then.

Nicholson also ran a distillery, but it was his pub venture that really grew strong and lasted for generations.

The pub chain tells how pubs were already run when Tower Bridge was built, served beer during two world wars and was a landmark even at the turn of the millennium 20 years ago.

Nowadays, the pubs belong to the Mitchells and Butlers business group.

Over the years, Nicholson has been known to invest heavily in cask beer and, among others, Nicholson’s Pale Ale, brewed in St Austell, is commonly served.

The beer also recently launched Kingmaker, which of course refers to King Charles’ coronation this weekend. The beer was brewed at Signal Brewing in London, and each pub had only one keg of beer.

Many of the chain’s pubs are very old and one of the most beautiful is Blackfriars in London, where you can really feel the wings of history.

You can see more about that pub Here.