Rest In Peace

Pubs come and go, so here we highlight some of the pubs that we have reviewed in the past but are no longer with us.

Since our last review, this place morphed into Bar 45 and things went down hill fast. During the day it was dead but at night it was filled with violent maniacs with a bouncer on the door to keep the streets safe from the insanity within. It is now boarded up and there is no telling whether the previous occupants are still inside. Not missed. Now known as Forty Fives, things have changed enormously since we last reviewed this place. The rather manky, but oddly endearing old pub has been wiped away by an extensive refurbishment. We now have wooden floors, hotel lounge style furniture and Venetian blinds. In fact the only remaining trait is the poor choice of beer. A few of the original (and rather bemused looking) clientele have stayed, but they are now outnumbered by a mixture of professional couples and students. This is all symptomatic of the changing demography of the East End and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. The good news is that you can still watch the footie here on the brand new plasma screens and they do quiz nights every Thursday. After a long period of inactivity, new life has finally been breathed into this pub, but unfortunately the aged interior and bizarre toilets have been swept away in a daytime TV style redecorating frenzy. The old character of the pub has been covered by a liberal coating of bland-coloured paint and the furnishings are all shiny. Perhaps we are being overly critical, after all it is still a pub. As for entertainment, there is a pool table and several flat screen TVs at strategic points to maximise viewing pleasure. Beer-wise its all a bit run of the mill, although the bar staff are friendly and there is enough there to suit most tastes. Does traditional pub grub. On entering, the charming wooden decor made us feel as if we had stepped back a century or two. The fact that there were seats available on a Friday night was just plain astounding. The fire roaring away in the corner was both comforting and welcoming. Ales on offer included the excellent Timothy Taylor Landlord and Charles Wells Bombardier. Despite being presented with these enjoyable surroundings the most vivid memory of this pub has to be the toilets. Where else can you enter the gents via what can only be described as an ante-chamber. It was probably a courtyard in the old days, but was eventually covered over for aesthetic reasons. There is even a bench where you can sit and contemplate the surreal black sloping shape at the base of the opposite wall. Very odd indeed. Will anybody ever be able to make a go of this pub? Closed and boarded up Now reopened, new review to follow. One of the better pubs in the area but unfortunately not popular enough. It will be closing shortly. The highlight of my last visit here was the sight of a trampolining dog. That I think is reason enough to recommend the place but it has other things going for it. It is owned by Badger Breweries, so they have some more interesting beers than the usual London breweries. They do decent food, have a pleasant beer garden and are child friendly (although offering to put CBeebies on the telly is perhaps a little too child friendly...) so no complaints really. But forget all that, they have a trampolining dog, get down there. It had been in its death throes for years. Now it's one of the many betting shops spreading like a cancer all over the East End. This place has cheated death having undergone a refurbishment and reverting to its original name. Though this latest incarnation is a definite improvement on the pub that I have come to know and avoid during my time living in Whitechapel, it still attracts a potentially toxic mixture of students, locals and market traders plus other detritus that wander in from the market. Once inside, the alternate red/grey striped curtains along the wall leave you with the impression that you have just wandered into a pub-sized circus tent. There is a DJ mixing desk at the far end and some massive speakers that would not look out of place at a stadium rock concert. Other attractions are a pool table and a small beer garden out the back. If you like loud music and lager this could be the place for you. This used to be the scariest pub in Whitechapel (i.e. truly terrifying). It was the sort of place which exuded menace and it was wise to quicken your pace as you passed its door. Then after suffering a period of perpetual vandalism it finally died. It has now been resurrected as "The Q Bar". As the name suggests it has succumbed to the relentless "trendifying" of other East End pubs, but at least you won't die from going there. There are various theme nights, the focus of which is a kind of pantomime stage at the back. It is cosmopolitan; Asian manager, East European bar staff and Caribbean music; but it is trying so desperately hard to be cool that it makes me want to cringe. There is an utterly pointless projection of Fashion TV on one wall which is a piss poor attempt at sophistication. Nobody was paying any attention. The already rather limited options on the beer front got worse when we were informed that the Guinness had finished. My alternative pint set me back a rather pricey £2.70. They obviously don't want students to come here then. We give it 18 months before it goes the way of the Funky Monkey (Ex Lord Rodney's Head and now a shoe shop). We like the Aeroflot candle holders though - nice touch. Presumably it wasn't too good, closed again Re-opened, allegedly not too good. Before I even have a chance to review it, it has shut down. Future uncertain. It went belly-up a while back after a violent incident. Presumably, the licence was revoked. It's now a betting shop. A student pub. Light wooden. Scruffy. Slightly endearing This pub is one of the few old buildings left in an area that was flattened by the Luftwaffe in the Second World War. The same area was later decimated by the closure of the docks and their subsequent redevelopment in the eighties. In the 19th century my great-great grandfather, who lived just around the corner, would have seen a vibrant East End street backed by many masts of ships at anchor in the London Dock. Now the dock has disappeared along with the local community that surrounded it. Today, The Highway is mostly lined by car showrooms, bland apartments and an empty shopping precinct. Just about the only landmarks that have survived are the pub itself and Hawksmoor’s magnificent St George’s in the East church which lies directly opposite.

The pub is a no-frills Victorian boozer. A sign outside advertises that lodging is available in an upstairs room. Maybe a room was available in the 19th century as well. It is not difficult to imagine sailors making use of the place given its proximity to the old docks. Inside, there is a just a couple of punters and it seems that the furnishings have changed very little since the pub was founded. Given the lack of patronage it seems miraculous that this place even survives. Then it occurs to me that we are close to News International, home of The Sun and The Times newspapers and that this place is no doubt being propped-up by thirsty journalists.

They have London Pride and Young’s Bitter on tap plus all the usual malarkey and they serve a small selection of traditional food. The staff are friendly and in an area that has been blasted off the face of the earth over the past century, it’s the closest you you’ll ever get to a decent local. It’s also a great spot to watch the London Marathon. Gone. And we didn't even get around to reviewing it. Shame. This review begins with me standing in the gents at the urinal - swaying. Normally, this is quite an alarming sign after only 1 pint, but on this occasion there is another reason for the rocking motion - I am on a boat moored on the Thames. This particular vessel was built in Scotland in 1933 and was used for pleasure cruises on the Clyde until 1978. Bass bought the ship in the '80s and transformed it into a pub and restaurant. As pubs go, if you were to ignore the fact you are floating on the Thames, it is quite ordinary: the beer is limited to a selection of lagers or the ubiquitous Guinness. However it does have some compensations: 1) the gentle rolling motion which gives an impression of mild drunkenness that is only remedied by the consumption of more alcohol, 2) its weird ability to draw in attractive ladies which has earned it the nickname among certain circles as the "good ship totty". Incidentally the aforementioned totty are particularly evident on Friday or Saturday nights when 3) the nightclub opens or on warm summer's evenings when 4) you can lounge about on the sun deck with a cold beer. A sign at the entrance to the gents toilets advertises that various parts of the boat can be hired out for functions, although the positioning of this sign suggests that the gents toilets themselves could be hired out. I wonder whether George Michael knows about this possibility? An oddly endearing small pub just a stones throw from the tube station and that big roundabout with the weird hula hoop sculpture thingy in the middle. The beer is pretty ordinary, but there is a big plasma screen to watch sports and a downstairs bar with a pool table. The pub hosts regular karaoke nights and discos on a Friday night. This traditional establishment is a world away from the uber trendy bars of nearby Hoxton.

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