Rebuilt following the Great Fire of London in 1666, The Anchor Bankside boasts the proud accolade of being “the sole survivor of the river taverns of Shakespeare’s time”.
If its title does not paint a full sufficient image then let me be a part of up the dots to clarify the pub – now owned by chain Greene King – sits fairly on the Thames, only a stone’s throw from the aforementioned playwright’s Globe Theatre.
Despite its apparent appeal, for all of the instances I’ve strolled previous the The Anchor, it was not till the opposite week that I ventured inside as I sought a secure haven from the blistering chill of a night within the capital.
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The boozer which served the likes of river pirates for generations, oozed each ounce of appeal I’d hoped for when exploring its a number of ranges inside earlier than lastly deciding on a seat to relaxation my weary ft.
(Image: Google Maps)
That’s when, after all, simply as we acquired settled, I found it wasn’t simply my pal and I alone within the eerily quiet prime room. As I went in for a second sip of my Guinness, a bolting motion within the nook of my eye wrestled for my consideration off the black stuff.
Putting my glass down, I scanned the crimson patterned carpet for a clearer glimpse of our sudden firm. There it was, a mouse scuttling aimlessly from wall to wall at lightning velocity.
(Image: Charles Wadepalmer)
Thankfully rodents don’t chart too extremely on my checklist of causes for discomfort, however delicate amusement swiftly turned to photographs of Disney Pixar’s Ratatouille when the wee fella shot into the pub kitchen by way of a conveniently mouse-sized gap.
That was that then, or so I believed till one other appeared within the reverse finish of the room. Rather than witnessing a misplaced rodent fortunately trotting round new environment, our expertise suggests The Anchor may be very a lot house to a clan of whiskered critters.
(Image: Anadolu Agency through Getty Images)
We discovered ourselves glued to the actions of our fellow, much less inebriated fellow punters of which I’m satisfied there have been no less than three hop, skip and leaping their method by way of chairs and desk legs.
Did it smash our couple of hours on the pub? On the opposite we had been handled to dwell leisure I final had when working in an workplace on the opposite facet of London Bridge.
Replying to the Daily Star’s enquiry in regards to the mice state of affairs, A spokesperson for the Anchor stated: “The Anchor, which dates back to 1676, has been a longstanding feature on the Thames, having been described as ‘Bankside’s oldest surviving tavern’. Due to this proximity to the river, mice are commonplace around the Thames however, we take many precautions to ensure we operate at the highest possible standards.
(Image: Charles Wadepalmer)
“We want to reassure our guests that we work closely with specialist pest contractors and the premises receives spot checks throughout the year by an independent auditor to ensure the correct processes and controls are in place. In addition, we operate daily checks and have stringent controls in place for food storage and amongst our production areas. We operate a robust cleaning regime and we are very proud to be a 5* rated EHO business.”
Surprisingly, a deep dive into TripAdvisor critiques introduced up no such shared experiences of mice operating riot so maybe we lucked out getting a non-public present whereas midweek footfall was at an actual low.
Out of the two,000 plus critiques, the pub is rated a cool 3.5 stars TripAdvisor stars with current criticism centring round desk bookings. I needed to share my favorite of the lot which incorporates the road: “They said if we didnt move they would throw us out. which is interesting as that would be a criminal offence and my SAS training would probably have seen them in the river. “
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