Boleyn_Tavern

Boleyn Tavern

Boleyn Tavern

Pub in East Ham, London

The Boleyn Tavern is a Grade II listed public house in East Ham, East London, England at the junction of Barking Road and Green Street.[1]

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It was built in 1899–1900, with the entrance consoles bearing a 1900 date.[1] The Tavern was frequented by West Ham United F.C. supporters due to its proximity to West Ham's ground, the Boleyn Ground. Often at risk from vandalism from opposing supporters, it would have its windows boarded up for a local derby such as West Ham and Millwall.[2]

It is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.[3]

A visit from Gandhi

The local tradition is that Mahatma Gandhi visited the Boleyn Tavern at least once in 1931. In that year Gandhi was in London for three months for talks on the future of India; he was based at Kingsley Hall in Bromley-by-Bow, and was enthusiastically received by East Enders.[4][5]

It is said that Gandhi attended several West Ham games during his stay[6] and visited the Boleyn Tavern, where he drank cream soda while discussing football and radical politics with local people.[7] Gandhi was a keen football fan, establishing three teams in South Africa,[8] and already had a strong connection to West Ham through his friendship with its founder, Arnold Hills, while living in London completing his law studies in 1888–91. During this period Hills brought the young Gandhi onto the executive committee of the London Vegetarian Society.

Gandhi took long early-morning walks during his 1931 stay in London, and often used the nearby Sewerbank (or Greenway) between Stratford and Plaistow.[9] Gandhi met Charlie Chaplin in nearby Canning Town.[10]

References

  1. [1]
    Historic England. "Boleyn public house (1293693)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  2. [2]
    "West Ham v Millwall: Massive police operation for London derby – Crime & Courts". Islington Gazette. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  3. [3]
    Brandwood, Geoff (2013). Britain's best real heritage pubs. St. Albans: CAMRA. p. 91. ISBN 9781852493042.
  4. [4]
    Link showing MKG love of the East End, and the greetings from local children http://kingsley-hall.co.uk/gandhicw48.htm Archived 21 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  5. [5]
    Footage of MKG arriving in the UK and coming to Bromley by Bow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8557D0yPcE
  6. [6]
    Roberts, Benjamin (2019). Bottled: English football's boozy story. PITCH Publishing LTD. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-78531-522-0. OCLC 1085633258.
  7. [7]
    discussed by Brian Belton in his book 'The Thames Ironworks' Chapter 4
  8. [8]
    "Mahatma Gandhi, football legend" (PDF). FIFA World - Focus. October 2010. p. 50. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015.
  9. [9]
    Gandhi's host at Kinsley Hall, Muriel Lester, described these walks in her account of his 3 month stay with her "Entertaining Gandhi", chapter 6 "Sewer Walk by Starlight"
  10. [10]
    article on the meeting between the two men http://www.canningtownlife.com/2014/05/gandhi-and-charlie-chaplin-a-famous-meet-in-canning-town/ Archived 27 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine
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