Anchor & Hope
CAMRA lists this as an interior of special national historic interest, and the matchboard bar still has the spittoon trough round its base. There is no kitchen, and all three beer lines are Fuller's.
Why go
The pub went up around 1851 at High Hill Ferry, when the Lea here was worked by watermen, bargemen, dyers and chandlers, and CAMRA's surveyors give the room a one-star National Inventory entry as an interior of special national historic interest (CAMRA). Their summary is a quirky canal-side gem little changed for sixty years
, which is dated from 1962, when the wall dividing it into two rooms came out. The bar counter is matchboard-panelled with a spittoon trough round the base, filled in now. There is a 1930s brick fireplace with a coal fire and a dartboard at the back. Leslie Heath ran it from 1953 to 2003, took the licence from his father-in-law, got an MBE in 1997 for services to the community, and his portrait is still on the wall.
Now the part that decides where this sits. CAMRA records one changing beer and two regulars, and the regulars are Fuller's ESB and Fuller's London Pride while the changing line is listed as Fuller's, varies. Fuller Smith & Turner own the freehold. Food and drink come before atmosphere and history, and a tied range with one rotating slot from the same brewery is neither a moving list nor a deep one. There is no kitchen: the pub tells you to eat from Angel's Delights Jerk Joint on the doorstep or order a takeaway in (Anchor & Hope).
Sites: three London pubs carry this name and they are unrelated businesses. This is 15 High Hill Ferry, Clapton E5 9HG. The Anchor & Hope at 36 The Cut, Waterloo, is the nose-to-tail gastropub and is a different pub entirely. A third sits at Riverside, Charlton, SE7.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the ESB, which is the pick over the Pride in a house that pours both. Then a jerk box from next door and a table by the water. In winter, the seat by the coal fire.
- Avoid: coming for a beer range, because every line is Fuller's. Avoid arriving hungry expecting a menu, and avoid Sunday after half ten, when it shuts.
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA's National Inventory surveyors, on the room:
A quirky canal-side gem little changed for sixty years.
The same record notes the twin angled bar-backswhich could be Victorian
and a sliding hatchway to the back roomno longer in use
. Statutory listed status: not listed, so the protection here is CAMRA's rather than the state's.1 - CAMRA's East London and City branch, on who actually drinks here:
Drinkers include wildlife enthusiasts and bird watchers, boaters and locals. No food offering but there is a Jamaican food truck nearby and you can order takeaway to be delivered to the pub.
12 - The pub's own claim, which is fair and worth quoting because it is also the limit of the claim:
The Anchor & Hope might be small, but it packs a punch when it comes to atmosphere and drink.
3 - No critic or local writer has covered it. The CAMRA record carries a Good Beer Guide description block behind a member gate, which indicates a Guide entry; the editions cannot be read, so no count is claimed.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: Saved with no note; the note on my list belongs to the other door.
Good to know
- Where: 15 High Hill Ferry, E5 9HG, on the towpath of the River Lea Navigation. There are moorings if you arrive by boat.
- Timing: Monday to Friday 1pm to 11pm, Saturday from noon, Sunday noon to 10.30pm.
- Food: none made here. Angel's Delights Jerk Joint is on the doorstep and the pub invites you to have a takeaway delivered.
- The room: one bar, wood panelling, dartboard at the back, real fire at the front. Dogs welcome, board games, live music and DJ nights.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5, FHRSID 468804, inspected 3 June 2020, with food handling, cleanliness and food-safety management all recorded Good. Six years old, which is normal for a pub with no kitchen.4
- Michelin: none, and a one-bar pub with no kitchen sits outside the guide's scope.
Verdict
could-visit — Worth twenty minutes on a Lea towpath walk, and it is not where you go for beer. The pub was built about 1851 on the water at High Hill Ferry, has been a Fuller's house since the early 1970s and a Tolly Cobbold one before that, and CAMRA gives its interior a one-star National Inventory entry as a room of special national historic interest, summarised as 'a quirky canal-side gem little changed for sixty years'. The counter is matchboard-panelled with a filled-in spittoon trough round the base, there is a 1930s brick fireplace with a coal fire, and Leslie Heath, publican here from 1953 to 2003 and given an MBE in 1997, still hangs on the wall. Then look at the glass. CAMRA records one changing beer and two regulars: Fuller's ESB, Fuller's London Pride, and a rotating line that is also Fuller's. That is a tied range with a slot, which is neither a programme nor a deep list, and food and drink come before atmosphere and history. There is no kitchen either, though there is a jerk joint on the doorstep. So this is a stop on a walk with moorings and a fire, honestly labelled.