Samuel Pepys once described the pub as ‘the heart of England’, and rightly so, considering that there are few more pleasurable things than supping a pint of ale in good company.
From naval reserve sailors toasting to their health to Fleet Street reporters grabbing a quick drink across the road from the Houses of Parliament, this collection of images sheds light on all manner of goings-on from some of London’s most vibrant watering holes, and the locals that have frequented them over the years.
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circa 1900: Ye Old Dick Whittington Pub in Smithfield in the City of London. (London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images) |
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circa 1905: The Greyhound Public House in Dulwich, London (Reinhold Thiele/Thiele/Getty Images) |
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1923: The bar of a public house in the city of London with turkeys and hams on sale for Christmas. (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) |
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1938: 'Kim', the buffet cat, with a barmaid at the Sloane Square buffet 'The Hole in the Wall' (John F. Stephenson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) |
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1939: A group of sailors from the naval reserve enjoying a drink in a pub. (Walter Bellamy/London Express/Getty Images) |
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1939: A couple of men enjoying a pint at a London pub, protected by sandbags. (George W. Hales/Fox Photos/Getty Images) |
1947: Fleet Street crime reporters meet at 'the dive', St Stephen's Tavern, across the road from the Houses of Parliament, London. (Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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1948: A new sign about to be hung outside 'The Greyhound', an old coaching inn in Carshalton. (Warburton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) |
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1949: Mr John Chester, pub licensee, listens as organist Vick Smith plays the organ which he has had installed in his pub The Earl of Derby, Forest Gate. (Fox Photos/Getty Images) |
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1949: A view of pedestrians and a street corner pub in Prusom Street, Wapping, east London. (Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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1949: Men unloading barrels of beer outside a pub in the Pool of London, while their carthorse feeds from a nosebag. (Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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1950: Two men enjoying a drink at 'The Prospect of Whitby', one of London's famous public houses. (Central Press/Getty Images) |
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1950: Training barmen at a pub near Cambridge Circus, Charing Cross, London. (Fox Photos/Getty Images) |
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1950: A contingent of Chelsea Pensioners attend the unveiling of a portrait of one of their number outside 'The Old Sergeant' on Parsonage Lane, Enfield. (MacGregor/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) |
1950: An old woman sitting in the Green Man, a pub in Bethnal Green, London. (Erich Auerbach/Getty Images) |
1955: A group of men play skittles in the Black Lion pub, London. (Three Lions/Getty Images) |
1959: Dominic Behan singing at a folk session, Enterprise Public House, Long Acre, London. (EFD SS/Heritage Images/Getty Images) |
1961: British film and stage actor Albert Finney playing the piano in a pub near London's Cambridge Theatre where he is appearing in the stage version of 'Billy Liar'. (John Pratt/Getty Images) |
1965: A group of four newly-appointed clergymen enjoy a drink with the Bishop of Southwark at a local pub. (Keystone/Getty Images) |
1969: Customers at the 'Piss House' pub on the Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London. (Charlie Phillips/Getty Images) |