P. G. Wodehouse Locations - The Angler's Rest

The Angler's Rest

The Angler's (or Anglers') Rest is the public house frequented by irrepressible raconteur Mr Mulliner.

Actually, P. G. Wodehouse gives us few data about this public house. At the beginning of each short story of the Mulliner’s collection, we find Mr Mulliner sipping his hot Scotch and Lemon in the bar-parlour of the establishment, while his pub companions are drinking their own beverages. In most stories, a conversation between these companions induces Mr Mulliner to a recollection of a similar event introducing some new members of the very large Mulliner family. We then leave the pub to enter into the narrator’s world.

We know that the popular landlord of the place is named Ernest Biggs (The Juice of an Orange), and that his very amiable barmaid is named Miss Postlethwaite. Even though she appears in most of the stories, she is never given a first name, but we do know that she is very fond of romance novelettes. Every Sunday afternoon, she retires to her room with a box of caramels and a novel from the circulating library, and on the following night, she places the results of her literary researches in front of the habitués of the Angler’s Rest and invites their judgment (The Castaways).

The Angler’s Rest happens to take residents for longer stay: In Unpleasantness at Budleigh Court, a poet is spending the summer at the place. We also know that, across the passage, there is a larger room, where they sometimes give smoking-concerts (The Knightly Quest of Mervyn).

The Angler’s Rest seems to be located in a small English town. In this town, we know there is a Bon Ton Drapery Stores in the High Street, whose efficient sales assistant is named Alfred Lukyn (The Story of Cedric). In the same High Street, we find a movie theater named the Bijou Dream (A Slice of Life, The Nodder and The Rise of Minna Nordstrom). The village also contains a resident doctor (The Truth about George), and of course a church (Anselm Gets his Chance), with its inevitable Choral Society (Mulliner’s Buck-U-Uppo). About a mile or two up the river from the Angler’s Rest, stands an ancient and historic public-school (The Voice from the Past). In the neighbourhood of the town, there seems to be a golf course (Those in Peril on the Tee), and also a racecourse (Gala Night).

Mr Mulliner’s pub companions never have a real name. They are named after the beverage they are drinking. Here is a list of some of these names :

• Gin-and-Ginger-Ale
• Draught Stout
• Small Bass
• Double-Whisky-and-Splash
• Lemon Squash
• Tankard of Ale
• Pint of Stout
• Pint of Bitter
• Pint of Half-and-Half
• Whisky Sour
• Mild and Bitter
• Rum and Milk
• Lemonade and Angustura
• Port from the Wood
• Eggnog