The Durham Arms, Canning Town, E16

There's no real ale here, and no sign of food when I was in here mid-afternoon on a Wednesday. Guinness was £1.60 a half. The most unusual thing about this pub is the parrot in a cage behind the counter - whenever it hears running water it comes out with "get a bath" to whoever happens to be standing nearby. Priceless. The pub itself dates from 1863 according to the landlady, and of course now it's completely opened up. On the far right there used to be a jug & bottle bar; on the corner the Saloon Bar; and on the left was once the Public Bar. As a previous reviewer states, this was once a Charrington's pub, as evidenced by the name on the pub sign; the green-banded windows, and the bar back (possibly post-war) which still bears the illuminated Charrington name alongside that brewery's logos of the famous toby jug which they inherited from Hoare's Brewery, and the top-hatted gent with a beer glass. There's some very basic carpet on the floor, normal tables and chairs for furniture, a pool table on the left in the old Public Bar area, and TVs of course, which were showing some horse racing when I was in. This is a genuine old boozers' pub, which is way off the beaten track. To get here I had to negotiate the piles of fly-tipped rubbish and muddy puddles. I would guess that this is a one-off vist pub, but I'm glad I made the effort as I rather like these old-fashioned boozers.

Hidden away in an industrial area. Standard draught selection. To be honest surprised this pub is open but good luck to it.

A real old-style boozer, located in one of the least attractive pub locations I've ever encountered (sandwiched between a very unsavoury industrial estate and an overground section of the Jubilee Line). Still retains the Charrington brewery name on the pub sign. Faily basic 'L'-shaped bar, with a pool table at the back and a small patio beer garden to the rear. Plenty of lively chat around the room. No real ale, so it was a quick pint of the keg Toby Bitter (didn't know this still existed, £2.80) and I was off.