Never mind, that doesn't make you a bad person!
Now there's forgiveness for you! Having looked into it a little it seems the red hand symbol came from Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd who merged with Ind Coope (both of Burton) in 1934. They traded as Ind Coope & Allsopps until 1959, when the Allsopp bit was dropped. Became part of Allied Breweris in 1971. It was Allsopps who bought out Halls Oxford Brewery in 1926, and stopped brewing but kept the site, presumably as a distrubution centre. Over time this became Ind Coope (Halls) Ltd and then Ind Coope (Oxford & West) Ltd who, in 1965, bought Blatch's Theale Brewery together with 22 pubs. In 1980 the name changed to Halls Oxford & West Brewery, presumably to persuade the punters that it was a nice regional brewery rather than the huge conglomorate it was actually a part of. In 1984 it was operating 300 pubs. So the picture with the red hands must be after 1965, perhaps around 1970? And the tiles that have been so lovingly preserved are no older than 1980(not that I'm complaining - I like them). |
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