25 Sep Pubs, Pints, Porter and Pyes – Building Bygones 3
Number 3 in BermondseyStreet.London’s Building Bygones series has just been published, Pubs, Pints, Porter and Pyes. In 1830 The Licensing Laws were liberalised, making it easier to open a pub, and within ten years there were 21 watering holes in Bermondsey Street – that’s about one every ten buildings! By 1904, legislators felt that too much alcohol was causing problems, and the number of licences was reduced. Six of Bermondsey Street’s pubs closed: The Grapes; The Fox & Goose; The Black Swan; the Prince of Wales; the Queen’s Head; and the Eight Bells. In the 1930s, The Green Dragon and the King’s Arms & Hand closed. All those wonderful old pub names lost, such a shame. By the 1950s, only three pubs remained on Bermondsey Street, The Woolpack, The Yorkshire Grey, and the Hand & Marigold. Luckily, two are still trading as pubs, The Woolpack and The Hand & Marigold, providing welcome social space.
Read more about the fascinating history of pubs and drinking establishments on Bermondsey Street in Richard Miller’s latest Building Bygones piece – Pubs, Pints, Porter and Pyes in Bermondsey Street