I noticed that this (potentially) lovely old Victorian pub in Whitecomb Street, just off Leicester Square, is still derelict. Called the Hand & Racquet, Bowlzee has himself quaffed the odd pint of the black stuff in here from time to time over the years and it's a sad state of affairs if we loose this and many more old pubs like it as they are of historical importance from a social history perspective.
This is from a plaque that used to be attached to the pub:
The
Hand & Racquet has been around in different forms since the Tudor times
(1600's) - originally founded as a brewery by William Whitcomb who gave his
name to the street and to the surrounding streets. They were named after some
of the local brews i.e. 'Panton Ale' and 'Oxen Ale'.
The Pub stayed
much the same until 1827 when it moved, quite how no one knows but it moved
from 21 Whitcomb Street to 48 which it is still at!
In 1865 the
upstairs bar/restaurant was added by the Oldbury Family who ran the pub for
over 50 years. The upstairs became a Mecca for comedy, artists such as Tony Hancock, Sid James and
Tommy Cooper were often seen quaffing ale or two!
Tommy Cooper,
when the bar was split into 2 bars would use his height to peer to through the
windows to see if anyone he knew was in the bar, as he always tried to avoid
buying other people drinks. The problem was everyone would see the fez and
follow him in.
Tony Hancock's 2
writers Galton and Simpson used the pub, which gets a mention, in many of the
famous Hancock's Half-Hours.
Also of interest: http://www.economist.com/node/17722946
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