The renowned Two Puddings pub on the Broadway Stratford (1966)


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(51.54036 0.0013, 51.54 0.001) 


The renowned Two Puddings pub on the Broadway Stratford (1966)

Early in the twentieth century, the Two Puddings had became a notorious pub, known locally as 'The Butcher's Shop' on account of the amount of blood spilt. Some people would turn up at the pub for a Saturday night punch up rather than for a good time and a pint.

From 1962 until its closure in 2000, Eddie Johnson was landlord of the Two Puddings and he started to drastically change its reputation.

Eddie and wife Shirley were rock 'n' roll fans and the Two Puddings - a.k.a. The Puddings or simply The Pud - became a prime venue with the UK's first disco upstairs, later more of a nightclub. Coming along to the pub in the 1960s and beyond were television personalities, actors, writers, champion boxers, musicians, gangsters and footballers. Harry Redknapp met his wife Sandra there in 1963 and David Essex made his performing debut at the Puddings.

At the end of the 1990s, changes in the law required breweries to sell off pubs, including the Two Puddings. There was a court case that saw Eddie Johnson thrown out as landlord.

Because of his four decades in charge, Eddie Johnson was then London's longest serving licensee. In 2012 he wrote a book about his experiences called 'Tales from the Two Puddings'. It was later made into a documentary.


Attribution: London Metropolitan Archives

Licence: Not known