The Coppermill Tavern, Walthamstow

The Coppermill is a pub that in principle you would like to frequent as its less pretentious than some in the village and has a more 'locals feel' than chequers and the Bell. Always a couple of decent ales and one or two nice older locals who will chat to you. Unfortunately, some of the regulars are bigoted, EDL supporters who will not make anyone Asian or Black feel particularly welcome unless you have been knocking around for years and tolerate arseholes in order to somehow 'fit in'.
Obviously alcohol is part of the problem but many of these middle aged, predominantly white working class men are clearly a bit territorial and possibly have moved to Chingford and just come back to their old local and have a problem with the fact that the area has become very multi-cultural over many years.

I live in the area and have occasionally pulled my bike over and sat outside with a pint of Doom bar and have seen the odd dick-head coming out with offensive stuff, obviously quite pissed. However, it is not so random as many of these blokes are friendly with the bar staff, one of whom has run the pub quiz in the past. He along with others were being racially abusive to an older Asian man walking past, then also shouting 'lesbian' at a lady who came in and then walked out again this evening.
I don't bear a grudge against anyone in particular, but I hope the staff read this and be more mindful about the effect of tolerating if not encouraging nasty blokes to prop up there trade. Until the culture of this pub changes, I would give it a wide berth if you feel strongly against sharing your space with ignorant, aggressive, sexist, racist homophobes.

1 Sep 2013 23:56