The Norfolk Arms, Bloomsbury

It is very frustrating to see perfectly decent pubs turned into would-like-to-be trendy gastropubs. Yet in the case of the Norfolk Arms, it may have been a blessing, at least for the building. Indeed the landlords of what had become a rather seedy place seemed to care little for the premises and one could have been forgiven for not noticing the nice Victorian tiles of the façade or this lovely mosaic by the side entrance as they laid buried under layers of grime.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, patrons of the Norfolk Arms included founders of The Pogues, Shane McGowan and Peter 'Spider' Stacy. The latter once declared about the pub

I don't know why we went in there. The landlady was a real old battleaxe and I must have been barred about twenty times. I wasn't doing very much either - kissing a girlfriend at the bar or something like that. Just general drunkenness.

I wonder if from time to time the joy and rage that exude from Rum, Sodomy & the Lash and other albums by The Pogues can still be heard these days at the Norfolk Arms?


Location: Leigh Street / Picture taken in January 2012