Humphrey Smith, owner of the Samuel Smith Old Brewery Tadcaster, has gone to the great Employment Tribunal in the sky at the age of 81. The reaction to his death has been, shall we say, mixed. Some have expressed sadness that one of the great old pub traditionalists has departed and the industry will never be quite the same again. Others have said good riddance to the dismal old reactionary and are expecting those who'd been at the sharp end of his decisions over the decades will be rejoicing in the streets.
I never met Humphrey. My local Sam Smith's pub, The Olde Blue Belle in Preston (see above) was probably too out of the way for him to give any major attention to. Not even the cheapest pub on a street in rapid decline, it's well out of the way for most people, really. Whenever I went in, the majority of the punters were freely ignoring Mr. Smith's famous dictums on device usage and naughty words. I kept schtum, and my phone stayed in my pocket. As someone who wasn't a "regular", I knew not to push my luck.
The Belle has endured several periods of closure over the last decade, and not all of them due to COVID. Regular observers of the Sam's scene over the years will know the drill. One day, things were normal and the next the front door was mysteriously shut with a notice taped to the window saying "MANAGEMENT COUPLE REQUIRED" and a phone number printed below (Humphrey's own, if rumours are to be believed). This would persist for months until the next pair of suckers, sorry, young hopefuls, came in to take over. Amazingly for Preston, the leaded windows remained unsmashed, as if any potential vandal feared Humphrey would charge down the road at them, demand they repair the damage and, the horror, take over the pub themselves. At the OBB, the latest new managers moved in just before Christmas 2025. By all accounts, they're doing OK.
What will happen now the Humph regime is putatively over is anyone's guess. It's presumed his son, Samuel, will take over. Young Sam has experience, as he's run the London end of the pub estate for several years, and apparently is reckoned to be more liberal on the "draconian" rules about mobile phones and swearing than Old Dad was. But this is more likely due to the location. After all, it's one thing to lay down the law to a bunch of dishevelled locals in deprived Northern towns, but quite another to the overseas tourists who might wander into The Olde Cheshire Cheese in Holborn. My prediction is that Mr. Smith Jr. will keep things the way they are.
Of course, there is a twist on Humphrey's legacy, and one not too well known in the beer blog world who have narrow horizons about refurbs, beer prices and megalomanical owners. Sam Smith's owns the Fitzroy Tavern in Soho and for many years from the early 1990s it was the main meeting place of the capital's Doctor Who fans. And there in their dozens they would drink cheap lager and plot and plan for the day they would take over the show and make it in their image. And, yes, the last three showrunners of Doctor Who - Russell T. Davies. Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall - were regulars at the Tav. And sometimes, there may even have been a woman there, but sources vary as always.
So, we can look at what Humphrey Smith achieved in his life. The preservation of a pub estate. The questionable employment practices. The really cheap beer. The ruination of a UK television franchise, even. Would we all ever look back at our lives and think we'd even done a tenth as much.
