The Strangest Things in London's Pubs - A Guided Pub History Tour
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video, Jessica the Museum Guide (that’s me!) takes you on a guided tour of the strangest things in London’s iconic pubs. We’ll see not one but two nooses, underground jail cells, taxidermized parrots, ossified old buns, ominous stopped clocks, and more mummified cats than you can shake a stick at.
Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts about these bizarre stories and objects, and tell me which pub you’d like to visit most.
As always, thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this virtual museum tour, then please consider leaving me a tip at www.paypal.me/jessicatourguide or buy me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/JessicaG...
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Remember - I guide private museum, oddities, and graveyard tours in London. Get in touch at jessica@themuseumguide.com
VIDEO SUMMARY
We start our tour at the iconic Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, and learn about its pronunciation before discovering poor Polly, stuffed and mounted after imitating too many champagne corks in the roaring ‘20s. We talk about some naughty Georgian plaster casts found in the walls before heading down the street to the Viaduct Tavern gin palace, venturing into the cellar to discover its old jail cells, possible connected to the Old Bailey.
Next, we make our way to Dirty Dicks - stop giggling! It’s named for an old hoarder known for collecting dirty old bits like mummified cats - he was even written about by Charles Dickens! We open a whole can of worms there, with tons of mummified cat trivia as we swing up to Highgate to talk about the now-closed Whittington and Cat pub.
We head to Bloomsbury to see the stopped clock at the Dolphin Tavern, levelled by a German Zeppelin attack during the First World War, and then make our way to the river to skulk through the divey pubs of Wapping. We gaze at the old hangman’s noose at the Prospect of Whitby and reminisce about the execution dock and Captain Kidd.
Heading further north, we swing by the Widow’s Son, known to all as the Bun House for its peculiar tradition of hanging a hot cross bun from the rafters every Good Friday, and learn that there’s another pub in Essex that does the same! Finally, we sneak into The Tower of London and see the executioner’s axe on display at The Keys, the ultra-private Yeoman Warder’s club.
0:00 - Introduction to the Tour
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We've lost so many beautiful historic pubs in the UK, particularly recently, it's very important that we use the ones we have left. Mine's a Guinness. 🍻
I make sure to patronise my local pubs all the time! 🍺
One of the coolest things that I've been lucky enough to experience was a pub crawl years ago. At a walk at night on the south side of the Thames..... something I'll always remember. What a great city , what a great time I had . It truly felt like I was living a Dickens novel!
It’s truly a special place.
I feel so lucky to be a Londoner born and bred! Just so much history and layers of weirdness! Love your videos xx
Glad you like them!
@TheMuseumGuide I've never seen any programmes so knowledgeable! I really never knew that "Ye Olde" so and so , was just a gramatical thing. I didn't know that the YE was actually pronounced THE!
Great video Jessica! We hit the Olde Cheshire Cheese for a few each time we are in London as well as The George on Borough high Street. On our last trip we did a bit of a pub crawl walking along the Thames path from London Bridge through Wapping stopping in at the Prospect, the Kidd, Ramsgate and finishing up at the Grapes in Limehouse for fish and chips. It was such a nice stroll, we saw a family of local foxes spending a lazy afternoon in a lot across from the Captain Kidd and then a seal in the Thames just off of the top deck at the Prospect. London pubs are a treasure!
That sounds like a wonderful walk!
I love the look of old pubs, great video very interesting :)
They have such a great atmospheric feel. Thanks for watching!
Fascinating.
Thank you for watching!
Just found your phenomenal channel. I absolutely love it. I’m American and boy, are we boring compared to this. ;) I’m binge watching every single one. Also helps that I love history as well. You present this perfectly. 👏🏼👏🏼 ♥️ from 🇺🇸!
Thank you so much!
I absolutely love the pubs here in London. I've patronised all but 2 of the pubs mentioned here, and yet I've hardly spotted any of the artefacts. An opportunity to look again! Thanks!
Jeffries is hated in the WestCountry because he shipped and sold many countrymen to the West Indies where they were sold as slaves the proceeds being put in James’s treasury.
You’re very welcome!
YES For all offered videos!!!
You got it!
@@TheMuseumGuide YIPPEE!!!
Amen to THAT!!!!!
I remember my dad and grandfather telling me about the parrot. The pair of them were great leg pullers, they never met a story that couldn't benefit from a little "improvement"! Miss both, you crazy buggers.
The last time me and the old man went for a drink with grandpa, was at The Prospect. It's still one of my favourite London pubs.
Awww, I miss my grandpa (also a tall tale teller) too. ❤️
Greetings from Canada. Another awesome vid. All your videos make me miss London. Your suggestions for future vids are excellent but I'm quite happy to watch anything you post. :)
I been to the Prospect! Food is rubbish, but such a cool place to visit. Couldn’t toss a coin on the top on the noose holder. It’s pretty cool to see what happens and the floor when it is high tide
Food in these type of pubs is usually dire. Don’t get me started on the Cheese!
TH-cam's algorithm suggested this channel and I am delighted! It pleases my inner history nerd, and lets me live vicariously as I'm on the other side of the planet.
Each time I hear "let me know if you want a video on xyz" I find myself loudly thinking "Yes, of course I want a video on that!" So I'm super excited to subscribe and see what comes next, from mudlarking to mummies and everything else.
I’m so happy you found me! ❤️
Yes to all the ideas for possible future videos that you mention. I really enjoy your channel Jessica. Happy New Year!
Same to you!
This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Another great video! Looking forward to visiting these pubs. Yes please to a video on the Sloane Museum.
Coming soon!
Wow...such atmosphere...slightly grisly as I am a cat lover. I do believe putting
mummified cats in a wall has something to do with The Old Religion. Another
great tour....now I am thirsty!! Thank you again.
Lawrie
A delight to watch again!
I' m afraid this video was a trip down 'memory lane' for me so I thank you for it. Some historic facts I knew, but many others I didn't. It was nice to see them all again. Cheers!
You're very welcome
Yay Jessica love seeing you showing us Pubs again ❤
Thank you for watching!
Wonderful tour! Can't wait to see these on my next London visit! Hopefully soon. Thank you!
Just subscribed Jessica. There is something in your videos that made me enjoy it. then I realized it was your personality. This feels like a good friend giving you a tour.
Thank you so much!!
Serendipity had brought this video to my recommended feed. I'm so thankful that it did!
I’m glad you’re here!
Excellent history. Here in the States we have a small town that angered a local businessman. They are located on a major highway and so to avenge he took his semi and parked it parallel to the road. The sign he had painted referred to himself: Big Dickl
🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for the informative video! (Although as a lifelong cat person, the sight of so many mummified moggies was a little unsettling).
We visited the Cheshire Cheese while visiting the UK from Canada in 2017. While I did pop downstairs to look at the vaults, I missed the parrot and dictionary, so will have to go back.
Our waiter there was lovely, and so very stereotypically English, a middle aged man with a white shirt, tie and apron, very polite (though never actually cracking as much as a grin) and slightly bemused.
Another pub we really enjoyed was The George in Southwark. Tons of history there too.
That’s a fantastic pub. I should film there, too!
fabulous video! I've always dreamed of going to London to experience these kinds of things. Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome!
This was amusing and informative…you always do such a good job. I love the old pubs that keep their history. We are utterly lacking such establishments in Canada, which I feel is a terrible thing. Happy New Year.🖤🇨🇦
Thank you for watching!
Just wonderful ! Cheers !
Many thanks!
So much of London’s history has been sanitised and tidied up
Especially when it comes to mummified cats!
Loved this video! Thank you.
You are so welcome!
You did an amazing job. I loved it. I had my fill of imfo. now i feel i have a better sense of everything that has been missed on other channels.
This was awesome! Just subscribed. If I ever get to London I hope to run into you!
Welcome aboard!
Keep it up - love your tours!
Thank you! Will do!
Excellent video , so interesting !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, to all of your proposed videos and perhaps a look into mudlarking? (I know, there are other vids I could watch about that, but I don't wanna!) Enjoyable and informative as always. Thanks, Jessica!
Great suggestion!
Love to see your tour of the Sloan museum!
I have it filmed! I need to edit it.
So excited. My mum and I are scheduling a tour just like this with Jessica!
I’m excited to meet you!
@@TheMuseumGuide Same here!
Great video with history and pubs….two of the best things about London. Thanks to another pub crawl video you did, we spent two days in the City Of London and visited The Old Bank Of England, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (had a pint in the vault area!), Ye Olde Cock, The Blackfriar and gin tasting at Whitley Neill……I think a couple more pubs as well….but the memory was a bit hazy after pint #8!!
So glad I could help! (But sorry to your liver…)
Another lovely video, I also would very much like to see a video from you on the "History of Public Executions as Told Through the Artifacts in London's Museums and Churches" Next time you are at The Prospect of Whitby, kindly raise a glass to Judge Jeffery's for me.
It just looks so interesting! Would love to visit at some stage 😊
You should!
Love this! Will definitely call should i take a trip to london
You should!
Great video! My favorite “Pub Crawl” last summer included the trio of pubs in Wapping. BTW, Town of Ramsgate serves a fantastic steak & ale pie! Cheers!
Very cool - a perfect pub crawl. Thanks for watching!
Awesome video! Flagged up a few more places to visit in London. Thanks 🖤
You’re very welcome!
These pubs are absolutely brilliant. ⚒️👍
Such great places for a drink. Or three…
Exelent channel. You got yourself a sub, and thanks for the content.
Welcome aboard!
Just found ur channel and enjoying the content. Congrats to my fellow canuck 🇨🇦
Thanks and welcome, eh!
An excellent presentation. Informative and entertaining. Very best, Calgary, Canada
Thank you kindly!
I just found your channel and I must say that I’ve been binging all of your videos since. Im a doctor in clinical psych and forensic psych. i have a great fascination for museums. Thanks for being our eyes to the world. ❤
Welcome aboard!
@@TheMuseumGuide have you considered doing a detailed tour of the museum of the mind? I learned about it from u!
Nice video. Happy new year to you and your family 😊
Same to you! (Belated!)
Great video, many thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video! Makes me want to plan a trip to London.
You should!
Very interesting 👌 I haven't been to London for over 40 years 🤔 thanks for sharing this video 😀
You’re welcome 😊
"Let me know if you would like a video about--"
Yes, yes I would like all the videos. Thank you.
🤣 Noted!
Commenter before watching! Yes! I was just thinking of your channel and I’m so happy. Back to business. Wishing you well from across the pond
Thank you so much!!
The most famous parrot in British History is the Norwegian Blue ( lovely plumage!)
🤣🤣🤣
Nice video Jessica! 🙂
Thank you!
Wow, u r too good. Love this
Thank you!
Thanks 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌹
You’re welcome 😊
Hey Jessica. Awesome video as usual. Do you have a website where you can book onto your tours?
I do! Www.themuseumguide.com
I've been to the Viaduct, but I definitely have to hit up the Olde Cheshire Cheese next time I visit :) Thanks for the video!
You’re welcome!
Great video The Thames doesn't artificially narrow, the tides are very natural.
I was referring to the artificial narrowing of the embankment project in the 1850s, but I probably wasn’t clear! Thanks for watching.
I love historic pubs- this was a delight. I'm going to London next week, but the friend I'm visiting is doing Dry January, so sadly I don't think we'll be visiting any of these. Hopefully some other time!
Dr Johnson's wasn't actually the first English dictionary- it was just loads better than any of the previous ones and was the first to become popular. That Executions exhibition was really good- very dark obviously, but a fascinating insight into the past. Also... OMG... those tiles... not a lot left to the imagination. You can kinda see why the Museum of London is afraid to put them on display! 18th century London was properly debauched. Future video idea if you need one- Georgian London's seedy underbelly, from Covent Garden to Tyburn Tree...
Great ideas, and thank you for clarification on Dr Johnson’s dictionary! He was a proper character.
I have visited the Tyburn monastery and plan to do a video about the Tyburn tree! It’s on the long list.
@@TheMuseumGuide Great- look forward to it. Johnson was definitely a character- he was regarded as conservative in his day due to his beliefs about religion and government, but he hated slavery, had lots of female friends, left most of his money to his Black servant and loved snarky humour. He seems like one of the most humane and also fun people from his era. One of those rare historical figures it'd genuinely be great to have at a dinner party!
Great video!
One small error: James, Duke of Monmouth was not the son of Nell Gwynn. He was the son of Charles II and Lucy Walter. They were allegedly married briefly and she died young. Charles II was the one who reared his son until he was invited back to England.
Thank you! Where did I get this idea?!
Sir John Soane’s museum, please!
17:30 YES! YES! YES!
Omg those tiles are so "graffic"
Lol
First time I even heard of them, can understand why they're not on display - not family friendly
They’re shocking, to say the least! 😝
Cool
Thanks!
Have you found the tiny pub in Fulham?? One of the smallest in the world. Near Fulham Broadway..
I haven’t! There is a teensy one in Margate, too- it’s in my Bizarre UK Christmas traditions video, during the Morris dancing segment. It’s called the Petit Prince!
Many houses I've renovated have had mummified cats in the walls, I was told it was down to a few things suchlike as good luck, protection from evil or vermin.
It’s good luck! What a cool/weird find.
Visited in 1963 in the evening lines of children walking up to car drivers " look after your car guv" was the earliest mugging i ever came across
Smart kids!
Alas for the lack of mummies, but it's always good fun to see inside old pubs. I am reminded to look up whether the MoL ever took an archive picture of the erotic fireplace tile with the Thing With The Basket now, I stumbled on them whilst trying to find the Deftware 'love cup' that was displayed in the museum throughout my childhood to prove a point about 18th century, ah, bedroom accessories (never found it in the digital record, *not* going to Google it).
Also, just in case your husband is so fond of hot cross buns that he devours them on sight, I'll note for any non-UK comment readers inspired to try one that they're supposed to be cut in half, gently toasted, then eaten hot with butter as part of your Easter feast. A raw hot cross bun just isn't the same.
I’m not a fan toasted or untoasted, but that’s good advice! Thank you for watching. Let me know what you find regarding the MoL archive!
@@TheMuseumGuide ...I have found that the useful catalogue search has been replaced with browser cookie Hell, and promptly ran away, I'm afraid. On the upside, being unable to actually look at the tile in question makes The Thing With The Basket seem all the more like a mysterious forbidden advanced erotic technique, tantalisingly awaiting rediscovery by someone with a really good source of wicker withies, a winch and a well-endowed gentleman friend...
Today I learned "Ye Olde" is actually "The Olde"... fascinating! I'm always intrigued by alternate spellings, like using f's and such.
It changes how I read old signs!
Great! I need more creepy videos! Thanks from Ukraine!
Glad you like them!
Friends took us to London and a Pub/restaurant attached to a church. It was called The Crypt. Now that is a place you should go & review
Was it in St Mary Le Bow on Cheapside?
St Christ church in Spitalfields is the name of that church
My father like many Irish people before and since, came to the UK to find work. He lived in London from 1935 to 1938. When I visited London as a young man in 1974, he told me to look up Dirty Dicks. I did but found it very much as it is in this video. Nothing strange nor macabre or remotely dirty, just sawdust on the floor. When I phoned him he told me to go back and go into the cellar bar. I did and there was a huge collection of various objects including the poor mummified cats hanging from the beams. People form all over the world had written notes and pinned them to the walls. The bar had coins from all over the world glued to it. Health and safety should keep their noses out and let us live our lives.
I wish I could have seen it like that!
Please do it'll be interesting on stuff like that
I wonder if Judge Jeffrey's was anything like Judge Roy Bean
My Dad told me there was a pub during the war in London, in or near Liverpool St. Aircrew would sign their names and squadron number all over the walls and ceiling, not sure if it is still there. Dirty Dicks was also popular with crew. Similar to the 'the Eagle, in Cambridge?.
I’d love to see these signatures!
Check out the eagle in Cambridge in Google, they burnt their signatures on the ceiling using their cigarette lighters, the rest were written on the walls. My dads name and unit is in there somewhere.
@@TheMuseumGuide
we have a big old house built in 1932 and the old owner would paint amazing pictures right on to the walls the living room and dinning room are covered in them ..one of the pictures is a copy of "the fighting Temeraire " I had no idea that it was a copy of a turner until we went to the London National Gallery and saw the original
Was it any good?
@@TheMuseumGuide it looks exactly like the painting ! .the old owner was a really good artist ..
One of the pictures on the wall of the Viaduct Tavern has a bullet hole in it, apparently because an off-duty soldier in World War I let his weapon go off.
I think the Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds (England's smallest pub by some counts) also has a mummified cat.
I knew about the bullet hole but forgot to film it when I was there!
Thanks for the other suggestion- so many mummified cats in this country. 🤣
As you probably knew, the USS Texas was the first Battleship Museum ever commissioned and its completion of repairs, repainting, and refitting of the USS Texas, Battleship Texas, BB-35 draws closer. Is there anything your channel can do to spotlight this excellent floating legendary warship museum?
I would absolutely love to, but I don’t think a trip to Texas is in the cards anytime this year!
I've always loved weird artifacts and strange things.....we used to have a restaurant close to where I used to live that had an clock that was backwards...instead of 1-12 it was12-1 and it lit up but the restaurant was changed into a church so I don't know what happened to it
Aren't some of these museums haunted...I think isn't THE Charles Dickens house in London haunted by him reading his A Christmas Carol and I'd love to visit the Sherlock Holmes museum
Ignore the stupid comments. Really good video 👍
It’s just one guy who came back twice, 17 hours apart. 😂 as a woman on the internet, I’m used to it! Thank you for watching.
The Widow's Son is a Masonic reference. I'm surprised that none of the brethren had commented this when they were speculating on what the name might mean. There are more than a few pubs in the UK with Masonic names dating back a few hundred years...
I knew about the Masonic pubs near Holborn, but I didn’t realise this was a Masonic reference! Fascinating- it didn’t come up in any articles.
Fun video. re Polly the Parrot in the Cheese. John Le Carré in his memoir The Pigeon Tunnel, tells of a parrot in a basement bar in Beruit during the civil war. This parrot can mimic the sound of AK47s and a Rocket Propelled Grenade shooting through the air. Newby war correspondents dive under the tables. It seems pretty obvious the whole story is a fabrication. Now I know its roots. (the local mockingbird at my old used to mimic car alarms. I only realized this after I heard an NPR radio news story mention a mockingbird doing this. Of course there was no audio. You have to know to listen for it and you'll never rush out to check your car.)
Dirty Dick might also be the inspiration for hoarder Mr Krook's spontaneous combustion incident in Dickens's Bleak House.
It's ridiculous that health and safety disapproves of mummified cats and rats. They should also make every establishment remove any leather covered furniture as well, ban wigs in court and maybe wool sweaters.
Thank you for these neat insights!
For another interesting pub, stop the video at 10 minutes and you will see Woodin's Shades. Now you might think that the word Shades just has the meaning of cellars or vaults where wines were stored, however in this case it may be something quite different. In the 1980's, when I worked in the City the original painted name at the top of the building, on the corner, had not been painted over. It was quite clear that the S of Shades had been rather clumsily inserted and that the original name was Woodin's Hades. In Victorian London a Hades referred to the Greek god of the dead and king of the underworld. A hades was therefore not just a pub, but a much more disreputable establishment, at best a gambling house, and maybe with other entertainments on sale.
I know that I'm a cat 🐈 lover myself but I wouldn't mind you doing a video on mummified cats
I couldn’t believe how many I came across!
I find it strange that anyone can lay claim to having "the cat", at least according to the story I know. Whittington, having entered the service of a wealthy merchant, is given the opportunity along with the other servants to send something in his master's ship in hopes of making a profit. While his employer's daughter offers to put something in for him, the merchant insists that it must be something of his own. All he has is the cat, so she is sent. The ship comes to a foreign country, and the captain is greeted by the ruler with a lavish feast. Shortly after the feast is set out, many rats appear. The captain fetches the cat who drives off the rodents. The king gives a large amount of riches for the cat.
A short snapshot of a very entertaining tale, but nonetheless surprising that some don't remember that Whittington and his cat were apparently never reunited. He did go on to marry the merchant's daughter, and as the bells said was thrice (according to the version I read) Lord Mayor of London.
Interesting!
I wonder if Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese had any influence on Monty Pythons two skits.
I bet it did! I should have referenced the parrot. 🤦🏻♀️
Great vlog but The Duke of Monmouth"s mother wasn"t Nell Gwen but Lucy Walters
😭😩 I know- what a terrible mistake! I don’t know how I got that mixed up.
The ancient Egyptians also had a thing for mummified cats. And mummified ‘everything else’ for that matter.
I mention that briefly on this video! I cover Egyptian mummified cats in my video on the strangest things in the British Museum.
St brides tavern St pauls/old bailey
Permanently closed, sadly!
I hate to say this but do a video on hangings I know it sounds bizarre but I think it's interesting on hangings besides I think in a past life I could probably been hung
"Yea ,yeah, these jail cells were never used , nothing to see here. Move along" (in my best english accent)
They’re creepy regardless 🤣
Cats were often placed in building cavities, such as floors when the last board was nailed down. Nothing to do with luck or superstition, merely a means to ensure any rodents that found their way in were killed off. After which the cat would die and in such dry conditions would naturally mummify.
There’s definitely a superstition around them! In all my research, I never encountered any reliable reference of live cats being places in cavities? They were dead to begin with.
For instance, this article talks about the common misconception that they were walled in alive, but post mortem assessments show that they were dead and desiccated before immurement.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1751696X.2016.1171501
@TheMuseumGuide I worked on Leitrim House built in c1760 , Dublin, in 1991, when it was being restored. On every level, a number of mummified cats were found. The historian overseeing the rproject assured us it was common practice to use live cats for pest control. They were thrown into the rubbish.
The Widow's Son is a masonic expression for identification 🤘
Oh wow! Thank you for that!
I understand you can’t mudlark the Thames without a permit or as a guest of a permitted mudlarker.
Very true! I’ve never done it. Maybe for a video in the future?
Is there no help for the Widow's Son?
I have no idea why the Masonic reference didn’t come up in any articles about the pub!
Skip the vid soley on mumified cats!
At the start of the video I was wondering how you were going to pronouce "Ye olde". I was waiting to cringe at the pronounciation. Fantastic and fascinating video. Thanks Jessica o/
Glad I didn’t disappoint! I’m a pedant 🤣
It has ceased to be 😅
It's just pining for the fjords!🤣
🤣🤣🤣