please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Wow. What can I say? Bought a Stella, strongbow and a pride. Stella was stomach able - just. Pride was the same, but the strongbow. . . . . Better head than the Stella, amazing for a cider. Tasted like it came from the river lea direct. 5"3 female went back to the bar to politely say it didn't taste like a cider, asked for a bottle cider and would pay the difference. The older barman first refused, then took a mouthful (not really appealing when given back the cider) then proceeded to say " there is nothing wrong with that, f off" and then went back of house when challenged if he was being serious. Well. Good luck guys, fullers should be ashamed to allow you to be tenants as you clearly can't keep good beer, you have no customer service skills, and you need to badly invest in your pub because the toilets "represent" your standard which clearly followed through the example your staff member showed that day.
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Unpretentious, friendly, great location, good beer... so much better than the dreadful chain pubs upriver at Dobbs Weir and Lower Nazeing
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Just watching a young lad getting a puncture repaired courtesy of one of the staff, great to see the community spirit lives on. Oh, and the beers are nice and all...
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Still the best boozer in East London. Nothing seems to have changed except the barstaff are all getting older!!
Be back again soon mates
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A fine location, on the west bank of the Lee Navigation with a view across the marshes (but not exactly quiet as trains frequently rattle across the bridge a short distance downstream and over the nearby points up on the embankment). There is a row of plain benches along the river bank, which is just as well as there isn't much room inside the pub itself. Three Fullers ales on handpump, including one of the best pints of ESB that I have had for a long time (�3.20). Perhaps I was just unlucky, but some of the locals were being a bit of a nuisance (albeit to each other rather than visitors). However, it is certainly a useful stop on the busy towpath route for walkers and cyclists.
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Well kept Fuller's Discovery on when I visited the week before last. Great place to watch the marsh 'traffic' and wide variety of water craft.
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I added to the mix on Sunday afternoon as I was cycling back up the River Lee Navigation to Edmonton. For me this is a compulsory stop when cycling this route and I�ve always had a solid pint of Pride and Sunday was no different.
Can�t really add to the previous postings except to concur, if you are ever in the area , it�s worth a visit.
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The beer at this pub is excellent. A really tasty pint of ESB, the London Pride was at its best (so often not elsewhere), and a guest of Discovery was refreshing on a hot sunny day, sitting by the river.
It's a proper old fashioned boozer. A good crowd of locals in and the landlord was laughing at a customer asking for a Pimms Cup ("this is a pub... if you want a cocktail, go down the West End"). Passing towpath cyclists add to the mix, but don't expect airs and graces, just well kept beer.
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Probably my fave Fuller's pub.
Stable clientele going back decades is a good sign.
Sure, we're not going to see any beers we haven't seen before, and for this it can't get the highest rating. But somewhere to stop in if you happen to be around there.
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A fine down-to-earth house, no frills, good beer and friendly service. A proper pub, with the bonus of riverside views to watch the swans and the trains go by.
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I loved the canalside location, with views over Walthamstow Marshes. It almost felt like I had stepped back into the industrial revolution or something. Limited space available inside - perhaps you could describe it as "cosy". A fairly eclectic crowd seem to drink here, which I reckon adds to the character. Plus the Fullers range of ale was in fine form.
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Returned the other week to sample excellent Wye Valley guest bitter and watched the Turns fishing over the marshes. Excellent.
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Splendidly traditional old fashioned no - frills local on the banks of the River Lea. I paid my first visit yesterday since doing the Fullers Passport Tour back in 2002 ( I think ) . The long standing publican, Les Heath, is sadly no longer around, as others have commented, but his memory lives on in a splendid painting inside the pub. The pub feels unchanged virtually from my first visit in the 70's
This is probably the first pub I've been to in ages where ESB ( at only � 2.80 ) was outselling the London Pride.
For those of you who like a bit of a walk before a pint, get the tube to Tottenham Hale ( Victoria Line ) and walk down the river bank from Ferry Lane - about 25 mins.
There is a certain timelessness about this pub - still highly recommended and the warmth and friendliness of the locals takes some beating.
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A surreal survivor. Great location on the canal, dwarfed by high-rise council flats, and absolutely tiny inside. Very curious customers too. I've always loved this place. I have often brought friends and family here, though, and its general craziness hasn't sat well with them. Hasn't put me off though. If only there were more of these characterful little places dotted around.
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The Anchor & Hope was quite a famous boozer in the late 80's. Pop star Buster Bloodvessel used to live nearby on Spring Hill, and it was a local watering hole for him and his band, Bad Manners.
Those way the days when he had a 50 ft barge in his back garden !, which he used as an office and as a recording studio.
Buster is a local legend, & the days of his visits to the Anchor & Hope have gone down in local folklore.
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I knew nothing about this pub but stopped for a pint - ended up having a gallon over a very pleasant afternoon. Fully confirm previous postings.
anonymous - 11 Aug 2006 14:57 |
Surely one of the greatest summer cyclists pubs in London. Right on the river (no, not the Thames, the Lee) with tables and chairs on the towpath looking out over Walthamstowe Marshes. Swans performing dramatic landings for your entertainment and it's an easy trip back down the canal and over to Hackney central to visit say the Pub on the Park or the {Princes George). The pub itself is basic and has a an fairly eclectic customer base, the barman was very civil and I hope to visit again one hot afternoon.
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One of the great locals, full of character, characters and decent beer. Fantastic. Don't change.
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Great place to smoke herb and chill of a summer evening. Beer not bad too.
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a great place to head for in the summer, great for a leisutely pint by the canal, sad that the old landlord died, but it didn't appear to have changed too much when i visited it in august 2004. highlight was their search for the only wine glass in the pub (not for me)
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I'm very saddened to hear of Les's death; we have fond memories of him. We hadn't been to the pub since summertime -- when we find it impossible to cycle past it.
Alison Scott - 30 Jan 2004 13:36 |
Truly one of a kind-full of characters and a great pint to boot.Don't you dare change.
anonymous - 12 Jan 2004 21:54 |
I was a regular in the Anchor and Hope from 1971 - 1975. When I first used it, it was a Tolly Cobbold pub. It was taken over by Fullers in about 1974. It is the best local I've ever had. I have fond memories of many pints drunk and many darts thrown there! I'm saddened to learn of Les Heath's death, he was unique! I hope it can keep its' character under whoever is now running it.
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Its a crazy place. Full of eccentrics, truly multi racial and 80% of the regulars that I know of have had some sort of psychotic episode in the last 30 years - hence the terrible guitar playing and council flat odour that greats you when you enter. Also noticed the last time that I was in that they have literally wall papered over some of the pictures on the walls.
simon hall - 27 Oct 2003 14:58 |
Im the grandson of Leslie Heath who sadly passed away 31st of august 2003, after serving a remarkable 50 years at the Anchor and Hope, which earnt him his M.B.E. for services to the community, quaint pub situated on the tow path along the river lea looking over Hackney marhes, not to mention the friendly if not slightly crazy bunch regulars that truly make this pub well worth a visit!
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Is the rumour that Les has passed away true. If so, very sad news for the pub and for the community.
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The last truly classic old Fullers pub
Ben S King - 27 Aug 2003 01:37 |
I went in this pub on a bank holiday and it seemed like the roughest pub in the world. Everyone was battered, and I really felt quite ill at ease. As the other reviews say this a great pub, maybe I was there on a bad day.
stoichkov - 5 Jun 2003 13:35 |
One of the last and very best of its kind. Walk into this one and you're entering a living atmosphere of days long gone. Great location by canal and well kept Fullers ESB and London Pride. Most refer to the ales here simply as "special" or "bitter". Very long standing governer help make this a true East End local now very hard to find
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Wonderfully quirky with interesting regulars and very old fashioned in the best possible way.
Michelle - 2 Apr 2003 08:00 |
A GEM! A classic, down-to-earth basic no-frills boozer through and through. Fullers London Pride and ESB are always in excellent condition, and the view across the river Lee is beautiful especially on warm summer evenings when you can sit or stand by the river and sup your pint with swans swimming by and crickets chirping away. Very friendly locals welcome you inside - this is a real classic East End pub. Do visit and make the most of it! Pubs as good as this often have a habit of either closing or being changed beyond recognition!
Lee - 25 Mar 2003 18:01 |
