Historic Pubs of London's Fleet Street 

Thank you! This was actually one of the most personally rewarding videos I've made to date on this channel, especially in terms of the research. I think I vaguely remember hearing in the distant past that the fireplace / chimneypiece in the Cock Tavern was something a bit special, but had never previously looked into the detail of it. So this really felt like the pub history equivalent of unearthing buried treasure. There's something magical about seeing individual pub fittings in old pictures and then being able to visit the pub and see them still there - and that happened twice in this video! Perhaps the cutlery cabinet at the Cheese isn't quite as celebrated or as visually impressive as the chimneypiece at the Cock but the former artefact is still actively used on a daily basis and not just a relic in a forgotten corner. I think I recorded about 20 minutes of footage in the Cock of me droning on and on about that chimneypiece and other aspects of the pub's history. It took quite a while during editing to whittle that down to something relatively concise and coherent - not helped by the fact I was three pints in by that point and the quality of elocution had noticeably deteriorated!

@@TweedyPubs when I was about 8, I cycled from town out to a village to find a cottage from a Victorian postcard in my Nan’s collection. I found it! Sort of set the course of my future obsessions!

@TweedyPubs Hope you got an uber..

Wow Paul, that's fantastic - I feel like I'm in the presence of pub royalty! That is an amazing job. As I hinted at in the video I preferred the interior there during its Fullers era. I do understand what McMullens were trying to do, to modernise it a bit and give it broader appeal - on my visit earlier this week there were lots of people in there with laptops and/or drinking teas and coffees... but it feels less like a pub now.

@@TweedyPubs I wouldn’t say pub royalty, but I’ve spent the vast majority of my working life in ‘boozers’, up until a recent health issue that has forced me to ‘retire’. There’s hardly a Fullers/Youngs/Spirit establishment that myself or the company I worked for that I haven’t fitted some kind of curtain/blind works. I certainly miss the central London pubs and I’m thoroughly enjoying your content Tweedy. Thanks once again.

You are correct about Chanticleer being derived from French. In the French narrative, Reynard the Fox, Chantecler is the name given to a rooster in the story. The name, by the way, means to sing clearly.

That’s a wonderful description ❤

Snow and the Cheshire Cheese sounds like a magical combination! It wasn't snowing when I filmed this but it was quite a cold winter's day and I really appreciated those open fires!

I pay £3.00 for a pint of old brewery bitter in Leeds

A excellent choice of brewery,it's also my favourite up hear in the North excellent choice of beers and the best brewed UK brewed lager in pure brew organic lager

Thanks Cedric, really glad to hear you enjoyed it. This one was particularly fun to research - so much history in these pubs, I could easily have done a whole half hour about some of them individually.

Thanks John! I started using the old newspapers just to try and verify dates that pubs were supposed to have existed since, but then found they're often a good source of interesting anecdotes and other facts about the pubs. I think this is a fairly novel approach, most websites I look at that talk about pub history tend to rely on other sources like census records and Post Office directories.

Thank you! Yes it was sad to see the state of the Tipperary but I hoped in some small way giving it at least a brief mention here might somehow help the chances that it does one day reopen. Fingers crossed.

Original name The Boars Head, renamed during or just after WW1 due to Irish soldiers in the British Army flocking there as they viewed the Guinness as the best in London, There was also Wards Irish House in Piccadilly .

I love this area too - it must have been a great place to spend those years in! I'm fascinated by that slightly hidden world within London, the inns of court etc. The pub around here which feels like it has the strongest presence of legal professionals to me is the Seven Stars - one of my all time favourites. I recall at one point Roxy talking about some legal trouble she was having with the owner of the freehold (Fuller's?) and she sounded reassuringly sanguine - "Most of my regulars are lawyers."

@@TweedyPubs St Brides Tavern was the best I reckon. Sadly closed down I think

@@YogicBarrister Interesting - I wouldn't have guessed that to be a favourite of the legal profession! I think I only went there once, many years ago. I read somewhere that it (a bit like the Seven Stars) had strong personalities running the place, and that's always a key ingredient of a great pub.

Thank you! It's time consuming but I really enjoy it - discovering those Grinling Gibbons artefacts at the Cock Tavern felt a bit like unearthing buried treasure!

Thank you, really glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks Rob! Yes I was thinking of covering that cluster you mention in another video. Amazing to have four pubs which are all decent / historic / interesting in their own right just metres apart like that.

Thanks Paul! I think it has come up before in the comments but I really ought to do a bit more exploration south of the river. I was originally considering a trip to Wandsworth instead of this outing, but then somehow my attention was drawn away by that relatively unknown old fireplace etc in the Cock Tavern. Perhaps next time?

Thank you! My last video definitely changed my mind about Wetherspoons pubs. I've always had mixed feelings about the Old Bank of England. I originally recorded a segment in this video (which I cut in the edit as it was getting a bit long) talking about the days when I used to regularly entertain visiting colleagues / friends from out of London. I'd often take them on a pub crawl around this area of London, taking in places like the Seven Stars, the Cittie of Yorke and Ye Old Mitre. To my surprise more than once at the end of these crawls my guests said the Old Bank of England was their favourite pub of the crawl. I'd just included it on the list for a bit of variety! Personally I much prefer pubby pubs with low hanging beams and nooks and crannies etc... but each to their own! So many pubs in London to suit different tastes.

Thanks John! If you can catch it at quieter times as you did (and especially with the fire lit) then I think it's a really magical place.

I originally filmed a segment in the video where I mentioned I've sometimes had friends / colleagues visiting London, and had taken them on a pub crawl in this area. I assumed the "pubby pubs" like the Seven Stars or Ye Old Mitre would be their favourites, but at the end of the night sometimes people would say they liked the Old Bank of England most. I suppose that's part of the magic of pubs - they come in many different shapes and sizes and there are different styles to suit different tastes! Yes I was thinking of doing another video to cover that cluster of pubs at that end of the Strand around the George - there's also the other Cheshire Cheese there, the Edgar Wallace and the Devereux; all just metres away from each other.

Thanks Craig, and yes - lucky indeed! Do you have a favourite pub in the area?

Thanks L&J! I had a fantastic time in the Cheshire Cheese, and it was a great reminder that even some of these "touristy" pubs can still be magical if you catch them at the right time.

@@TweedyPubs Like January 😂

@@liberty_and_justice67 Yes in theory... but I asked a member of staff in the Cheshire Cheese if it has been quiet so far this month and he said actually some days yes, some days no! A company I worked for many years ago had their "Christmas" party in January because it was cheaper and the availability of venues was much better, and I get the sense that's becoming more common. The guy behind the bar said the pub's staff Christmas party was in February!

@@TweedyPubs Like idea of spreading out the holidays throughout the year! Or better yet, keep celebrating until you get it right😂

Thanks Scott! Yes it doesn't take much to fill up the Cheshire Cheese, unfortunately! It was fairly quiet on my visit, but I was waiting outside for it to open at midday on a weekday in January! If it's not quiet then I have no idea when it wold be...

Thanks Marco! It's a great area for a crawl. The Seven Stars which isn't far off Fleet Street is also a favourite of mine.

Yes it sounds like a fun time Jim, and makes me wonder how any newspapers ever got published! When I was looking for pictures to include for the segment on Punch Magazine I found one of one of a "editorial meeting" of their staff - not a lot of writing materials on the table but certainly a fair few wine bottles!

The Street used to be a good pub crawl back in the late 70s . We started at the King Lud and took our darts as many of the pubs had dart boards and could always get a match for a pint . These were real working pubs for the guys in " The Print " .The cartoonists coincidentally , used another pub we used to frequent some 300 miles away while on holiday, the Cornish Arms at Pendogget in Cornwall . They would gather there for a break in November every year and leave cartoons that decorated the walls . Its always been a good beer thing for me and the lads . McMullen an old Hertford brewery , had quite a scattering of pubs from Herts of course into Essex , my nearest was near Epping . AK and IPA my favourites , particularly after Greene King closed the Rayments brewery at Furneaux Pelham . Very sad . Their BBA was a much better brew than GK IPA . They dropped the wrong beer , never was a GK fan .

I love Herefordshire (I don't know Shropshire quite so well) and would love to do a video covering some of the best village pubs there, as I have been to some absolute beauties. The challenge is getting around! Herefordshire apparently only has four stations, I get the sense buses are a bit of a rarity too, and obviously driving isn't really conducive to a pub crawl! I will give it some thought though, perhaps that would need to be a multi-day effort.

@@TweedyPubs True, could be a major effort. Thanks for considering it - you need a brewery to sponsor you so you can do it!!

Thanks Ben! Yes it's a great area for pubs isn't it? Hard to think of another part of London which has that kind of density of interesting historic pubs.

Thank you! As I mentioned in the video, I think that little corner of YOCT on the first floor in front of that ancient fireplace is a really very special spot, but in my opinion the rest of the interior is a bit underwhelming. Fortunately as I mentioned nobody else seems to take much interest in the fireplace! So I hope you can enjoy it with the wonderful peace and quiet I had during my time there, and raise a toast to Grinling Gibbons and Samuel Pepys.

Thanks Dave! Yes fingers crossed that there is a future for the Tipperary.

Thanks Seán! I thought of your recent suggestion to cover Irish pubs in London when passing the Tipperary. Really sad to see it in that state, but fingers crossed it will one day be brought back to life.

Thanks T&L! Yes the Cheshire Cheese is a really special place - best enjoyed if you can get there when it's quiet! Hopefully February will still be quiet for your visit. Yes I have been to the Dove, albeit not for quite a few years now. I love that tiny bar room! I am thinking about doing a video out that way at some point.

Thanks TKP! I completely agree about the Cheshire Cheese. I know it's very much on the tourist trail, and it can be completely overrun at times, but if you can catch it at a quiet time - as I did - with the fire lit, it's absolutely magical. I had only been into the Tipperary a couple of times, and probably the last time was at least a decade ago. I remember thinking it felt quite special: obviously a lot of "Irish" pubs in the UK (and around the world) are basically over-the-top gimmicky theme pubs, which I suspect might feel quite embarrassing to an actual Irish person. Whereas, at least when I was last there, the Tipperary reminded me a bit more of some of the beautiful but low key pubs I have been to in Dublin, which (at least at that time, many years ago) didn't seem to be just pandering to tourists. I had been to the Cock Tavern a couple of times before because I was vaguely aware it had a Samuel Pepys connection, but I knew it wasn't the original site of the pub, and so I just hadn't really taken it seriously... However the discovery that the fireplace (and possibly the cock above the door) was from the original site, and likely had 17th century origins, has really changed my mind about it. I will definitely go back now - that little corner of the pub had a similar kind of magic to the Cheshire Cheese. Yes I have been into El Vino - and did consider including it on today's tour - but I am aware many pub aficionados have a bit of an aversion to wine bars!

Thank you!

Yes it almost looks slightly ridiculous! It actually doesn't feel extremely narrow once inside, perhaps it's the fact it's also a fairly tall building that adds to that effect.

Thanks Al! There were fires burning in both rooms on the ground floor on this occasion I can assure you! I find that fascinating because I thought the "Clean Air Act" (or some similar legislation) prohibited open fires in central London. I am not complaining, of course, the atmosphere that creates is really magical. I hope you enjoy your Thursday evening pint!

I will indeed, sadly there is nowhere to have a pint of Harvey's Sussex Best in America, they don't export here.@@TweedyPubs

Yes that's a fair comment! As mentioned in the video Sam Smith's London pubs no longer seem to be the bargain they used to be, although I think prices do vary from pub to pub, and the Cheshire Cheese is obviously a very famous location where they probably feel they can get away with higher prices. As you can see when making the videos I usually drink halves (mainly in an attempt to remain coherent!), and this did feel unnatural to begin with, but actually I think there's something to be said for it. You can still enjoy the interiors and the atmosphere but only spend half as much!

Wetherspoons aside, gone are the days when a working man could go down the pub and have a few pints, which is a way of life lost. Although its partly cultural, price has got a lot to do with it.

He wrote the first dictionary of the English language, published in 1755.

It's absolutely beautiful if you're fortunate enough to catch it when it's not too busy! ...and thanks for the reminder about Sam Smith's Stout - I find the Old Brewery Bitter to be drinkable, and tend to order that out of habit, but I suspect these days I'd prefer the stout where it's available.