The Happy Man hits 125: Egham pub hosts anniversary beer festival
Englefield Green’s award-winning pub celebrates 125 with a special beer festival.
For the final week of May, The Happy Man pub is hosting an anniversary beer festival to celebrate its 125th year and the dedicated community that has grown alongside it.
Among the week's festivities is a varied line up of evening events. Whether it be for a special rendition of their classic quiz or an evening of live music provided by the Royal Holloway Brass Band, bringing together their community was at the heart of the plans.
The landlords, James and Emily Oldroyd agreed that “bringing everyone together” is their primary hope for the festival.
“We wanted to have an opportunity for everyone to come back and reminisce all the good,” Emily said, noting how many old friends and locals had since left the area. The final day of their festival is scheduled to be a reunion, aptly subtitled The Ones Who Got Away.
Guest ales on tap.
Guest ales on tap.
“When they were sort of my age, they were in here enjoying my granddad's company"
The Happy Man has a substantial student following – courtesy of the Royal Holloway campus at the end of the road. However when Ronald Oldroyd, James’ maternal grandfather, was owner, the pub-goers were mostly local people.
James said: “When they were sort of my age, they were in here enjoying my granddad's company. And so [at the reunion] we can sit down and laugh about the old times of when my granddad was in here.”
Despite being one of six pubs in the village of Englefield Green, The Happy Man has remained a favourite of students, lecturers and locals. James and Emily noted consistency plays a key role in this, alongside the pub’s reputation as a safe, open space to all patrons.
“From when I first started drinking at The Happy Man, locals and students have always mingled and talked to one another,” said James, then adding: “From all walks of life as well, from your local builder slash painter or decorator all the way up to ex police officers, pilots, barristers. And then you've got everything from undergraduates to PhD to lecturers – everybody and anybody.”
The Happy Man’s appeal is not limited to those living in the village or Egham. James and Emily shared a range of anecdotes of visitors planning their holiday routes around the pub. Most recently, one of the current bar staff, Georgia, was approached by a man 300 miles away in Northumberland who recognised her Happy Man work hoodie.
Emily noted: “It’s quite a small world kind of pub – we bump into people all over the world and they’re like, oh yeah we know The Happy Man.”
"It's quite a small world kind of pub"
The Happy Man’s dedication to serving traditional real ale is another celebrated feature of the festival.
Unlike with lager, the process of serving the ales is far more complex. After the 20 selected ales arrive for the festival, there are necessary steps to take to properly prepare and preserve each cask of ale.
“Once you receive your cask of real ale, it has to sit on a rack and rest because it's still got active ingredients inside,” James explained, continuing: “You spile it so, you vent the cask, you broach the cask, breach it, you then leave it another 12 to 24 hours, and then you put a tap into it.”
Spile? A spile is a peg used to manually control the flow of air in and out of a cask of ale.
Casks of real ale in the beer garden.
Casks of real ale in the beer garden.
After another period of waiting, the ale can be served. Despite the extra efforts that go into serving the ales, James confirmed: “The Happy Man has always prided itself in serving really good quality real ale.”
Real ale beer coasters framed on the walls.
Real ale beer coasters framed on the walls.
The ales chosen for this event – and the pub’s past beer festivals – have been selected from a range of breweries. The variety creates “a completely different experience,” said Emily, “so it brings in different people to see the ales that are being rotated”.
James explained: “Every ale will have its own brewer that's got his own little recipe and his little twists on the same beer could be brewed by five different people and come out five different flavours.”
The walls of the pub itself are an ode the Man’s history of serving real ales. Each wall is decorated the unique beer coasters of the ales that have been served there in the past. This collection predates James and Emily and features some breweries that no longer exist.
The Happy Man through time
The early years
1875 - Two cottages on Harvest Road merge, creating the beer house that would go on to become The Happy Man. This is only a year after the construction of Royal Holloway University.
1900 - The Happy Man is an established property. It is owned by the Staines-based Ashby Family brewery until approximately 1913.
Through the 20th century
1935 - The Happy Man becomes a public house - distinctive from a beer house which, historically, is only licenced to sell beer.
1982 - Ronald Oldroyd buys the lease to The Happy Man. Before this venture, he ran the officers' mess hall in the military.
Early 1990s - David Lacey joins Oldroyd, becoming his partner in running the pub for the next decade.
Into the 21st century
2001 - Ronald Oldroyd retires. David Lacey continues running the pub - however five years later Oldroyd comes out of retirement to buy neighbouring pub Monkey's Forehead (since renamed The Packhorse).
2011 - Ronald retires for a second time. His grandson James takes on half of Monkey's Forehead with The Happy Man's David Lacey.
2016 - David Lacey retires and James sells his half of Monkey's to buy the lease to The Happy Man.
2020s to today
2020 - The Happy Man are awarded Pub of the Year for North Surrey by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
2023 - The pubs wins another CAMRA award. This time they are highly commended.
2024 - James and his wife Emily marry and take on the Oldroyd name together, putting the family name back on the face of the pub.
2025 - The Happy Man celebrates its 125th birthday.
In both 2020 and 2023, The Happy Man was recognised by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). They were awarded Pub of the Year in Northern Surrey and highly commended respectively.
Although the Oldroyd name is attached to the face of the pub, James and Emily acknowledged the dedication of both the staff team and loyal community for maintaining the pub’s success. The behind-the-scenes efforts for the festival come from the whole team at the pub, The Egham Museum, and the many supporters that stuck with with The Happy Man for so many years.
As the festival pub-goers continue to celebrate, James and Emily will also be raising a glass to the friends lost along the way that loved The Happy Man, but were not able to see this special anniversary.
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