The Boleyn Tavern, London
London’s pubs offer a wealth of eclectic experiences, but it’s only at The Boleyn Tavern that you can sit in a curtained booth to eat your fish, chips and mushy peas with the etched-glass likenesses of footballing legends Bobby Moore, Trevor Brooking or Geoff Hurst looking down on you, maybe offering their benign benediction as you succumb to a second helping of chocolate stout cake.


The linking of this beautiful pub with the beautiful game is by no means random. The Boleyn Tavern sits on a busy junction in Upton Park, London E6, just a few yards from what was once the Boleyn Ground, the home of West Ham United football team.



On match days, as old hands attest, the surrounding streets were closed off, and The Boleyn was packed to the gunnels with home supporters (clutching their £3 pints in genuine glasses) and away supporters (who were charged £4 for the same pint in a plastic glass).


The pub has now been restored to its Victorian splendour thanks to the independent Remarkable Pubs chain, with seven snugs divided by ornate panels, Carrara marble floors, and a massive stained-glass skylight dominating what was once a dingy billiards room and is now an open kitchen serving elevated pub grub such as gochujang-glazed chicken wings.


Regulars will happily scroll through their phones to find old sepia-tinted shots of The Boleyn, taken by their grandparents, with tram tracks running alongside; they’re equally happy settling in with a hand-pumped real ale and basking in the glory of a place that’s once again an expansive temple to relaxation, pleasure, company and enjoyment. To sum up, in four words: Back, Of. The. Net.