History
The Clog & Billycock. Now there’s a name to conjure with. As far as we know it’s the only pub with such a title anywhere in the world...which makes it a novelty in itself. So where does it come from?
Well, we all know what clogs are, although this particular association seems to have little to do with the 19th century footwear favoured by Lancashire’s mill workers.
But as for a ‘Billycock’...is it an overly confident young male goat, a local family’s beloved pet fowl, or perhaps a tap controlling the flow of water and named after its inventor, a certain William Flush?
Actually...it’s a hat! A sort of lowcrowned, wide-brimmed felt bowler, much in fashion in the late 1800’s and often worn sporting a feather
attached nattily to one side.
So why the strange name of the pub? Its simply because clogs and a billycock were among the favourite attire of a Landlord who took over in the early 1900’s...and a hostelry that had previously been known as the Bay Horse Inn found itself more often referred to as The Clog & Billycock. And it stuck...to this day.
