East London Boozers | The Blind Beggar
Now here is a pub that is a bona fide piece of east London history. On March 8th, 1966, Ronnie Kray murdered rival gangster George Cornell, shooting him through the eye.
Accroding to The London Companion by Jo Swinnerton, this is also where Bulldog Wallis, a pickpocket and ruffian, killed a man by pushing an umbrella tip through his eye, so I can see some dark humor in the name.
Unfortunately, outside of the historical curiosity of the place, there is little reason to visit this pub. After a long and obviously storied run as a proper cockney boozer, the poor thing has been refurbished within an inch of its’ life in hopes of being part of the Shoreditch ‘in crowd’ of drinking hang-outs.
The prices are outrageous (£3+ for a pint), service is begrudging, even to locals and in general the place has become a tourist attraction and nothing more. So walk by and snap a picture of the outside if you are on an east London gangster kick, but skip it if you are looking for an authentic east London boozer - there are many better on the same road; try the Black Bull right up the street.
337 Whitechapel Road, E1 1BU
Whitechapel Station
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Stacy Wheeler // Jan 16, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I live in whitechapel and find this review a bit weird - has someone from the black bull written it I wonder - I smell a rat - , which the last time I was in there , had no customers ( and never does when we walk past ) and an extremely rude bar manager . We go to the beggar a fair bit and it is lovely - I can’t see this massive refurb you’re going on about - its a pub for crying out loud . it looks like a pub . i read these reviews and it makes me scratch my head - my boyfriend drinks fosters and it not 2 quid in the blind beggar . i get really fed up reading reviews that slag off local pubs , which as an east londoner i think we should be supporting - but there is far too much blind beggar bashing on the review web sites and very conincidently, far too much balck bull loving . It makes realcustomers like me , quite fed up , and i know where I would rather drink - the blind beggar .
2 Gill Edmunds // Mar 12, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I live in Shropshire and 1 thing I have wanted to do for ages is visit the Blind Beggar. Well, last year I did and both my husband and I thought it was great. The barmaid was really friendly and filled me in on all the local fokelore and history around the place - even got a card from Frankie himself. Can’t wait to go back!
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