Ep 39 Historic Pubs Outside Central London - Peckham Part 2 - The Olde Apple Tree, The White Horse, The Angel Oak, The Golden Anchor

In this second episode exploring the pubs of Peckham and Nunhead, we visit The Olde Apple Tree, The White Horse, The Angel Oak, and The Golden Anchor—plus a few more tucked around central Peckham.

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Google map with pubs covered in previous episodes pinned, courtesy of Andy Meddick:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/4/edit?mid=12c-WKa3XiT1qTLydK8psZocUR7Y_Wes&usp=sharing

Or TinyURL: https://tinyurl.com/bduca5dv

The following resources are referenced or quoted frequently in these episodes:

• Ted Bruning  -- Historic Pubs of London (ISBN 978-0658005022) and London By Pub (ISBN 978-0658005022)
• Wikipedia
• https://londonspubswherehistoryreallyhappened.wordpress.com/  by Ann Laffeaty 
• Camra.org

Additionally, the  following resource(s) were used / quoted in this episode:

Olde Apple Tree

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/24765102.olde-apple-tree-peckham-ranked-among-londons-best/

https://pubwiki.co.uk/LondonPubs/Camberwell/SumnerRoad59.shtml

https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/the-olde-apple-tree

https://whatpub.com/pubs/SEL/10696/olde-apple-tree-peckham

The Red Bull

https://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Historic_Peckham

https://alondoninheritance.com/londonpubs/in-search-of-peckham-pubs/

https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/24155/

Peckham Central

https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/24145/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/england-pubs-covid-19-60-minutes-2022-02-13/

https://djmag.com/news/peckham-pub-greyhound-reopen-under-cause-and-all-my-friends-team

The White Horse and The Angel Oak

https://peckhampeculiar.tumblr.com/post/121101168564/white-horse-landlord-bids-farewell

https://london.randomness.org.uk/wiki.cgi?Rye%2C_SE15_3NX

https://roastingroasts.co.uk/2024/05/05/the-angel-oak-peckham/

The Golden Anchor

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/27/were-not-just-a-black-pub-everyone-is-welcome-meet-britains-bame-landlords

https://thegoldenanchorph.godaddysites.com/#:~:text=Concerned%20by%20a%20crisis%20in,the%20south%20London%20neighbourhood%20of

Intro Music:  Vivaldi - Spring Allegro by John Harrison w/ the Wichita State University Chamber Orch.

Photo:  sarflondondunc

Website: https://historiclondonpubcast.com/

E-mail: hosteric@historiclondonpubcast.com

Transcript

Welcome to this episode of The Historic London Pubcast. I'm Eric Blair, and I'd like to take you on a journey through the rich history of London's iconic pubs. My goal is to share with you my passion for the great old pubs of London. I want to give you some facts to help you appreciate the history of these hallowed establishments mixed in with some fun stories that make it all go down as smooth as a well poured pint.

This is our second episode covering Peckham. In the first one, we started on the south side in the area known as Nunhead. We'll get down that way around where we ended up in the previous episode by the time we finished this one. But to begin, let's go up to the north side of town. By heading up from Peckham High Street, up Sumner Road to a back street boozer called The Olde Apple Tree at number 107. 

Sumner Road takes its name from the Sumner Estate, one of several inter-war housing estates built to rehouse working class Londoners in modern flats. In Britain a housing estate means a planned residential development, roughly what North Americans might call a subdivision. The Sumner was part of a cluster known as the Five Estates, built out in the interwar years, which saw a major redevelopment starting in the 1990s. Many buildings were knocked down, but this is the bit worth noting, The Olde Apple Tree survived. The magazine Time Out gives us a sobering fact, one that might sober you up a bit in more ways than one, 

“Sumner Road once ran chockablock with pubs. Nine have since disappeared. The Olde Apple Tree is the last one standing. Built in 1871. It's a modest two-storey Victorian job. Redbrick, no frills. Inside it's all dark wood paneling, a simple story and a floor tiled fireplace said to have come from a neighboring cottage that was folded into the pub.”

That was back when such things happened with a wink and a sledgehammer. 

“It got the carpet and brass treatment and a redo in the 1980s, and is carrying on just fine since. Originally called The Apple Tree. It ran under that name for over a century. Then came a spell as McCabe's Tavern in the latter 20th Century, before Sean and Tony Mckeel took over in 2003 and brought back the original name and stuck an old at the beginning.”

That's Old with an E.So yes, The Olde Apple tree is historic, but not in the ghost of Charles Dickens still drinks here kind of way. No famous manifestos were drafted over the darts board. This is just exactly what it wants to be. A terrific neighborhood pub. It reminds me of the type of person we all know. Not flashy, not loud, but rock solid. The sort who keeps the building boiler working or the school buses running or the bins collected. Quiet confidence. No fonts, no drama. That's The Olde Apple Tree. It opens its doors, pours a proper pint and makes room for everyone. And here's the kicker. In 2024, Time Out named at one of the ten best pubs in all of London. Number seven, if you're counting.

Side note there are an estimated 3500 pubs in Greater London, so it is easier to get into Harvard or the Oxbridge schools than it is to get into Time Out’s Top Ten Pubs. True to form. No one was more surprised than Publican Sean.

“It's surprising we've been rated one of the top. We're in the backstreets of Peckham,”

he told a Reporter from the publication News Shopper (she had dropped by just days after the list came out), but even with this recognition, Sean was candid about the tough times the pub faces. Rising costs, gentrification and shifting drinking habits have hit traditional pubs hard, 

“No one's drinking like they used to,”

Sean told the Reporter,

“This time a few years ago, you couldn't get in the door on a Friday. Now I could open at 4 p.m. and close by ten.”

CAMRA’s website implies the old pub's days might be numbered. Planning permission was originally granted in October 2019 for the demolition of the pub and the construction of a five-storey building, with a ground floor pub and nine flats above. This permit was subsequently amended in May 2021, so presumably the current pub building will be demolished at some point in the near future.

Sounds ominous. The Shopper Article didn't give us an update on this possibility, but it did allude to it with the sentence, 

“If the pub gets rebuilt, Sean says he would continue to own it and it will remain a place for everyone to enjoy.”

So if you want to check out this pub in its historic form, maybe sooner would be better than later. From all indications, you'll have a good time. Time Out said this about the patronage, 

“The crowd is a mixed affair, with newcomers as welcome as those who have been regulars for years.”

And one final note look up as you approach the foliage outside The Olde Apple Tree is a joy to behold. Again, quoting Time Out, 

“Some of the little trees apparently bear actual apples. Now that's attention to detail.”

There's a link to the full Shopper News article in the notes. There are additional quotes from Sean giving us more perspective from a Publican’s point of view. It's a good read. Okay, goodbye to The Olde Apple Tree and we wish you good luck. Back south to Peckham High Street. We're going to The Red Bullat 116 Peckham High Street.

No need to hurry though. It's been there since at least 1826. Maybe a bit longer. The current building was constructed in the 1880s, likely as part of a road widening initiative. The pub faced some hard times in the late 20th Century. CAMRA tells us after many years of closure and alternate uses, The Red Bullreopened as a bar in the Autumn of 2019.

It was known as Barefoot Joe's Bar from December 2020 until 2024, when it reverted back to The Red Bull. Evidently, the reopening in 2019 was done after a two-year repair and restoration project. The pub has a historic tile interior mural entitled, ‘Trial of Queen Catherine,’ depicting a scene from Shakespeare's Henry the Eighth. This artwork was created by W.B. Simpson and Sons around 1875. This firm was founded in 1833 by an Artist turned Entrepreneur. By the time these tiles were produced, the company was being run by the Founder's two sons, evidently quite well. They made tiles, decorated railway arches, as well as interior painted tiles like those in The Red Bull. These went into not just pubs, but also theaters, restaurants and cathedrals.

Many of them still exist today. And it's not just these tiles that are still around. The company is still in operation as a specialist tiling contractor. When the pub was in its dormant phase, the building was rented out for other uses. In 2015, Peckham residents became concerned that damage might be occurring to the mural. A nail salon had reportedly installed shelves through it.

The Suffolk Council and Peckham Town Heritage Initiative became aware of the problem and took action. The shelves were removed and restoration done. The mural is now part of the reopened pub. Yay! All ends well for the mural and the pub, but I can't say what happened to the nail salon. I guess some mysteries never get resolved. The mural is a centerpiece of the pub.

The website Pubs Galore describes the internals this way, 

“This is a typical bare boarded, small single room establishment with the bar against the far wall. As you walk through the front door, an assortment of tables and chairs and small features made out of two doors, with the upper glass panes at right angles to each other and fixed to the center pillar to break the room up a bit.”

Okay, maybe that write up has a bit of attitude about it, but the pub generally gets good reviews. Folks like its atmosphere and beer selection. It's a popular spot for both locals and visitors. There's a nice neighborhood feel to the place. You can't ask for more unless it's a historic mural. Oh yeah, there's that too. 

The area behind the pub is also historic. It was the site of the first horse drawn bus yard. It was established by Thomas Tilling in 1876. Thomas had been dabbling in horse drawn omnibus service from Peckham to Oxford Circus since 1850. alondoninheritance.com did an article on Peckham pubs, and a commenter to that piece, Mr. Trevor Haynes, provided a well-written paragraph about this historic piece of ground, 

“You might be interested to know that The Red Bull stands on the corner of Bull Yard, which from 1876 was the location of the first of Thomas Tilling’s Horse Bus Garages. By 1905, it had been adapted to house 35 buses, and was the first example of bulk storage by a bus company. From 1911 it was Tilling’s engineering headquarters, and evidently became the basis for London Transport's Peckham Bus Garage. The site suffered extensive bomb damage in 1940, losing 48 vehicles, including a fleet of new Green Line coaches being stored before entering service. It was rebuilt in 1950, housing 150 buses. The garage closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995.” 

Thank you, Mr. Haynes. The Thomas Tilling business has an interesting history. Tilling grew his horse drawn bus company so that at around the beginning of the 20th Century he had a stable, by some estimates, of as many as 7000 horses.

Wow! That is a lot of horsepower! But the times, they were changing. In September 1904, Tilling put a newly acquired Miller's Daimler Motor Bus into service. It was a 34-seat double decker, 16 inside and 18 outside. From there, it was the rise of the machines. By August 1914, only ten years later, the last horse operated bus had made its final run.

Tilling his sons and members of his extended family continued to play a part in London transportation for the next 50 years, with the Tilling Group eventually being absorbed into the National Bus Company in the late 1960s. And just think, it all got rolling big time right there at Red Bull Yard. Oh, and remember, Tilling started with a bus route from Peckham to Oxford Circus? That was tagged the Number 12 Route. Why wasn't it Number One? Sorry! I always ask too many questions. Anyway, the bus that runs from Peckham to Oxford Circus today is still Number 12, thought by some to be the oldest operating bus route in London. 

Standing outside The Red Bull, you are in the heart of Peckham and as such there are several historic pubs nearby. Since we have to head south for the next part of this episode, let me just mention a few points briefly about some of the nearby establishments you might want to consider taking in a 13-minute walk. To the northeast is The Asylum Tavern, a pub dating back to around 1864 but rebuilt in the 1930s and as such has a three room layout with a central server.

The name harks back to the once nearby 'Licensed Victuallers' Asylum,’ a charitable institution for retired Publicans. Now don't go thinking that running a pub is so detrimental to your mental health that you end up in an asylum. The word asylum here is used in the sense of a sanctuary. The Victuallers' Asylum was classed as an alms house, which is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community. Alms houses go back to the Middle Ages and currently in Britain there are about 2600 alms houses continuing to operate, providing low cost housing for about 36,000 people. But as for this alms house, it closed and the residents were relocated. The beneficial organization that ran it, continues today as a licensed trade charity, providing support to folks in the hospitality sector who need a bit of a helping hand.

Glad to see that, and the pub continues today as well. It's the only pub in Britain that uses asylum in its name. Maybe that's not too surprising. Another pub, The Greyhound, is much closer to The Red Bull,basically across the street three-minutes away, the pub's roots go back to at least 1826 and maybe a couple of decades before that.

CAMRAcharacterizes it as, 

“A rather grand Victorian pub. There are so many original features, including a Charrington-styled exterior to the ground floor and the upper part of the bar back has Greyhound pictures in colored glass.”

Side note Charrington’s was a Brewery company with roots back to the 18th Century that has been acquired by another brewing concern in more recent times.

A review on pubsgalore.co.uk seems be more taken with the outside than the inside, 

“This is a very basic pub inside, although the exterior is still quite impressive. Furnishings comprise a clutch of tall tables, tall stools on the right with a trio of tables on the left with upholstered benches and booth format. There's one heritage feature in the very nice old bar back, including a couple of painted panels. The establishment boasts a versatile basement space that hosts an array of events, from live music and DJ sets to comedy nights and art exhibitions.”

Two minutes west down the street is The Kentish Drovers, which goes back to 1826, and since 2000 has been a Wetherspoons pub. 

Finally, one more to mention, and not a historic pub, but a significant one all the same. It is called The Prince of Peckham and sits just a few minutes east of The Red Bull. I first came across it when it popped up in a segment on the American TV news program, 60 Minutes. The topic - how British pubs were faring in the wake of the pandemic. The Prince of Peckhamstood out for its fresh take on what a pub could be.

The Owner, Clement, originally from Nigeria, with a last name that I won’t attempt for fear of mangling it, set out to re-imagine the traditional British pub for the 21st century multicultural Britain. As he put it, he 

“Wanted to take the DNA from the traditional pub and update it,”

and update it he did. The place offers a lively mix of old and new live music, DJ nights, a Caribbean inspired food menu and a real sense of community. It's not your father's pub, but that's the point. Clement created a space that still captures what makes a pub special while opening the doors a bit wider. So, hats off to Clement. Bridging the generations is no easy feat, but if The Prince of Peckhamis any clue, the future of pub culture might just be as rich as the past. And who knows, maybe some future pubcaster, Eric The Fifth or so, will call this place a classic. 

Okay, let's leave the High street and take Rye Lane South. Or about a 20-minute walk. We're going to a couple of pubs that likely began their lives as coaching inns. The first one we come to is The White Horse,or alternatively called The Old White Horse.

One source dates it back to 1820, but CAMRA thinks it goes back further into history - 1780 or so. Being situated across from what is now Peckham Rye Park, it originally would have catered to both rural farm workers and well-heeled visitors seeking pastoral outings. By the mid-19th Century, as the surrounding area urbanized, The White Horse became a neighborhood local with a reliable clientele.

Its architecture combines a Georgian Victorian structure with a mock Tudor facade. It likely underwent significant remodeling in the late 19th or early 20th Century, when Brewers often added Tudor style gables and half timbering to the pubs. The interior has been updated over the years, but still retains a classic layout. The front public bar opens to the side room and rear area.

Interestingly, outside stands a classic red K2 telephone box from the 1920s, and this phone box is Grade II Listed, even though the pub is not! The online magazine peckhampeculiar.tumblr.com did a piece on the pub in 2015, when its long time Publican Michael Hoagie Hogan moved on after 33 years at The White Horse. The article describes the pub in this way,

“It's a popular meeting place for a diverse range of local groups, including cribbage team, chess club and an acoustic club. It also plays host to sports clubs including the Dulwich Harps and the Southeast London Giants. Hoagie said that he didn't see things changing with the new management coming in. The new Owners intended to run is The White Horse as a food led community pub, and will offer a warm welcome to all.”

The new management was a company called Parched Pubs. They self-described as an independent group of South London pubs run by four friends. They go on to say on their website, 

“As a company, we have always been on the lookout for preserving pubs and their community charm. We always endeavor to create a space and atmosphere that is both welcoming and safe to every part of the local community, and thus our pubs truly reflect and represent the fantastic people of South London.”

Sounds like their hearts are in the right place. With ten years under their belt, the pub gets generally good reviews. Lots of folks like the Sunday Roast and, as a plus, its location at the foot of Peckham Rye Park means that on sunny days, patrons spill out onto the front porch or the lawn, pints in hand, enjoying one of the more picturesque pub settings in South London.

Okay, off to the next pub, The Angel Oak and it, like The White Horse, originally started as a coaching inn, they also share another commonality. They were both mentioned in author Muriel Spark's 1960 novel The Ballad of Peckham Rye. Miss Spark's most famous novel is The Prime of Miss Jane Brody but some fans actually think this novel is her best. In the book, the main character leaves The Rye Hotel, The Angel Oak's previous name, and walks over to The White Horse for a bitter. We're going to do the opposite, starting at The White Horse and walking four minutes mostly south down to The Angel Oak. So, beginning as a coaching house, it was known as either The Rye House or The Rye Hotel and offered accommodations as well as a bit of refreshment.

The Sparks book, written from the perspective of the mid-twentieth Century, offers that,

“The pub probably still looks much as it did back then,” 

That was the coaching days, 

‘With the ironwork picking out its name in gold lettering and old Taylor Walker lamps on display.” 

Taylor Walker was a prominent Brewery company in the 18th and 19th Century, but was acquired in the middle 20th Century and its name on beer taps came to an end. But a good brand has staying power. Wiki tells us that 

“Many London pubs had the distinctive Taylor Walker lamp branding outside their premises, long after Taylor Walker beer had ceased to be sold.” 

So this pub walks along until 2012, at which time it gets a big redo. After that it carried the name of just The Rye until the final name change occurred in 2021 to The Angel Oak. That refers to William Blake's vision of a tree full of angels that took place nearby a few years ago. 1765 to be exact, and, somewhere on the adjacent Peckham Rye Common. We say a bit more about this event in the Peckham  One Episode. 

londonrandomness.org.uk gives us their observations upon entering the pub, 

“Entry is into a large bare boarded space with mismatched tables and chairs dominated by the L-shaped bar in the center. There's plenty of natural light here, though this falls off quickly as one proceeds further in past the bar. A passageway leads back past three pairs of high padded back to back banquettes to erase conservatory style dining area, and finally to a large garden decor, a standard gastropub.”

They might be a bit tough in their write up, they mention that the pub has a garden, but maybe it's more special than they imply. The pub website says, 

“We take pride in our huge pub garden, which is available all year round thanks to our heaters and covers. During the summer, we fire up our outdoor kitchen to serve up delicious barbecue flavors and our garden bar to ensure extra hydration.”

That last turn of phrase is quite interesting. Close bar so that folks in the pub garden won't get dehydrated. Very safety conscious. Also, their Sunday Roast. Seems to be quite good. Roasting Roast a website providing what they describe as a no holds barred roundup of the UK's best and worst Sunday Roast, rated The Angel Oak’s offering as an 8.5 out of ten and say that they would return after their initial visit. These guys don't mess about, so I think that translates to a thumbs up for the pub.

Like all the pubs in the area, The Angel Oak is proud of its neighborhood feel, great location next to the common, and worthy of a visit. We've talked about a lot of pubs today. Can we squeeze in one more? Let's try. It's got a pretty interesting story. This is The Golden Anchor,which is over to the east about an 18-minute walk away on 16 Evelina Road.

On the way we will pass The Old Nun’s Head and The Pyrotechnics Arms that we covered in the Peckham  One Episode. I just didn't have time to fit in The Golden Anchorinto that episode. The Golden Anchor appears to go back to around 1867, opening to serve the growing community after Nunhead Cemetery was established a few years before.

Now I'm sure someone out there is saying, wait a minute, Eric, how does a pub benefit from cemetery residents? Well, you're right, most of the residents there are teetotalers, but they do get lots of thirsty visitors. Apparently, this pub has kept its name from day one. The Golden Anchor is a prominent feature of the Admiralty’s Heraldry, so the name likely relates to that. By the 20th Century it came under the ownership of Courage Brewery,and for generations was just a good local working class boozer. In the post-World War Two era, especially in the 1960s onward. It gained fame as a welcoming pub for the Afro-Caribbean community in south east London. As waves of immigrants from the west Indies settled in Peckham, and Nunhead, many pubs were unwelcoming or imposed unofficial color bars, but The Golden Anchor became a trailblazer. Lana Brealey, the pub's current Owner, contributed to a 2018 article in The Guardian about nonwhite Brits taking control of pubs from which they were once excluded, often transforming them into vital cultural hubs in the process. The article is linked in the notes. I'll read a bit of what Lana wrote, 

“In the 1980s, the pub was owned by an African man named Nelson. He was one of the people who led the trend around here for black people to want to own pubs. He showed that it was achievable. If he'd come here from Jamaica, The Golden Anchor was a place you could come in, meet family and friends, and maybe get work in the building trade. On the other hand, I remember walking into pubs in Bermondsey at the time and being the only black person there. By 1998, Nelson had passed away and the new landlords, who were Jamaican, were looking for someone to take over as the Licensee.”

At that point, Lana took charge. She goes on to describe an initial problem she encountered. The pub's clientele had developed a rough edge, with dodgy business often conducted. She says,

“My brother helped me, and with some prayers we got rid of them.”

Lana realized the pub's Caribbean flair was something unique that had an appeal to patrons of all backgrounds. 

“Our Caribbean food and music is a big reason people come here, and all the time I've been here, we've never been a Caribbean pub or a Jamaican pub in my mind. It was only when I heard people referring to us that way that I realized it was just how people viewed us. But we can't run this place for one group of people. There are young white people who love the food, know what they want and what it should taste like. It's important to me that they know they're welcome, that we're not just a black pub. Everyone is welcome.”

You go. Lana, I'm certain your accomplishment with The Golden Anchor was an inspiration to Clement over there at The Prince of Peckham.

The pub has become famous for its Dominoes games, a staple of the Caribbean pop culture, with older patrons taking the games quite seriously. 

“If we stopped the Dominoes, there'd be trouble,” 

Lana says. 

In late 2019 and early 2020, The Golden Anchor got a high profile boost from celebrity Chef Tom Kerridge’s BBC series Saving Britain's Pubs. Kerridge chose The Anchor as the London pub to assist, investing in major refurbishment. He helped modernize the decor and update the business model while crucially preserving the pub's character. The makeover gave the pub a fresh look without erasing its soul. Lana noted that the show,

“Changed the way the pub was perceived.”

And since then The Anchor has indeed bloomed. It proudly bills itself as,

“Reflecting Nunhead and Peckham. A mixture of cultures blending together.”

The pub story is one of perseverance. From Victorian pub to community beacon, exemplifying the resilience and adaptability of London pub culture. Wow! 

That wraps up our two-part look at the pubs of Peckham and Nunhead. We covered quite a few pubs today. I hope you enjoy the tour, but if you think I've missed a gem, I'd love to hear from you.

The easiest way is through the website historiclondonpubcast.com where you'll find maps and extras and a few behind the scenes bits. But if you'd rather just send a quick message now, the email address is right there in the episode notes. Just scroll down. While you're at it, don't forget to follow or subscribe so you'll be the first to know where we're headed next.

Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, Cheers!