The Gentle Author’s Next Dead Pubs Crawl
Celebrating yesterday’s glorious announcement by the Geffrye Museum that – in response to the public outcry generated by readers of Spitalfields Life – they are planning to restore The Marquis of Lansdowne, which has stood on the corner of Geffrye St since at least 1838, rather than seek to demolish it – I set out upon another of my dead pubs crawls, ranging beyond Spitalfields to record a few examples for which the future is less hopeful.
The Grave Maurice, Whitechapel Rd (1723-2010)
The Lord Napier, Whitechapel Rd (1878-1983)
The Black Bull, Whitechapel Rd (1812-2006)
The Sun has set recently in the Bethnal Green Rd (1851-2013)
The Ship, Bethnal Green Rd (1856-2000)
The Artichoke, Jubilee St (1847-2001)
Lord Nelson, Buross St (1869-2005)
Mackworth Arms, Commercial Rd (1858-1984)
Kinder Arms, Little Turner St (1839-1904)
The Crown & Dolphin, Cannon St Row (1851-2002)
The Old Rose, The Highway (1839-2007)
The Old Rose is the last fragment of the notorious Ratcliff Highway
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a coaching inn called The Artichoke until 1738
The Marquis of Lansdowne, in Cremer St since 1838 and now to be restored by the Geffrye Museum.
You may like to read about how The Marquis of Lansdowne was saved
The Pub That Was Saved By Irony
D-day for The Marquis of Lansdowne
or my other other pub crawls
The Gentle Author’s Next Pub Crawl
Well done Gentle Author, great news! If it wasn’t for you spreading the word amongst your many subscribers, perhaps the Marquis of Lansdowne may not have been saved. So pleased to see that sanity has prevailed.
Good news about the Marquis of Lansdowne, sad that so many have disappeared. What stories they could all tell us! Vallerie
I read that as recently as 2009 we as a country were losing as many as 60 pubs a week due to Taxman strangulation and Brewery greediness. This one time bastion of British life , social warmth and catch up of gossip is slowly being eroded before our very eyes. What a shame.Pubs in the past used to be a place where people gathered to share warmth and light and commune after a hard day’s work , by their very nature a place for working class people to enjoy their hard life’s existence.Maybe one day we will look back with nostalgic rose tinted glasses at these beautiful one time hives of activity.
Why was the Ratcliffe Highway notorious ?
Thanks – the scroll through the dead pub pictures was really interesting and educating (and didn’t damage my liver!) The Ratcliffe Highway note is fascinating – I’ll make a note to seek it out on my next visit.
I’m interested that pubs were called The Artichoke, do you the origin of this name? Could it be that artichokes were considered exotic, I cannot think of any other vegetable used in a pub name.
A great set of photographs, to accompany the wonderful news about the Marquis of Lansdowne.
What a triumph about the Marquis of Lansdowne! Your efforts were certainly instrumental in this success.
My maternal family were involved with London pubs. Aunt Peg ran the Freemason’s Arms and White Hart Covent Garden way (plus several others). My granddad and Uncle Vic delivered beer to them.
Many happy memories of family get-togethers at various upstairs function rooms – possibly even some of these here…
Its so wonderful to sit here in Spain and get transported back in time to my Eastend, I love the old photo’s, where the atmosphere, light and mostly wet rained on pavements bring back such strong memories and emotions, thank you so much for sharing this magical history.
Penelope Beaumont , the Ratcliffe Highway at the time of 1811 was notorious for the murder of two households of English people totaling four innocents as they slept in their abode. The like was an unknown quantity in that time.
Excellent news – that the Lansdowne is to re-open.
THAT is the way to do it!
That’s great news about the Marquis of Lansdowne.
Congratulations to you all!
Sorry Penelope , I should have said that there were seven murders in total at two different addresses. It’s best explained in the book “The Maul and the Pear Tree” by P.D.James and T.A.Critchley.
Thank’s another classic crawl..
Such marvelous news about the Marquis of Lansdowne. Well done TGA!
The Old Rose looks so folorn on its own there.
It is a shame that we are losing so many pubs. Since the smoking ban was introduced, I have visited pubs more often. They are great informal places to relax in. You can’t do that in a restaurant.
Incredibly sad and at once outrageous that the past is swept away like so much dirt on the curb. We will never see the likes of such craftsmanship and echoes of the men and women who went before us. Sad death knells for these wonderful places. Triple shame for demoing the Crown & Dolphin.