The Lord Clyde, Borough
Nothing lasts forever and all dynastic bloodlines and traditions end. How the legacy of those who came before us is remember is how well the next generation pick up the baton.
As many London pub aficionados will know the Fitzpatrick family who ran the pub for over five decades called time on their lifelong service in early January 2020. This famous backstreet pub with some of London;s most beautiful Truman’s tiling is now managed directly by pubco Ei (Enterprise Inns). There were concerns that the planned refurbishment would trash the unique interior of the pub and ruin what makes it so special. One fearful seasoned local contacted me stating that it’s a pub for all and newcomers to the area love it because it’s an untouched authentic backstreet local. To make drastic changes to it would take away from what makes it somewhere that everyone in the community can enjoy. I approached with apprehension on completion of the works in February 2020
It’s important to note that I was not a frequent visitor in the past. I visited 3-4 times a year so my view might not match the old guard who have been coming here for decades. However, I don’t think anyone has cause for concern regarding the refurb affecting this beautiful building and the traditional pub experience. For my money everything is just the same. Perhaps only a little cleaner. The hallmark regal red leather seats remain and all the original fixtures and fittings have been returned to their rightful place. It’s a pub of branded mirrors, fireplaces, clocks and jugs hanging from the ceiling. These still make up the fabric of the pub. What pleases me the most is pictures of old beanos and the area are still up as are the original Truman price list and press cuttings about the Fitzpatrick’s tenure.
Perhaps the only negative I have is the culinary offerings. The focus is on Pie & Mash but as any Londoner will tell you (indigenous cockney or newcomer) Pie & Mash isn’t Pie & Mash if it’s served with gravy. It’s almost as sacrilege as eating it with a knife (for any international readers, it’s served with liquor which is a parsley based sauce and eaten with a spoon)
The Gents are an improvement and pleasingly the dart board remains. There were a few local lads drinking at the bar so the clientele hasn’t drastically changed just yet. I believe the refurbishment to be sympathetic and I hardly noticed so will look forward to many more future visits.
Anecdotes are what often give a building its personality and soul and hearing this one from Assistant Manger Charlie on a visit last summer warmed me heart and got this pub and social historians blood pumping. Apparently some time after the pub opened in 1913 a lady enter the premises and said to Landlord E.J. Bayling (whose name is in perpetuity above the door) that she needed some cash and would he take receipt of the clock in the second picture for the sum of £50. She promised to visit when she had the funds to pay the Guv’nor back. She never returned. This clock has sat there ever since.
Although precise details of the story might have been muddled or exaggerated over the years (was it really Bayling or a later Guv? What year was it? Was the sum as high as fifty sheets?) that social history is priceless and stories like this should be told and recorded. I was delighted to hear first hand how the pub had acted as a de facto pawn brokers and hung on every word of this tale.
Pubs are the glue that used to bind communities together and a lot of that history and knowledge has in a changing landscape been lost over the years. I love that although there is a lot to dislike about social media and technology the ability to share knowledge and keep it alive by passing it on can only be a force for good.
With summer 2021 approaching and the dark clouds of Covid reported to be clearing rapidly everyday this is a prime spot to meet some friends, enjoy a few libations and drink in the splendour of what is one of London’s hidden central classics on those benches outside.
