The Gentle Author’s Dead Pubs Crawl
As the darkness closes in, it delights me to go on a dead pubs crawl around Spitalfields to pay my respects at former hostelries and listen for the clinking glasses of the phantom regulars. Although I still mourn the loss of The Gun, I take consolation The Well & Bucket and The Crown & Shuttle have returned to vibrant life in recent years, which permits me to believe there may still be the possibility of life after death for other lost pubs in the neighbourhood.
The Ship & Blue Ball, Boundary Passage, where they planned the Great Train Robbery (1851-1994)
The Frying Pan, Brick Lane (1805-1991)
The Crown, Bethnal Green Rd (1869-1922)
The Britannia, Chilton St (1861-2000)
The Laurel Tree, Brick Lane (1813-1983)
The Well & Bucket, Bethnal Green Rd (1861-1989 & now resurrected)
The Dolphin, Redchurch St (1835-2002)
The Jolly Butchers, Brick Lane (1839- 1987)
Seven Stars, Brick Lane (1711-2002)
The Crown & Shuttle, Shoreditch High St (1861-2001 & now resurrected)
Sir Robert Peel, Bishopsgate Without (1871-1957)
The Queen Victoria, Barnet Grove (1856-1993)
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Thanks for such great memories GA. I remember the vast majority of those pubs when they were alive and well. As a person who lived in and around Bethnal Green and Brick Lane for decades it was a delight to see and recall them. The older generation of my family used to drink in many of these watering holes and I was no stranger myself.
It’s sad to see so many now gone but encouraging that one or two have started up again. I don’t suppose they will charge the 1970’s prices that I remember?
My dad used to collect pub’s cocktail sticks of which many pubs had with their own customised versions – from street lamps to swinging pub signs. Sadly he died prematurely in 1966 when I was still a teenager. My mum asked if there was anything I wanted to keep as a memento, and I immediately said “his cocktail sticks”. I still treasure them, and over the subsequent years, added vastly to the collection. I always had to choose a drink that had a cherry on a stick in it, in order to obtain a new one, usually a ‘snowball’ or babycham! Sadly, these cocktail sticks disappeared over time, but I added some interesting ones to the collection, including one from a visit to the Post Office Tower’s revolving restaurant, which of course came in the design of the PO Tower!