Hollywood is well known for its
slew of mansions once owned by stars of the silver screen, could the same be
insinuated with London’s flock of pubs once regularly populated by notable
luminaries. Although most of these pubs tend to be concentrated around central
London, particularly near the West End theatres, there are some instances of
pubs in the outskirts that have hosted various notables from different walks of
life over the years. Some individuals like Dylan Thomas, Samuel Peyps, George
Orwell, Peter O’Toole and Charles Dickens even have connections with a number
of pubs in London; these pubs must surely be as noteworthy as any Hollywood
mansion?
The Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in
Fleet Street has often been dubbed the literary pub, attracting the likes of Oscar
Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Alfred Tennyson, George
Orwell, P.G. Woodhouse, Ezra Pound, G.K. Chesterton and Dr. Samuel Johnson.
Dickens praised the place as having “a good plain meal with good wine,” while
Wodehouse preferred it over private members clubs since it had a better
clientele. The pub was also location for the Rhymers Club, a group of
London-based poets, founded in 1890 by W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys. Other
noteworthy customers included Princess Margaret, Voltaire and Winston
Churchill.Over 40 years later, the Lamb in Bloomsbury was a popular haunt for
the Bloomsbury Group, while in earlier times Dickens was said to frequent the
place when he lived in nearby Doughty Street. Ted Hughes was also a regular,
and during the early stages of their relationship, he met with Sylvia Plath on
several occasions. Another pub with literary connections is The Fitzroy Tavern in
Fitzrovia, which was a regular haunt for including Dylan Thomas, Augustus John,
Michael Bentine, Virginia Woolf, George Bernard Shaw and Jacob Epstein. Thomas
would often write poems on the back of beermats and hand them to lady
customers, a prominent alcoholic this place was among a vast number of pubs he
regularly visited in London, that included The George where he mingled with his
BBC colleagues, The Wheatsheaf which also was a haunt for his contemporary
George Orwell and The French House in Soho where he once left the manuscript
for Under Milk Wood, it was also frequented by the likes of Francis Bacon,
David Bowie and Lucien Freud. During WW2 it was the unofficial headquarters of
the Free French; Charles de Gaulle regularly drank here and within this
building wrote his iconic speech rallying the French to action. Another Soho
pub of note is The Coach & Horses, it was popular with artists like Bacon
and Freud, while Frank Auerbach often accompanied writer Bruce Bernard to
discuss about painting. On the entertainment front, Peter Cooke and Willie
Rushton regularly ‘lunched’ here, Private Eye held their fortnightly meetings
in the Chill Room upstairs and Peter O’ Toole was often seen in his later
years. Their most notable customer was his friend and Spectator columnist
Jeffrey Bernard who often resided here most of the day, so much so the place
was dubbed ‘Jeff’s Office’. And, whenever the office needed his copy, they
would directly ring the pub, since he was often there between visits to the
Spectator’s offices.
Likewise, Richard Harris had a
regular pub, The Coal Hole in the Strand during the years when he resided at
the Savoy, he often sat in a chair behind the slot machines to avoid attention
from the public and once remarked “I turned Hamlet down because it was going to
take up too much of my drinking time.” A century earlier, this place was also a
refuge for W.S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame) who would often come
here during opening nights to seek some Dutch courage after building himself up
into a state of nervousness. Around the West End, there are a number of pubs
that were popular with thespians, the most notable was The Salisbury, among it
illustrious cast list included Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Peter O’Toole,
Richard Harris, Oliver Reed, Terrance Stamp, Albert Finney, Robert Shaw,
Kenneth Griffith, Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Marianne Faithfull to name a
few. Its back alleyway linked onto a number of theatres, useful for quite a
number of actors who had to rush off quicky for their curtain calls. Johnny
Briggs (Mike Baldwin in Coronation Street) noted in his autobiography that he
used to visit the pub with his actor friends Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Peter
O’Toole and Richard Harris. He mentions several notable instances, such as when
O’ Toole turned up in his costume after returning from filming for ‘Lawrance of
Arabia’ (1962) where he yelled “I’m home for the desert dears!”, Briggs
retorted “never mind the desert, have you got your bloody handbag so you can
buy the beers?” On another occasion he recalled Burton berating Elizabeth
Taylor for trying to order a Martini, when the pub had a strict policy on only
serving beer, booming “look, woman, you’ll have a bloody pint or a bloody
half-pint, so whaddya want?” Whenever the pub opened Harris was always first at
the door, and often visited between curtain calls at nearby theatres. Such was
his admiration for the place, following a successful run in ‘Henry IV’ at the
Wyndham Theatre in 1990, Harris organised a celebratory party at the pub.
Going towards the outskirts of
London, there are a slew of pubs popular with luminaries. Hampstead boasts a
few worthy examples. The Holly Bush for instance was once popular with the
likes of Dr. Samuel Johnson, who was often accompanied by his biographer and
drinking buddy James Boswell. In more recent times actor Jude Law is reported
to be a regular, as well as brother Noel and Liam Gallager (of Oasis) have
drank here. The latter was thrown out of the pub one evening after arguing with
the landlord over whether or not he paid his drinks. On the outskirts of the
Heath, the Magdala Tavern has welcomed a host of luminaries over the years,
thanks to info uncovered by Neil Titley in his book ‘Under Ken Wood’. During
the early years of his career, Bob Hoskins regularly drank here while renting a
room in nearby Parliament Hill, during the period when he worked at the Unity
Theatre in Camden. Likewise, Peter Barkworth who lived in Flask Walk, regularly
visited the pub. Richard Wymark was also a regular, his wife Olwyn always felt
odd accompanying him, since she knew that he slept with every woman in the pub.
His contemporary Peter Witsun-Jones also frequented the establishment, even
after his death in 1974 his widow Sylvia continued to regularly visit the pub.
Ronald Fraser, another local resident was a frequent visitor to Hampstead’s
many watering holes, could be seen at The Mags (as it was nicknamed) during his
regular pub crawls. Such was it connection to the acting industry, during
pre-production on ‘Where Eagles Dare’ (1968) the casting director walked into
the pub one evening and managed to recruit several actors for the production,
Richard Burton, Patrick Wymark, William Squire, Peter Barkworth, and Derren
Nesbit, who all happened to be in the pub that very evening, the film has been
erroneously dubbed the Magdala film.[1]
On the other side of the Heath, the Spaniards Inn has boasted a number of
notable regulars, including highwayman Dick Turpin, the poet John Keats who lived
at nearby Wentworth Place wrote his poem ‘An Ode to a Nightingale’ in the pub
garden, his friend and fellow poet Lord Byron also frequented this
establishment when journeying to and from London, often accompanied by his
friends including Mary Shelley. Robert Louis Stephenson frequently visited and
sometimes lodged here, as well as the artists William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds
and John Constable, whom subsequently featured the pub in his painting ‘Road to
the Spaniards, Hampstead’ (1822) which shows view across Hampstead Heath along
Spaniard Road. It was also visited by Bram Stoker, who mentions it in his
seminal novel ‘Dracula’. The Flask in neighbouring Highgate was also popular
with Keats and Byron, who often dropped by whilst visiting their friend Samuel
Colleridge Taylor who resided in the house opposite. Hogarth often visited
here, and once sketched a fight between two other customers as they fought with
tankards. In more recent times, it was popular with the likes of local
residents Karl Marx, Sid Vicious and George Michael.
While the Magdala has close links
with the acting industry, the same could be said for The Hawley Arms in Camden
with its links to the music industry. Formerly a bikers pub, in 2002 it was
taken over by Ruth Mottram and Doug Charles-Ridler, who transformed the pub’s
fortunes by installing a jukebox, organising their shows and establishing an
upstairs bar and roof terrace. Word soon spread and it gradually became popular
with the luminaries of the music industry at the time, among its regulars
included members of the bands Razorlight, the Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs.
Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt from the Mighty Boosh also frequently visited,
often taking part in after hours pub quizzes. Its most noteworthy regular was
Amy Winehouse who lived in nearby Prowse Place, on some occasions she even
helped out behind the bar, in order to soak in the atmosphere. Tim Burgess from
the Charlatans described the place as being a cross between Camberwick Green
and Stella Street. The Pineapple in Kentish Town also has an impressive roll
call of customers over the years including Rufus Sewell, Jon Snow, Roger
Lloyd-Pack, Ken Stott, Andrew Motion and former London mayor Ken Livingstone,
when the pub was threatened with redevelopment in 2001, they supported the Save
the Magdala campaign to reopen it as pub. In more recent times, our current PM Keir
Starmer once quoted this place was his favourite place to drink since they do a
very good pint, proving that pubs continue to be poplar even with our heads of
government. Moreover, the Prospect of Whitby is another iconic local pub with a
long list of famous customers, including Charles Dickens, Samuel Peyps, the
artists JMW Turner and James McNeil Whistler who both painted views of the pub,
and the explorer Sir Hugh Willoughby, who sailed from here in 1553 to seek the
North-East Passage which ended in failure and death. A century later, Judge
Jeffries often came here to watch executions over on nearby Execution Dock.
More recently the likes of Judy Garland, Paul Newman, Princess Margaret,
Richard Burton, Prince Rainier of Monaco and Frank Sinatra have been served
here. Further along the Thames, the Dove in Hammersmith is noted for having the
record for the smallest bar in the country (at 7 feet long), it also boasts a
list of notables, including Grahame Greene, Alec Guinness, Ernest Hemmingway
and William Morris who happened to live next door. Charles II reportedly wined
and dined his mistress Nell Gwynne here, and James Thompson is said to have
written the words for his poem ‘Rule Britannia’ here in 1740, later adapted to
music by Thomas Arne. A later regular was Dylan Thomas, during the period when
he lived in a flat in Manresa Road in nearby Chelsea. A nearer pub that Thomas
frequented was The Phene, it was also popular with the likes of Michael
Angelis, Nicholas Ball, Bill Rouke and ex-footballer George Best, whom would
frequently order a white wine (his favourite tipple), such was his attachment
to the place he even proposed to his 2nd wife here in 1995, and
during a theatre tour, his close-friend and former Fulham associate Rodney
Marsh who was often pick up Best from the pub before driving off to do a show.
There are some pubs in London
that only have one famous customer of note, when Dylan Thomas lived on Milkwood
Road, Herne Hill, he would often visit his local The Half Moon, especially on
match days when he visited the London Velodrome to watch his rugby team London
Welsh play. After each game, he could be seen joining the team’s players at the
bar, engaging in conversation. Eight miles west in Wimbledon, the Dog & Fox
situated by the common was often visited by local resident Oliver Reed. On one
notable occasion he travelled to the pub on his horse Dougal. After seeing him
looking forlorn in the stables, he went to the estate agents next door and
offered to by a field for his horse, he subsequently brought Broom Hall where
he lived for much of the 70’s. Moreover, he would often choose this place as
the first stop on his infamous pub crawl known as ‘The Wimbledon 8’ which
involved visiting all of the common’s eight existing pubs at the time.[2]
The idea was to have a pint in each pub, which each site being within 15
minutes’ walk from one to another, although the most he ever managed was three.
Meanwhile, when George Orwell was living in Canonbury between 1944-7, he often
visited the Compton Arms, a cosy backstreet local. It’s charm and atmosphere
clearly influenced Orwell to write his iconic 1946 essay ‘The Moon Under Water’
where he describes his ideal pub. Another writer of note who had his own ‘ideal
pub’ was Barry Cryer. A comedian and prolific comedy writer working with the
likes of Kenny Everett, The Two Ronnies, Bob Hope, Spike Milligan, Richard
Pryor, Tommy Cooper, Jasper Carrott, George Burns, Stanley Baxter etc. When he
lived in Hatch End, his favourite watering hole was The Moon & Sixpence, a
branch of Wetherspoons which he visited since 2009. Cryer would often visit
every weekend with his friends, he frequently signed photos and autographs for
other customers, told jokes and stories from his illustrious career and in time
got to know every regular in the pub, including the staff.[3]
Despite having visited exclusive clubs like the Garrick over the years, he once
quoted “I’ve been in to all these clubs because everyone assumes I’m a member.
I much prefer my local Wetherspoons, The Moon and Sixpence in Hatch End. I’m
the thinking woman’s lager lout.” Cryer passed away in January 2022, and later
that year his widow Therea unveiled a memorial mural at an event held at the
pub, a permanent tribute highlighting Cryer’s life in words and photographs.
All over London there are a slew
of pubs that were once popular with the great and the good, from literary pubs
like Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and Fitzroy Tavern to theatre-land hangouts like
The Salisbury or icons of the music industry like The Hawley Arms. On the
outskirts of town, there’s a number of pubs with roll-call of famous customers,
Hampstead tops the list with pubs like The Spaniards Inn, The Holly Bush, The
Duke of Hamilton and The Magdala, while the likes of The Prospect of Whitby,
The Flask and The Phene are good challengers to its throne. There are some pubs
that boast one famous customer as one of their biggest claims to fame, The Dog
& Duck, The Half Moon and The Compton Arms are all noteworthy historic
examples. In more recent times, The Moon & Sixpence has been added to this
roster, even going to point of producing a tribute plaque to its most famous
regular.[4]
There a vast number of London Bus tours all over the centre town giving
tourists the opportunity to get guided view of London’s landmarks, perhaps
there should be one for London’s landmark pubs as well, that were formerly
frequented by a number of famous luminaries, time will tell.
[1]
Burton also frequented another Hampstead pub, The Duke of Hamilton, along with
actor friends Peter O’ Toole and Oliver Reed.
[2]
The pubs that featured in the Wimbledon 8, include the Dog & Fox, the Hand
in Hand, Crooked Billet, Fox and Grapes, Rose and Crown, Firestables, Brewery
Tap and Finch's. Only five are still in business today.
[3]
Such was his iconic status at this pub, he once opened a beer festival that
took place there. On another occasion, he turned on the town’s Christmas lights
outside the pub.
[4] At
the Wheatsheaf in Soho, there plaques near the entrance dedicated to both
George Orwell and Dylan Thomas who frequently drank here.