Pubs of Spitalfields / London's Livepool Street Station

Exploring the historic pubs of Spitalfields - close to London's Liverpool Street station - apparently the busiest station in the UK!

As always I took a look at the architecture, the interiors, and the history of the pubs, plus a quick glimpse of the beer on offer.

Along the way lots of historical tidbits, such as the sad tale of Nathaniel Bentley - AKA Dirty Dick, pondering what happened to the dead cats, the "No person to be served twice" rule at Dirty Dick's, and that interesting this was also the case for a while at (a former incarnation of) William's Ale and Cider House round the corner. We follow a bit of the history of the Ten Bells, as it tries to keep in step with the changing number of bells at neighbouring Christ Church. At the Golden Heart we discuss Sandra Esquilant and the parallels between this pub and the Soho's Colony Room Club as a venue for artists. Finally at the Pride of Spitalfields we ponder whether this really could be a pub named after a beer...?

Links etc:

Dirty Dick's

William's Ale and Cider House

Ten Bells

Golden Heart

Pride of Spitalfields

Chapters:

0:00 Intro
0:33 Dirty Dick's
5:51 William's Ale and Cider House
9:23 Ten Bells
13:26 Golden Heart
17:54 Pride of Spitalfields
21:56 Outro

[martinhowe]

Excellent series. As a City of London student in the 70's I remember regularly frequenting Dirty Dicks. If my memory serves, there was a basement bar which was covered from floor to ceiling in beer mats and letters from tourists and the like. A total fire trap. Of special interest was a dessicated, mummified cat, suspended from the ceiling by a rope that was secured from behind the bar. At various times, the barkeeps would loosen the rope and the cat would slowly descend, normally on top of any attractive woman the barman had his eye on. Ah, the good old days eh?

[dobbsa]

Exceptional research, your attention to detail is to be applauded. I worked for many years in the Bishopsgate area and frequented all of the pubs you reviewed!

[guythompson]

The FP 11ft sign on the front elevation of Williams Ale and Cider House refers to a fire point (water hydrant for the use of the Fire Brigade). The 1894-96 25-in Ordnance Survey map shows two FPs in the street in front of the pub.

[SlurpyDave]

My dad went to London once when he was young and the pub he'd always mention was Dirty Dicks..looks a great building John

[timothyjones]

I’ve lived on Australia for 15 years now, and it’s probably a good 20 years since I’ve been in the Pride, hasn’t changed much.

[michaelsheils]

Excellent video, love the Pride, a treasure and my local and also one of the last pubs in London that isn’t a Wetherspoons where you can order 2 pints and get change from a tenner.

[AzureyeLDN]

Great video. Been in all those pubs and was always interested in their history. The 10 Bells is pretty well known for the Jack the Ripper stories, outside you often see tour groups on “ripper walks” I’ve always found that obsession to be a bit creepy too 😅

[razzle]

Another jolly good trip down memory lane for me, thanks, Tweedy … lots of historical nuggets, too.

‘Williams Ale and Cider House’ (formerly known as The Ship, I gather) looks familiar. May have played my first game of darts there, early 80s, for our firms’ darts ‘society’ (which consisted mainly of messengers & what were known as ‘below stairs tradesmen’, for a what shall remain nameless Central Bank that celebrated its tercentenary in 1994😉). I digress. The THREE dartboards adds a little credence to my recollection.

‘Dirty Dicks’ … yep. Fallen in & out of there more times than I care to remember. Late opening hours & its proximity to Liverpool St was always a recipe for disaster; it would, usually, both precede AND follow a trip to Brick Lane for a ruby … after a session on the Flowers or Wethereds at the Dandy Roll (no longer there) which used to be situated underneath the Bank of America (no longer there) opposite Registrar’s Dept in New Change, EC4 (no longer there) at the end of Watling St (still there, last I checked).😉✌️

[davidclare]

Tweedy: yet another wonderful trip around some London pubs. Every time I watch your pub videos, I have an urge to go and visit them. Not an urge I can easily follow, as I live in the Pacific North West. Cheers!

[robcoles]

Hey Tweedy - I'm enjoying that video. You know my old pub grounds are fleet street/chancery lane/west end/Waterloo - and the only one of these pubs in this video ive been to is Dirty Dicks.

The others in the backstreets were a revelation. I have meetings near Liverpool Street next month and will get off the beaten track afterwards to check a couple out. Thanks for all the time and effort on the research. Top man Tweedy.

[andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Hi Tweedy. The Williams Ale and Cider House looks like a pub crawl in itself. Exceptional range of ales and ciders. As always thank you for an incredibly interesting tour of classic London pubs accompanied by your exemplary research. 👏👏👍😀🍺
PS. Enjoy a well deserved break. 👍😀

[sisselbrenna]

Thanks for all the time and effort you put into making these videos. The information you gather on the architecture and the history is just excellent. Always looking forward to the next one. To those of you who haven't SUBSCRIBED yet: PLEASE, DO!

[nigelwood]

I worked on the railway and first visited in the late seventies and it’s exactly as it was then. The food bar when open must be the cheapest in London, you can get A sandwich or hot snack for £3/4 the last time I was there.

[liamkatt]

Thank you for yet another really interesting video. In 1974 I was visiting the Liverpool Street area and my father told me to be sure to call in at Dirty Dicks which he in turn had visited in around 1936 while working in London. I went in and the bar was on the right. There was sawdust on the floor but nothing particularly 'dirty'. I reported back to my father rather disappointed. He suggested next time I went that way to try visiting the basement bar which I did. This was totally different with all sorts of curios including five dead cats (I thought they were monkeys), dust everywhere, the ceiling covered with scribbled notes, usually cigarette packets, coins nailed or glued to the bar and banknotes from all over the world on the ceiling. A really interesting place to see. I am told that the basement bar is still open on certain days and candlelit. However, as you reported most of the curios have gone including thankfully, the poor cats.

[ysgolgerlan]

Thanks for the video. Lovely to see all the old industries marked on the old maps. What about Brass Foundry - Fur, Skin Dressing & Dye Works. . Great. 👍

[elvis]

Brilliant as ever tweedy. A joy to see these pubs again. Thanks mate 😎

[liberty_and_justice]

Wonderful break in the day! Thank you🎉

[eddavis]

Haha…I openly laughed when you visited “The Williams” as, I too, have on several occasions dismissively sauntered past what I thought was a modern bar. Thank you for peaking my future interest. Clearly, my pick of the litter is “Pride of Spitalfields” where a couple of years back I over-enjoyed a post-Joolz Guides “Ripper” tour with my fellow travelers. As always, you made my day…well done…Cheers!!! 🍻

[Drod]

Just stumbled on your channel and must say your content is thoroughly enjoyable! I was always remiss that there wasn't better coverage of London's historical pubs on YouTube. As a Yank that loves to visit the UK and attempt to visit as many pubs as possible, your channel is a gem. You are both informative and entertaining! You are doing God's work, so please keep it up. Making my way through all your videos, so thank you. Raising you a pint of Harvey's Sussex Best in spirit. Unfortunately I am in NYC, so must wait for a London visit to do so otherwise. Cheers!

[harlanthejester]

Throroughly enjoyed the video. Sunday night is my Tweedy Pub perusal evening and you are taking a break for a few weeks? What! seriously have a good break and loook forward to the next one... Cheers.