A Preston performance poet is set to launch a new book exploring the history and creative inspiration behind UK pub signs.

Arthur Chappell, from Ingol, has compiled an insightful and entertaining deep dive into the signs which are such a big part of pub culture.

With a launch party planned for the Vinyl Tap, Adelphi Street, Preston, on 29 July from 6-8pm, Arthur said the inspiration for the book came from one of his poems.

Read more: New landlord’s plan to return troubled Stanley Arms to former glory

He said: “One of my poems mentions a pub and it led to me noticing pub signs more and more. A lightbulb went off in my head and I became fascinated by the artwork.”

While the book covers pub signs from across the country, a couple of Arthur’s local favourites include the Vinyl Tap sign, because of its nod to the 1984 film Spinal Tap, the Pump and Truncheon in Bamber Bridge, and the Hospital Inn, also in Bamber Bridge.

Passionate about pub signs, Arthur’s creative inspiration for writing and poetry is equally fascinating.

Read more: Samlesbury pub taken over by the community and pulling in the punters

He added: “I became creatively aware and started writing from the mid-1980s onwards.

“Up until then I had been in a Hindu meditation cult called the Divine Light Mission for four-and-a-half-years from the age of 18.

“We were forbidden to write so, when I left in 1985, I started on a creative journey into writing and poetry.”

Pubs Signs by Arthur Chappell will be published in July by Amberley Publishing.

Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.

Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines