Historic London Pubcast

Hackney Pub Crawl Part 1 – Pickled Egg, Punk Rock Hacktivism

• Season 1 • Episode 51

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We’re back in the East End of London, kicking off a multi-episode visit to multi-cultural Hackney. 

We kick things off with a crash course in Hackney’s rebellious roots, from Roman roads to Quakers, Huguenots, and anarchists with a flair for protest. If London has a punk Borough, this is it. Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols met here at Hackney Technical College. 

Then we hit the pubs for our Hackney Pub Crawl. 

First stop: The Kenton - a pub with a moose head, Scandi vibes, and a backstory featuring beer-slinging legend Ben Kenton (no, he wasn’t a knight, but he should have been).

Next: The Chesham Arms, a cornerstone of activism in Hackney. A pub so beloved that locals straight-up fought off developers like it was an episode of EastEnders meets Gladiator. Spoiler alert: the pub won.

Then: The Cock Tavern, where you can find pickled egg royalty, beard-friendly vibes, and the birthplace of Howling Hops microbrewery. Oh, and don’t forget those CAMRA awards.

We close at The Dolphin, the late-night legend that danced too close to the flame. Once a karaoke-fueled chaos magnet, now a chill spot with a Grade II listing and a slightly less wild crowd.

Show Map

https://historiclondonpubcast.com/show-map/

References

Hackney

The Kenton

The Chesham Arms

The Cock Tavern

Website: https://historiclondonpubcast.com

E-mail: hosteric@historiclondonpubcast.com

Pickled eggs. Punk rock. Moose heads.

This is Podcast Producer, Andy Meddick. Putting it out there - I don't like any of those things. I find them all equally alarming. Keeping an open mind, however, I joined host and guide Eric Blair for Part 1 of a multi-visit to multicultural Hackney. And you know what? I'm glad I did.

Today, we’re diving headfirst into London’s rebel borough - Hackney. A part of the city where pubs have more comeback stories than a '90s boy band, and locals will absolutely chain themselves to a boozer to keep it alive.

From Hackney Cabs to The Kenton’s Nordic makeover to The Dolphin’s glorious descent into late-night chaos, this one's got beer, brawls, and a shocking amount of community spirit.

Oh, and yes - there’s sex. Sex Pistols. Got your attention now, didn’t I?

Given how sharp our listeners are, as you listen to this episode, I’ll be surprised if you, dear Listener, do not notice what you might consider a glaring omission from the episode. Here’s a hint! Think Empire. No, not that one, not the British Empire. The Empire. Hackney Empire, that is. 

In the interests of time for today’s episode, Host & Guide, Eric Blair made an editorial decision to return to Hackney and cover The Hackney Empire in a Hackney Part 2 episode. That’s Podcaster speak for, “I ran out of time.” 

So, with that, I already have the title for our return visit to Hackney episode. What else can it be other than, “Hackney Pubs Part 2 - The Empire Strikes Back!” Stay tuned to our socials for a scheduling announcement for that episode.

So, for now dear Listener, all that remains for me to say is, grab your walking shoes and join us for a walk on the wild side. We’ll make a Hacktivist of you yet.

Eric, our hopes are high! Let’s go!

Today we're over in East Hackney.

Now, I didn't know much about Hackney until I started researching this episode, but with a bit more knowledge, let me just say if London has a rebel Borough, it's Hackney, and, like any establishment character looking to, ‘Stick it to the man’, Hackney certainly has had its ups and downs over the years. But hey, doesn't that make the story all the more interesting?

The name Hackney came from an Old English word from either a hatch denoting a place that was an entrance to the woods, or a hook referring to a bend in the river. The Romans built a major road through Hackney, known as Ermine Street, that went all the way up to York. Shoreditch High Street and Kingsland Road run the same route today as a road once provided passage for all the legions.

Hackney remained rather rural, became a favored country house location for the well-heeled in the Tudor period, all the way into the 1800s. Henry VIII had a nice place over at Clapham in the 1500s. Daniel Defoe said about this village in 1727,

“This town is so remarkable for its retreat of wealthy citizens that there is at this time nearly 100 coaches kept in it, though I would not join a certain satirical author who said of Hackney, “There were more coaches than Christians in it.””

Thanks Danny boy.

Ever heard a London cab referred to as a ‘Hack’? The origin of that name came from here in 1621. There's a reference to a conveyance called a Hackney Coach, later called a Hackney Carriage, beginning to be seen in London at that time.

In the 17th and 18th Century, market gardening supplying London was a big part of Hackney's economy. Also, during this time, Hackney became a settlement for religious dissenters, including Quakers and Huguenots. The tradition of welcoming immigrants would continue into the 20th Century.

By the early 19th Century, improved roads and later railway links made Hackney a commuter suburb for merchants, artisans and professionals.

All seemed to be going well until World War two, when the borough sustained heavy bombing. There was a postwar redevelopment and construction of housing estates, along with continued settlement of immigrants.

A large Caribbean community developed from the 1950s. Later joined by Turkish, Kurdish and Vietnamese arrivals. Unfortunately, in the second half of the 20th Century, parts of Hackney experienced economic decline, with high unemployment in some areas.

In the 1980s, Hackney was described as the country's poorest Borough, but that was no longer the case at the turn of the millennium. Things had started to turn up.

Today, Hackney is back to being fashionable, with diverse populations, strong tradition of community activism, and a cultural vibrancy. Recent years has seen an influx of artists, creative industries and tech firms. Today's Hackney is a mix of historic architecture, markets and new developments.

So, with Hackney nicely on the mend, let's sample one of its pubs. We'll start with The Kenton at 38 Kenton Road. CAMRA and several other sources say that this pub was built around 1860. I'll go with that. But they also say it was built by Sir Benjamin Kenton. Now here's where I beg to differ. I would suggest that the pub was not built by, but rather named after, Ben Kenton.

“Why,” you ask? Because he died some 60 years earlier. Now, let me say, Ben Kenton does deserve to have a pub named in his honor here in East London. Born in 1719, in Whitechapel, about three miles south of here, he started life working in a tavern and eventually took ownership of The Crown and Magpie in Aldgate. He became renowned for mastering the art of bottling beer and ale so well that it could survive long voyages to warm climates without quirk failures. This skill greatly contributed to his wealth. He was a successful wine merchant, a philanthropist, and a leader within The Vintners Company, that's the powerful Wine Merchants Guild, serving as its Master in 1776.

For his charitable donations, he has a ward in Saint Bartholomew's Hospital named after him, a monument in St Stephanie’s church, and even Kenton Street, where the pub sits, named in his honor.

Ben Porter was held in especially high regard. abetterbeerblog 427.com has a piece on Ben's frame. See the link in the notes.This article highlights how popular his beer was in the American Colonies. George Washington bought a supply of his Porter in 1760. That was before things got testy. And just three years after all the dust up got settled in Yorktown, an ad appeared in March 1st, 1784, in a New York newspaper, stating that the next day at noon there would be 40 barrels and hogsheads of Ben Kenton's Porter for sale.

The Yanks might not think much of King George, but everyone wanted to be friends with Ben. So that's my case for saying that Kenton Arms was not Ben's construction, but his namesake. And by the way, there was no Sir Benjamin Kenton. He was never knighted. As far as I can tell, although maybe he should have been. So, from the 1860s until 2007, The Kenton Arms continued on, doing its job as a neighborhood pub, making local folks happy.

For a time, it was a Bass-Charrington tied pub, and after that a couple of other tie ups. But things took a bad turn by 2007. Poor management put economic viability of The Kenton arms in question. It closed and the future was uncertain. Now, enter one Egil Johansen. He told his story in a 2019 article in The Morning Advertiser. See the link.

Egil said that after five years as a Marketing Manager in London promoting his home country Norway, he took a gap year. He lived in the area and knew the pub and friends encouraged him to take the helm. He did so in March of 2009. He first gave the pub a complete revamp, taking up the old carpet and putting around memorabilia from Norway, including a moose head on the wall that his grandfather shot in 1976.

The pub reemerged not as The Kenton Arms but just The Kenton, and it quickly became a success. Awards followed. Best Newcomer in London. Great British Pub Awards 2010. Most Loved Pub in London, Time Out 2015. The pub became a free house in 2015. Egil says he likes being able to offer whatever drinks he wants. The pub was a national finalist in the Best Free House category of the Great British Pub Awards in 2018.

Locals have nicknamed it, “Hackney Scandi pub,” a term their website gladly embraces. Egil says that the patrons are typically locals 25 to 45 years old. Just good working men and women, like teachers from nearby schools and nurses and hospital staff who pop in at the end of the day. Congratulations to Egil for doing such a good job bringing the pub back from the brink to once again become a terrific local. I think good old Ben Kenton would be proud of you.

Okay, we're off now to our next pub, about a nine-minute walk away. As we stroll along, let me mention a few interesting people associated with Hackney. I mention that it is now a fashionable place to live. Actors Idris Elba and Michael Fassbender reside here. In fact, Idris was born in Hackney.

Also born in Hackney was famed Astronomer Edmond Halley, discoverer of the comet that bears his name. A young Edgar Allan Poe spent the last two years of his five-year stay in Britain, up at Reverend John Brand Manor School in Stoke Newington, a village in the north part of Hackney. Sir Alan Sugar was born in Hackney. Growing up in a council flat here, he left school at 16 to work odd jobs boiling beetroot for a Grocer, selling core aerials from a market stall before buying a van and striking out on his own.

In 1968, aged just 21, he founded Amstrad, short for Alan Michael's Sugar Trading, a company that began by selling affordable stereo equipment and later became famous in Britain for budget-friendly personal computers, word processors and satellite TV receivers that brought home computing and Sky TV to the masses. His knack for spotting gaps in the market, undercutting rivals and delivering good enough products at the right price made him a multi-millionaire.

While his Hackney upbringing fostered a streetwise, unsentimental approach to business. Sharp on value, quick on decisions and uninterested in frills.

Sometime in the mid-1970s, a couple of fellows attending Hackney Technical College became friends and decided to start a band. John Simon Ritchie and John Leyden both had the same first name, but not for long. They became Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten, and the band was the Sex Pistols coming to you straight out of Hackney.

But Hackney Tech was not the only school with famous alums. There was also Hackney Downs School, once hailed as the ‘Eton of the East’ in the educated, some notable London folks, including actor Sir Michael Caine and playwright Harold Pinter. Pinter, a prominent British playwright, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005. Other alums include artists, directors, scientists, and even a fellow, Eric Bristow, hailed as one of the greatest darts players ever.

Despite these illustrious alumni, Hackney Downs faced significant challenges and was ultimately closed in 1995 due to underperformance. Look at the graduates. Could it have been that bad?

Okay, I hope that chat gave you a bit more about the area and some of the folks that might have frequented the pubs we are visiting today. Just speculation, of course. I don't have their GPS records.

Here we are at The Chesham Arms, 15 Mehetabel Road in the local area of Hackney known as Homerton. This is a solid mid-Victorian pub built around the mid-1860s. I can't find anything of note in its history up until the 21st Century. It was just another good local boozer. That is, until 2012 came along. Didn't the Mayans say that was the year that would give us some trouble? Well, they were right, at least for this pub. Same story you've heard me tell several times. Just different pub. A property developer bought the pub, closed it in 2012 and proceeded with plans to tear it down and build a block of flats. But the pub had home boys and girls, and those locals took up the challenge. The developer exhibited an, ‘I'm going to do what I want attitude,’ which really didn't work in his favor with the local council. The following year, the pub received an Asset of Community Value, ACV Status and review and waiting provisions required for building with that status means that from a practical standpoint, it virtually can't be torn down or significantly repurposed.

CAMRA tells us,

“The pub reopened in June 2015 as a traditional East End boozer after a very tasteful and sympathetic refurbishment.” 

But the ACV Status was only good for five years. Happily, in 2018, ACV status was renewed. Articles from the Hackney Citizen from 2013 and 2018 are linked. They have a couple of good quotes from local folks at the time of the initial fight, and when the outcome was not yet clear.

Sue Chester, who had lived nearby for around 30 years, described The Chesham Arms as,

“An institution,”

and said,

“The Chesham will be sadly missed as a much loved, well-used local amenity which is part of the local fabric and history of the locality.”

Spoken from the heart.

In 2018, after the successful renewal of the ACV status, Hackney Planning Manager Guy Nicholson said,

“Pubs play an important role in the daily life of the communities and local economy. Once these buildings are lost to other uses, it's rare to see them return to their original use. Re designating the ACV status of The Chesham Arms sends a clear message to the owners that this venue and the community around it is important and must be considered in any future plans for the building.”

I like it, and the article concludes by telling us that at the time there were nine properties in Hackney with ACV status. Five of them are pubs. Thank you. Hackney.

You know, just like the player on the bench who will soon become a star might say,

“Put me in, Coach. Let me show you what I can do.”

That's what happened to The Chesham Arms. Six months after reopening, it was voted the year's best pub in the city and east London area by 1600 members of CAMRA.

And the hits kept coming.

In 2025, the Telegraph newspaper released its 500 Best Pubs in the UK. Ten are in London, and The Chesham Armsis one of those.

Pubs Galore reviewers love the local feel. Here's how I summarize one description,

“Just a short stroll from Hackney station, this pub feels tucked away on a quiet back street, giving it a true local charm.

You step into a simple open space with the bar straight ahead. A modern counter sits alongside a classic bar decorated with an old radio and a touch of royal wedding memorabilia. To the right, cozy seating clusters around a brick fireplace with a small stove, adding a warm, homey feel. Further back, red painted walls, another fireplace and potted plants, a fisheye mirror and an upright piano stacked with board games create a welcoming corner. The left side mirrors the charm, with more seating and tasteful paintings and some beer themed decorations. High shelves of old Penguin books peek out over the bar, and a door at the rear opens onto a bright, flower filled garden.” 

With all the success, I think the idea of a block of flats replacing this gem is solidly now in the rearview mirror.”

Another win for the good guys. Thanks friends of The Chesham. You have done us all a great service.

Off again. Eight minutes away to The Cock Tavern, 315 Mare Street. On our way there, let me say my last bit about Hackney history. Hackney has long been a sanctuary for those who challenge the status quo. Its history is a tapestry worn from the threads of dissent and diversity dating back to the 17th Century.

The Borough offered refuge to persecuted Huguenots fleeing religious intolerance in France, and to Quakers seeking freedom of worship. In the 20th Century, Hackney became a mosaic of immigrant communities. Caribbean, Turkish, Kurdish, Vietnamese and Eastern European, each one adding to the Borough's cultural fabric. That mix of histories and voices has created a setting where radical ideas tend to take root.

Hackney is even proud enough of this character to keep a timeline of its radical history boldly entitled Hackney - Cradle for Subversives. Tracing key moments all the way back to 1649. Linked in the notes.

Now I want to share a few points from that list 16. In fact, spreading across more than 300 years. And you may be thinking,

“Sixteen! Isn't that a bit much? Can’t we get the idea without going through them all?”

Well, here's why. When I read the full list, what struck me wasn't just the number, but the range of Hackney's radicalism swerving from left to right, from ultra libertarianism to the simple demand for democracy back when that was considered dangerous stuff. So, as I take these off and don't worry, they'll go quickly.

Listen for the diversity of the Radical Street. These weren't people who followed the herd. And before long, we'll see how that very spirit turns up in deciding the fate of a Hackney pub.

  • 1649 Hackney resident John Okey, one of the 59 signers of the death warrant of King Charles the First.
  • 1793 big open-air demonstration on Hackney Downs in support of revolutionary gains in France.
  • 1795 meeting organizing the Society of Friends of Liberty for the Rights of Men, as proclaimed by Tom Paine.
  • 1860s suffragettes. Campaign for the vote for women.
  • 1866 widespread demonstration for universal male suffrage. Tory government ban on protests. Meetings throughout London is widely ignored.
  • December 1875 A crowd of several thousand people assembled on Hackney Downs to take part in the destruction of fences newly built around the enclosures on what was traditionally regarded as common land.
  • 1881 establishment of the Hackney Radical Club, one of the first political workingmen's club in England.
  • 1881 Homerton Social Democratic Club founded.
  • 1883 Homerton Social Democratic Club closed down by police for its radical stance.
  • 1913 East London anarchist group meeting Sundays at Victoria Park. 1950 Hackney Communist Party active.
  • 1956 Jewish Radical Mutual aid organization The Worker Circle, moves to Hackney from Aldgate.
  • 1957 First Hackney Anti H bomb.
  • March 1978 National Front and anti-immigrant, white nationalist group opens its headquarters in Hackney.
  • 1984 Greenham Women block Dalston Junction to protest cruise missiles being transported on public roads elsewhere in Britain.
  • 1990 Anti-Poll Tax riot outside Town Hall, and,
  • Finally, the timeline ends with May 1996 Hackney Anarchy Week, a ten-day festival.

Wow with all that take-action spirit!. I can see why it was possible to get folks marching to save The Chesham Arms.  

Okay, comrades, let's occupy The Cock Tavern. At least for one round. Pubwiki says there was a pub in Hackney Village called The Cock Tavern as early as 1561. Now, CAMRA says it wasn't quite that early - the 1650s, but everyone agrees that the current pub is a Truman’s rebuild of the 1930s.

Truman knew how to make changes, but not throw out the good stuff. They gave it the full treatment of what was then called the ‘Improve Pub Architecture,’ meaning bigger rooms, more open spaces, a place that invited you to linger rather than hide away. None of that Victorian love of privacy stuff that carved pubs into little cubbyholes, complete with snob screens to make sure you didn't have to look at your fellow drinkers.

The good stuff that was working that they kept in the place - The Management. Let me tell you a bit about that. Thomas Girling took over running the pub in 1895. He died in 1909 and his wife carried on. Their daughter grew up in the business and married a man named Souby. Mr. and Mrs. Souby ran several pubs before returning to The Cock to help out Mother Girling run the place. Unfortunately, Mother Girling and husband Soulby both died in 1933, but Mrs. Soulby continued on, finally retiring in 1952. At that time all of this was proudly written up in The Black Eagle, the in-house journal of Truman Brewery. By my math, that's 57 years of family tradition. Congrats to the Girlings and the Soulbys. Looks like the streak of good management continues on today, as evidenced by some impressive awards in 2016.

Purely Pickled Egg supplier of well you know what, awarded the Cock Tavern, ‘We Love Pickled Eggs’ award for selling the most of any outlet. They got a big write up in Hackney Citizen saying in part,

The tavern's Luke Pickle-boy-Malloy, who is behind the egg craze, said that the phenomenon was inspired by a customer request. 

“A guy came in and asked for packets of crisp and a pickled egg,” 

he said,  

“It's apparently an old London tradition. I was inspired by that and started selling eggs and people kept eating them. “

Mr. Malloy and Purely pickled eggs was astonished by the demand of the product at tavern, and created an award to recognize his achievement. The eggs are set to remain on the menu, and the pub is looking to expand the range of flavors.

The full article from The Hackney Citizen is linked in the notes, and there were some awards beyond those involving pickled eggs. The Cock Tavern was named Beard Friendly Pub of the year numerous times from 2016 onward. The award is based on an online poll organized by the Beard Liberation Front, and finally the pub won CAMRA’s East End Cider Pub of the year in 2024.

One final note about The Cock Tavern. It was the original home of Howling Hops microbrewery. Howling Hops started in the cellar of the tavern in 2015 and offered beers poured straight from the tanks. At some point they moved out over to a location a couple of miles east, and still offers straight from the tank experience at that location. Their beers remain on tap at The Cock, not just straight from the tank now.

Hackney is a hotbed for craft brewing. Craftbeernomads.com did a piece last fall highlighting six Hackney craft beer breweries. Linked. Well, you know where.

Okay. We have enjoyed our occupation of The Cock Tavern and got no gruff from getting a bit of pickled egg on our beard. Nice. Hackney is such a happening place. Let's see if we have time for one more pub.

Let's go about ten minutes south on Mare Street to The Dolphin pub. The pub reminds me of a highly talented rock star that gets in trouble frequently, as always. Let's start at the beginning. Fire insurance records have a pub called The Dolphin standing here in 1795. A record from 1837 tells us that a license was granted to the dolphin for public music, dancing and other public entertainments of light kind.

The period between 1850 and 1900 saw some architectural activity that resulted in the pub having a Grade II listing. Today, Historic England, the folks that award the Grade II status says that the reasons for the designation are,

”Public House of the 1850s, with a very fine interior circa 1900 or slightly earlier. It has bar fittings and glazed screens, but is mostly noted for its completely surviving tiled walls with picture signs by W.B. Simpson and Sons of Saint Martin's Lane, one of the leading pub interior decorators.”

This appears to have once been a Truman’s pub and probably got a nice interior under their ownership. Sometime in the 1940s, it became an Irish pub and rocked along as that through the change of the millennium. But hold on to your hat, the roller coaster ride was about to begin.

In 2001, a fellow named Yasar Yildiz bought the pub and began reshaping it. He added karaoke, deejays and cocktails, steering it away from its traditional roots. Then came a turning point. The 2003 Licensing Act. That legislation overhauled alcohol licensing laws in England and Wales. One of the most controversial features was that it abolished the old standard closing times. That was 11 p.m. for pubs and 2 a.m. for nightclubs, and allowed premises to apply for a longer or even 24-hour opening, subject to local council approval.

By 2005, The Dolphin held one of Hackney's first licenses to stay open until 4 a.m. on weekends. That late license transformed the pub. Time out later described the atmosphere as,

“Sweaty, chaotic and gloriously uncontrolled.”

Nights were defined by karaoke sessions, staggering quantities of Jaeger bombs, up to 5000 patrons, a week by some count, and a reputation for both romance and mayhem.

As one regular recalled,

“It was the best and the worst of Hackney, all in one room.”

The Dolphins infamously grew thanks in part to social media. A local resident, David Levan, lived across the road and began tweeting nightly updates of the chaos he saw spilling out into the streets. His post went viral, leading to the parody Twitter account ‘At The Dolphin Pub,’ which built a cult following and cemented the pub's reputation beyond Hackney.

But the success also drew scrutiny. By 2013, police describe The Dolphin as Hackney's worst theft hotspot, with 92 reported incidents in a single year. Councilors noted that the majority of the problems happened after 1 a.m., and in September of that year, Hackney council cut the pub's hours revoking the 4 a.m. license and requiring it to close by 1:30 a.m..

The response was immediate. Nearly 3000 people signed Save The Dolphin petition, with support ranging from local residents to well-known names like Caroline Flack, a popular TV presenter, and actor Michael Fassbender. The campaign paid off. In 2014, a Magistrates Court overturned the restrictions, restoring the late-night license. For a while the party carried on, but problems persisted and in November 2021, Hackney Council revoked the license altogether after citing serious breaches.

The Dolphin was no longer permitted to sell alcohol. In 2023 it reopened under new terms, with earlier closing hours still standing but a different creature from the late-night legend it once was. Check out the Time Out article linked in the notes. It's a fun read about The Dolphin’s years walking on the wild side.

Since reopening in 2023, the Dolphin Tavern has taken on a gentler rhythm. Reviewers call it quiet but friendly, with earlier closing hours and a more easygoing crowd. The days of chaotic late-night drama are gone. Instead, it's become a place for a relaxed pint, a bit of music and a conversation that doesn't have to compete with the volume. Not as wild as it once was, but perhaps all the better for those who like their evenings calm and companionable.

Give it a try, if nothing else, for the interior tiles. To close my rockstar analogy. The pub has put its troubled past behind it, been through rehab and is now pleasing the fans with acoustic sets.

Okay, remember I said we'd see Hackney's radical character come out with regards to a pub? That's The Dolphin. In 2013, it was what you might describe as, ‘A den of iniquity’ or, ‘A temple of late-night mayhem.’

Nonetheless, 3000 Hackneyites signed the petition to save it, and by 2023 it was even awarded a Grade II listing. If that's not against the run of the mill, I don't know what is.

So, that brings us to the end of our first episode in Hackney. There are still more to see, and I think we'll be back.

Before I turn you over to super Producer Andy to do the wrap up, let me just say thank you so much for listening and I'd love to hear from you. My email’s in the notes.

And until next time, cheers!

There you have it. In just one episode, we’ve covered radical uprisings, beer bottling brilliance, pickled egg economics, and pubs so beloved people actually went to local council meetings to save them.

This is Podcast Producer, Andy Meddick. If you thought pickled eggs alone were odd enough. I’ve had to sit bar-side next to blokes popping them in their bags of Salt & Vinegar crisps and munching down. Conversation within breathing range of that is worthy of an award from CAMRA. 

Sorry, I got distracted again by pickled eggs. So, on today’s leisurely stroll through Hackney we learned that in Hackney, the moose is loose, the punk is still alive, and the pickled egg has found its home. We saw pubs rise, fall, and rise again with cider and Norwegian décor. We learned that the Hackney Cab originated, where else, but Hackney, and finally we got introduced to pub fueled Hacktivism.

Next time you're in London, head east to Hackney. Keep your mind and your wallet open, bring your curiosity, your walking shoes, and maybe a small placard and a bunch of markers, just in case another pub needs saving.

Until next time dear Listener, support a pub, drink something weird, and maybe, just maybe, start a small revolution. 

Sorry, again. Still distracted by pickled egg and Salt & Vinegar crisp horrors, I almost forgot to mention what’s up next. 

In Episode 52 (yes, 52 already), we’re heading back south of the river to what was an area of countryside retreats and is now the busy London suburb of Kennington. This is thanks in no part to a certain controversial, yet visionary American Financier, Charles Tyson Yerkes and his plans for the London underground rail consolidation and expansion. Like many areas of modern-day London, Yerkes' work around the City and South London Railway, now part of the London Underground's Northern Line had a direct impact on rapid outward development of London. 

So, thank you Mr. Yerkes, today we can follow the Northern line to Kennington where we will be letting the dogs out, where the ghosts wear stovepipe hats, pubs rise from the ashes of gentrification, and Charlie Chaplin, like many of us young lads, got sent to fetch his Dad from many a riverside tavern. 

Please contain your excitement until then, and remember, every pub has a story to tell, if you know where to look.