The end of an era, but… with perhaps a new one beginning?  

On the old manors of the East End there is a myth that all proper boozers are territorial and have a distrust of outsider. While I've experienced frosty and suspicious 'welcomes' first hand in many places over the years, that is simply not the case. This wonderful backstreet boozer was a classic example of a hostelry always providing a warm friendly East End welcome that the area was well known for in the distant past. However, sadly, the final time bell has rung under the stewardship of Patsy Pyne and her family.

After taking over this 1861 built palace of the people in 1976, when Patsy was just 9 years old, the family have run the business as a treasured community pub for decades, but now is the right time for them to move on.

Located on Aylward Street (formerly Charles Street) where five pubs once served the community this is / was the last survivor. I had real fears that the pub was to close for good after it was purchased by developers, but Patsy has been assured that despite the top 2 floors being converted into 5 flats, the pub will remain.

It will look very different after the huge bar will be reconfigured to make way for new staircases, the toilets will be relocated to the cellar and a food hatch from a new kitchen will shrink the pubs footprint. Whether the pool table will remain is uncertain but despite Patsy (rightly) taking many mementos, the rest of the furniture and affects will stay in situ.  

I was in on the final night last week to capture the occasion for posterity and it struck me, as always, how warm the genuine Cockney welcome was. I chatted to friends old and new and despite being only an occasional punter here I was made to feel right at home. As did both the LPE tour groups I took here earlier this year. On one in particular the group was amazed on a near deserted backstreet to enter and find close to 100 people enjoying a Saturday afternoon in their local pub. To say the atmosphere was convivial would be an understatement and everyone enjoyed this wonderful authentic pub experience which harked back to a simple past of just pints, nags on the tele and good conversation. 

This final evening in this old school proper pub was a special occasion and I floated home after far too many libations. But, as the hugs, kisses, warm handshakes and final goodbyes have now long disappeared into the night it's given me time to reflect on this passing. For many it will feel like a bereavement. Most of the locals I chatted to will head to the Crown on Commercial Road during the 6 months development before the pub (hopefully) reopens. Whether or not they return remains to be seen and the £4 a pint for lager will almost certainly increase potentially affecting behaviour change. 

I'm praying the pub isn't altered too much as it's a genuine backstreet gem that was thriving. It could and should do so again. But it's the people that make a pub special. With an ageing clientele, old school Cockney boozers need younger blood to come in. The youngest punter there on Saturday was 37 and this handing over of the baton to developers felt like another nail in the coffin of a vanishing way of life. These streets were once alive with pubs on every other corner yet that has been hoovered up and spat out with, almost, only trendy gastropubs and wine bars remaining or, predominantly, forlorn dead carcasses rotting on the corners.

My memories of the last night at the Peacock will stay with me for years to come and it was an honour to be there to chat to the locals about their lives, pub habits and what their drinking and pub going future might look like.  There are so few characters in pubs now but an evening with Ian, Ray, John, Noel, Elaine, Chris, Dave, Mark, Lois and so many others restored my faith that perhaps London, in some places, hasn’t changed too much.

I wish Patsy and all at the Peacock well and look forward with keen interest to seeing the next chapter of this wonderful pub's life.

The excellent photographs below were taken by the very talented Tim George. You can check out his work on Instagram @tim_george or on his website  tim-george.com