Pint of Ordinary please

Further reminiscing about the old days came to mind again while I was in Limehouse. I was bored one night so went for a stroll 'inland'. You can imagine my surprise when I happened upon a small park, surrounded by the most wonderful Georgian terraces. These houses on York Square, and a few streets around it had survived the blitz and are now I am sure much sought after properties being walking distance from Canary Wharf and less than five minutes from the Docklands Light railway ( DLR).

As I further explored the area, I revisited The Queens Head, a Young's pub which I and a work colleague, Mike McBride, had been to in the late 70's when we were attempting to join the 135 Club.
This club was open to anybody who had travel to, and drank in, every one of the pubs which made up the Young's estate. The number fluctuated as the brewery opened and closed pubs, but the 135 Club name remained.

We visited the Queens Head after we had knocked off The Ship in Rotherhithe, The Crown in Lee and The Richard I in Greenwich. We then darted through the tunnel, ticked off the Queens Head then bombed down the A11 to Barking to do The Britannia, a fine pub with a figurehead as the pub sign. Sadly it is no longer in the Young's estate. So much for drinking and driving.

The final pub we visited some time later to qualify for the 135 Club was The Bishop out of Residence, in Kingston, Surrey. It was its opening day and we were lucky enough to get John Young, the chairman, to sign our card. It was 31st October 1979.

Young's no longer brews beer after selling its Wandsworth brewery in 2007 and tying up with Charles Wells, the makers of Wells Fargo. Earlier this year it sold its last remaining share in the joint venture and now concentrates on its real estate. Young's beer is still available in its outlets, but it is now brewed exclusively by Charles Wells.

Anyway, back to The Queens Head, and York Square. It may be an urban myth, but the word is that the Square and the pub gave the producers of Eastenders, the perfect model for Albert Square and the Queen Vic which feature so prominently in the soap opera.
The pub was really quiet when I went in and messageboards do indicate this to be the case. You wonder how some of these small old traditional outlets do survive.

Across the square was another pub, The Old Ship, which was closed the night I was there. It is one of the major drag artist pubs in the East End and attracts a gay and mixed crowd on the nights it is open. On Thursdaynights one of the drag queens hosts a quiz night. That would be quite interesting.

Given the area these pubs are located I would have thought a gastro and a wine bar would have been a perfect combination, given the gay community in Limehouse seems to be well served elsewhere. That said, the pink pound is still a most welcome commodity!!