The Moon Under Water

"The Moon Under Water" is a 1946 essay by George Orwell, originally published as the Saturday Essay in the Evening Standard on 9 February 1946,[1] in which he provided a detailed description of his ideal public house, the fictitious "Moon Under Water".

It was Orwell's last contribution to the Evening Standard.

[2] Orwell stipulated ten key points[3] that his perfect pub in the London area should have (his criteria for country pubs being different, but unspecified): Orwell admitted that "to be fair", he did know of a few pubs that almost came up to his ideal, including one that had eight of the mentioned qualities.

The essay finishes: And if anyone knows of a pub that has draught stout, open fires, cheap meals, a garden, motherly barmaids and no radio, I should be glad to hear of it, even though its name were something as prosaic as the Red Lion or the Railway Arms.The J D Wetherspoon pub chain has used the name The Moon Under Water for thirteen of its outlets.

[4] There is a Moon Under Water pub in St. Petersburg, Florida, US,[citation needed] in Victoria, Canada[5] and in Christchurch, New Zealand.