Salamander
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This pub at Eve Hill, Dudley had closed down when I took this photograph in 2001. The building has re-opened as a restaurant so I was fortunate to capture the last sign of the place as a boozer. The Salamander is a smooth-skinned long-tailed amphibian. The name is derived from a Greek word meaning "a lizard-like animal". They live in a variety of habitats including streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and moist woodlands. Their smooth skin absorbs moisture so they don't have to drink. This therefore begs the question: what's a Salamander doing on a pub sign? Well, in this case it is a reference to the coat-of-arms for Dudley which were granted in 1957. The arms features a number of representations of local industry such as the Dudley Bug fossil for the limestone industries around Wren's Nest. The Salamander is the traditional emblem of the smith of which there were considerable numbers in the Dudley of old. The Salamander is also a generic symbol of general metal working industries and, with Dudley being the unofficial capital of the Black Country, this is probably the reason for its adoption in the coat-of-arms. 

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