Pub celebrates 150 years (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Pub celebrates 150 years

6:21pm Tuesday 14th June 2011 in Local History By Ima Jackson-Obot

A pub, which was built at a time when the community was changing dramatically, has celebrated its 150th birthday.

The Hare and Hounds pub in Lea Bridge Road, marked the event with a three-day party from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 June.

Guests came in fancy dress and there was a Victorian singalong as well as a historical display of Waltham Forest pubs, courtesy of Vestry House Museum.

Pub owner Rita Acharya said: “It was the most amazing experience of my life.

“We had people coming from outside, people who had not been to the pub for years. Customers were in tears, especially when we sang the old songs.

“It was just beyond our expectation.

“People told us that we had taken it back to what a great institution should be.”

Up until around the mid to late 18th Century, the River Lea was the main way of transporting goods to the area.

With major developments and the speed of change, this led to the construction of many roads, including Lea Bridge Road.

But when the pub was first built in 1861, the area around Leyton and Walthamstow was still just countryside and it was not until some 50 years later that more streets were built around it.

The Gasworks, and stations such as Lea Bridge Road and Chingford had already been built and would have brought workers and visitors, while others travelled to the pub by road on their horses.

The first landlord of the pub is believed to have been a William Bowden, who was a ‘fly proprietor’ and would have run the equivalent of a taxi business, providing connection for passengers with trains at Lea Bridge Station.

The field on which the pub was built was also used by local amateur football teams, including Walthamstow, Leyton and Leytonstone.

Ms Acharya added: “We are so proud of our history.

“Pubs have not had it easy in the past few years with rising costs, but this pub is a survivor.

“We have always fought for the pub because we know it needs to be kept alive.”