Off Piste in Limehouse

Leaving the delightful Wilton's Music Hall, we set off along Cable Street towards Commercial Road and our planned stop at the Clement Attlee in Limehouse.

The first part of the walk passes through a mix of housing, some old and some much newer. On the way we passed several long-closed pubs. First  we passed the Crown and Dolphin, which had been a pub since 1850. It finally closed in 1992 after a fire and has since been converted into flats. It is also connected to a famous murder, but you can look this up should you be interested. Not far away stands the former Cable Street Inn, once a Meux house, now operating as a rather smart bed and breakfast. Just a few steps further along, the Ship has also made the transition to residential life and is now flats.

It’s a slightly melancholy little stretch for pub spotters, but at least these buildings are still standing — which is more than can be said for many of their counterparts elsewhere in the East End. 

On a cheerier note the Clement Atlee is not only still trading, but is thriving if that Saturday afternoon was anything to go by. Externally it looks fantastically old school, but inside it is much more modern. CAMRA describes it as "pleasant and inoffensive" which does sum it up. Operated by the Craft Beer Company, it offered four cask ales on this visit and a huge bank of 21 keg taps selling a variety of beers and lagers.  Service was routine. No great welcome and our fellow customers were happily engrossed in their own business which is fair enough. My beer - a house beer from Kent Brewery was excellent, so I had two. E enjoyed Flensburger Pils. Again the stereotype of unfriendly Londoners was trumped when we were engaged by another couple and advised not to miss the nearby Old Ship though we would be too early for the Drag-Act Cabaret. Who could pass that kind of tip up? Not us for sure.

Set on a backstreet beside a pleasant square just off Commercial Road, the Old Ship is a classic street-corner local. There are still traces of its former Watney's ownership in the external signage giving it a slightly time-capsule feel. Inside it was absolutely packed, almost entirely with men in their fifties to seventies who, almost without exception, were enthusiastically knocking back pints of Foster’s. Clearly everyone knew everyone else. Nobody paid us much attention - but in a friendly, unbothered sort of way - and within minutes we felt part of the scene. We even found a seat in the bar area. The old-school barmaid gamely tried the handpump for Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, but without success. Clearly nobody had asked for it all afternoon. Following the Foster’s trend though was a step too far, so we settled on Camden Hells instead, which actually was pretty good. 

On leaving we noticed the Queen's Head across the square, so being in that frame of mind we headed there. Alas on peering though the window, it was utterly empty, so we swerved it in favour of the Prince Regent which proved a good call.  This is another corner street local. It wasn't that busy, but the landlord greeted us very warmly and a local, sitting at the bar immediately started chatting. We discussed football for a bit then got talking to two old boys seated by the door. On hearing my accent they immediately made it clear they were Still Game* lovers, and we spent ten or fifteen minutes recalling favourite bits of the show. It turned out they had gone to school together 40 odd years ago. One now lived in Derby and one in Kent, but they still meet up every month or so for a catch-up and pub crawl. A lovely tale and two very nice gents.

There was a cask beer on offer, Shep's Spitfire, but we settled on genuine Spanish lager from Victoria Malaga. A bonus was the offer of a discount, offered by the landlord showing us a board which read "Discount for Students or Over 65's.". " Do you qualify under either of these?" he asked with a grin. We stayed for two drinks at a bargain £8.78 for a pint and a half.

We headed back to Aldgate on the 15 bus. Very handy for us. It had been an interesting day out, and we learned that some great little boozers still lurk in the backstreets of the East End.  More exploring is clearly required. 

Having read up a little, perhaps we were a bit hasty in missing the Queen's Head. We will try it again and give it a fair chance.  The photo below on the left shows what we missed in the Old Ship. Next time for sure. Sorry too for the formatting. The limits of Blogger.

* If you don't know about Still Game, you really ought to give your head a wobble.