*the “Victoria” Pub – Strathearn Place – London W2

Followers of London Shoes will know that every blog visit concludes with a drink or two at a pub close to the primary subject matter location – preferably a pub with a little bit of history or with an interesting backstory to it.

Every once in a while, ‘Shoes’ stumbles upon a pub so impressive, that it deserves a blog article in its own right – and this one most certainly fits that bill.

At this point, I have to give a big shout out ‘thank you’ to long time London Shoes follower Paul, who notified me of the existence of this pub, as I have to admit, unusually for me, I didn’t know anything about it before now – and so last week, under gloriously sunny London skies – I set off to discover it for myself – and ‘wow’ what an amazing place it is.

The “VICTORIA” pub is located in Strathearn Place – Paddington-London W2

It’s officially in the Paddington district – which is a bit weird as it’s situated just north of the Bayswater Road, that borders the northern side of Hyde Park – an area that is now known as ‘Tyburnia’ – probably due to its close proximity to the spot where the famous Tyburn Gallows once stood just by the Oxford Street end of Hyde Park Corner.

The Victoria pub building was built in 1837 – the year Queen Victoria ascended to the Throne – so I’m guessing the pub just had to be named after her.

It has a sort of unique appearance from street level as it fits nicely on the corner of the junction where Gloucester Square / Strathearn Place / Sussex Place / Stanhope Terrace all meet.

This pub has been serving up pints for 187 years now – a remarkable achievement.

It has a proper old skool Victorian interior, with amazingly, some of its original interior fixtures and fittings still in situ.

As soon as you enter the pub you are immediately greeted by the sight of a solid mahogany bar – one of the oldest surviving original pub bars in the UK.

There are large etched and gilded mirrors on the walls – along with wooden panels – beautiful floor to ceiling wooden columns – decorated with ‘fleur-de-lys’ style carvings

Throughout the Victoria, the walls are decorated with many paintings and maps/documents etc – representing people/places referencing historic events that took place throughout Queen Victoria’s long reign

There are also so many references by way of paintings/pictures plus artifacts relating to people, who throughout history – once drank there or had a connection to the pub.

The upstairs of the Victoria is equally as stunning as its main bar.

Its upstairs Bar is kitted out with fixtures and fittings that were retrieved from the old ‘Gaiety Theatre’ that was demolished back in 1958.

There is also a Library Room upstairs that can be hired out for private functions – really classy.

Examples of just some of the ‘faces’ that have frequented the Victoria at one time or another throughout its history – would be the likes of:-

Winston Churchill (who lived just round the corner in Sussex Square)  / Charlie Chaplin / Charles Dickens / Keira Knightly / Ronnie Wood / Damien Hirst – and even the Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher.

It is said that Charles Dickens wrote bits of his classic novel “Our Mutual Friend” in the Victoria pub.

It is also believed that legendary silent film star Charlie Chaplin was once drinking in the upstairs bar – and stood on the 1^st floor balcony, to acknowledge the people that had gathered on the street below. Apparently, the crowd got so big, once they knew Chaplin was drinking in there, that police had to be called for to do a bit of crowd control.

In 1966 a young and relatively unknown (outside of London) singer/songwriter/performer by the name of David Jones – promoted his newly released record ‘Cant Help Thinking About Me’ recorded with his then band “The Lower Third” – by performing upstairs in the Gaiety Bar at the Victoria pub. It was the first time that David Jones had used his new stage name “David Bowie” on a record – the rest, as they say – is history.

Today – the Victoria pub in Strathearn Place – is (quite rightly) a Grade II Listed building.

So – having enjoyed a good old mooch around every nook & crannie of this magnificent pub – me and my long time mate Pete, who had accompanied me for the day – got stuck into a tasty bowl of chips washed down with a couple of refreshing cheeky pints  – before heading off back home.

You can’t but help feel the historic, comfortable, and friendly vibe of this pub the minute you walk through its doors – it’s a definite ‘must see’ if you ever find yourself in the Bayswater Road / Lancaster Gate northern end of Hyde Park area.

Having walked out of the Victoria pub my London Shoes found themselves in Sussex Square, right next door – where Winston Churchill once lived between the years 1920 to 1924……at no.2 .

The actual house where ‘Churchill’ once lived was demolished in the 1960’s – but the building that is now on the original site, has a blue plaque displayed on its exterior wall (although somewhat obscured by foliage) commemorating the fact that this country’s historic leader, had once lived there.

Before jumping onboard, a Central Line train at Lancaster Gate tube station – me and my mate Pete decided to take a little amble around the northern side of Hyde Park/Kensington Park.

Hyde Park’s ‘Italian Garden’ right alongside the Bayswater Road – looked particularly good for early Spring – even the deckchairs were out and being used.

Created in 1860 this Italian styled ornamental garden, consists of 4 ponds surrounded by marble and Portland stone water features – was a gift from Prince Albert to Queen Victoria.

Nearby, where Hyde Park becomes Kensington Park – stands the famous ‘Peter Pan’ statue.

Commissioned by J.M. Barrie in 1912, this now famous bronze statue was created by Sir George Frampton.

J. M. Barrie (the Peter Pan author) lived just a couple of hundred yards away from Hyde Park – in the Bayswater Road – and the location of the statue was said by Barrie, to be where Peter Pan landed, having flown out of the attic nursery.

The 14ft high bronze statue is of a young boy (ie Peter Pan) playing the pan-pipes.

There is an interesting back story to this statue and the J.M. Barrie connection – which I intend to cover-off in a forthcoming blog in its own right – so ‘watch-this-space’.

The Peter Pan statue in Kensington Park has been protected by a Grade II Listed status since 1970 – so hopefully it will be around for many years to come – to be viewed and enjoyed by all.

So – that’s London Shoes’ Victoria pub blog article – a very enjoyable one to put together – and I hope its accompanying photos help bring the topic to life a bit for you.

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Below – is the entire gallery of photographs taken to support the ‘Victoria Pub’ blog article