Alan Yuhas Sun, January 23, 2022, 11:18 AM Overseeing a small island dominated by a castle, seals and a pub, an English council is searching for a new king or queen. Claimants to the ancient throne, carved from old oak and soaked in the beer of coronations past, can apply for the job through the local government’s website.
The job listing, posted last week by the Barrow Borough Council in Cumbria, is technically seeking someone to run the pub on Piel Island, half a mile off England’s northwestern coast. Winters are wet, travel is limited and an eccentric tradition of naming a king survives at the island’s old pub.
“We’re not talking about St. Lucia or the Hawaiian islands,” said John Murphy, a 73-year-old resident of nearby Walney Island, and the guide of walking tours of the area for four decades. “We’re talking about a small and very isolated island in the north of England.”
The primary responsibility of the position, called a landlord, is to run the pub, called the Ship Inn, and to manage and maintain the island’s roughly 50 acres of grass, rock and sand. Neighbors include four private cottages and a 14th-century castle with a history of medieval monks, Scottish raiders and a pretender to the English throne.
After the previous landlord retired, Ann Thomson, the leader of the borough council, announced the search for a new one, describing the island as “an absolute jewel in the borough’s crown.”
But she said the successful applicant would need to be dedicated to the task. “While there are periods when the pub and the island is bustling with people,” she said, “there will be periods of quiet, too — something the successful applicant will need to embrace.” The council is seeking someone who will make a 10-year commitment.
Separate from the announcement, the council described the custom that sets the job apart: “Tradition holds that each new landlord is crowned ‘King of Piel’ in a ceremony of uncertain origin”.....
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"I love weird places" this immortal fraze was spoken in an Instauration article about a reader's visit to commie Romania and has been a motto of mine since. This island certainly qualifies. Sounds awful but what a fun story -- NN
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