October 2026. East London.
Heading, or at least hobbling, towards the Tower of London and an intriguing GBG27 newbie.
This is Tandleman Southern HQ territory, and the Princess of Prussia is apparently close to his flat decorated in Dumbarton FC colours, just around the corner from the venerable Goodman’s Field.
You might think the biggest bugbear for us GBG tickers is unexpectedly closed micropubs, or national award winning pubs that don’t open till 4pm, but it’s actually geographic labelling.
The Princess debuts under an E1 : Goodmans Field label, but it could equally be Aldgate, or Tower Hill, or even Whitechapel. And probably will be somewhere different next year, which makes the noble art of cross-checking so tough.
Where has it been all our lives ? London is just full of pub p*rn like the Princess, notably the Truman houses.
My rush for the bar is halted temporarily by a chap with a dog standing at the top step blocking access, whether admiring the view, sizing up dog facilities or considering a dash to the loo I couldn’t tell.
A rather gorgeous interior, too, with proper seating,
and just the right amount of Guinness tat.
It’s another Shepherd Neame pub, one of quite a few in the City bought by Sheps this century.
Hard to judge trade on a late Sunday afternoon when more prominent E1 pubs aren’t open at all,
but the trade does seem to be local rather than tourist, with a decent Thai food trade (Pad Thai £15, so not bad).
Again, no Spitfire (rarer than Bass), but the much maligned Late Red has such a great scummy head I scored VERY GOOD.
Some of you would have marked it down for breaching the £7 barrier (£7.10, ouch); I’m more minded to knock points off for playing Bowie (ugh), but “Space Oddity” is hard to knock.
A couple of lads my sons age are tempted by the Spitfire lager, impressed that a) it’s served in a proper branded glass and b) the barman offers tasters (ugh).
Rumours that fans of Hansa Rostock come over here just for the flavoured condoms are unproven. More likely that’s St Pauli.
Nice pub, but you can get good cask much cheaper 10 minutes walk away, as we’ll soon see.
ADDENDUM: Note the map of closed (grey) and open (black) pubs east of the Pride of Spitalfields and the Princess of Prussia (in red, far left). Staggering losses.
Oooh nice, added to my ever expanding list, thanks to you and your followers.
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You’re my top follower, Rich, now Russ has disappeared in the Canadian mountains again.
Do you go down that bit of London much ?
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Not that often, but am missing Leeds v Man U for a visit to the smoke tmrw for a couple of days. The big draw is one of my fave bands Spitfire playing the Scala, not seen them since, I think 1992…
Just making a pub list, and smiling at the scraps of paper with pubs on in an old A to Z, plus a tube map with no Elizabeth line, from when we did things the old school way. See photos on your bsky
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I think we can trace the demise of Spitfire the beer back to the breakup of Spitfire the band in 1996.
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It was all downhill after “The Laughing Gnome”, who must have been an early pub ticker.
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Scott, A couple of years ago my branch had a day out in Chester. Inevitably I made my excuses before they got to the Cavern of the Curious Gnome.
What a nice reminder though the PoP is of when, even before my time, pubs offered a proper choice – Burton brewed Pale and Old Ales and London brewed Stout, Mild Ales and Porter. One could have stayed there all day, and still had change out of ten bob for some jellied eels.
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Although there’s an unfortunate chance some of the beer might have tasted like jellied eel in those days.
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Peaked early did Bowie. Unlike McCartney who was 42 (coincidentally, the answer to life, the universe and everything) when Frog Chorus was released.
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And Kate Bush was 47 before she released Mrs Bartolozzi. Slooshy Sloshy, Slooshy Sloshy.
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