Whitechapel, London. Originally established as an inn before 1654, it was rebuilt in 1894. It is located on the site where the Legend of the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green is said to have originated. Henry de Montfort, a nobleman who was blinded in the Battle of Evesham in 1265, adopted the life of a beggar to test the sincerity of his daughter Besse's suitors. In 1865 William Booth (later to become founder of the Salvation Army) preached his first sermon outside the pub. For many years it was the brewery tap for the Manns Albion Brewery, where the first modern brown ale was brewed. On March 6 1966 notorious gangster Ronnie Kray shot and killed George Cornell (an associate of a rival gang, the Richardsons) as he was sitting at the bar. Cray was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.

It is a large open spaced bar served by a long L-shaped dark wood bar, and has a very typical red tinned ceiling.Outside is a large beer garden. I had a Beggars Belief Ale brewed by Jennings Brewey in Cockermouth (Lake District), a delicious brown ale.