The Bancroft Arms, Mile End, E1

This pub dates from at least the mid-19th century, but has been rebuilt as an interwar-years hostelry. The tired old red and cream paint scheme has been eschewed in favour of shades of hipster ‘high viz’, otherwise known as grey. What does stand out though, is the fantastic Truman’s regalia and branding, especially the illuminated sign to the east side, disappointingly off (or broken) on my visit. The surprisingly small L-shaped interior has also been given a hipster makeover; the floor’s old boarded, but then the interior is very plain, with a dark grey field panelled bar, dark grey paint to dado height, then off-white to a similarly coloured ceiling and unfathomable planking to the right wall. Furniture is modern and simple, lighting comes from small, Victorian-style japanned chandeliers and matching sconces. There’s leaded, stained glass occluded windows and an open door, to allow in the deafening sound of traffic and drown out Bob Marley’s singing; there’s some sort of live entertainment on Saturdays. To the rear, is a small smoking patio, which can be seen in use on the Facebook page. Customers were just three in number, one old boy and two studenty types, which was a bit sad mid Friday evening. Sadly, there’s still no ale despite it being offered on a sign at the bar, me settling for a half of ELB’s Cowcatcher ‘craft’ keg, served by a very friendly old-school landlady (Doreen?) and not bad, but unsurprisingly nowhere as good as the cask stuff. Sadly, there’s not much to this pub anymore. A more homely interior, TVs (which no-one was watching) off and some real ale would perk the place up no end. However, I would recommend a visit if in the area or on a crawl, as it’s just this type of place that could go and the area would be all the worse for that.

As Alan says, this is an old Truman's pub that still has all the impressive original signage on the exterior. Sadly inside there's nothing left that indicates its Truman's heritage. Sadly there's no real ale either, with Belhaven keg bitter (£1.70 a half) being the best bet. I did notice an advert on the door for happy hour, wherein you can have a pint of Foster's, Carlsberg or Best Bitter (probably the John Smiths that they also sell) for £2.80 a pint. Happy hour was from 1.00 - 3.00 and 5.00 - 8.00, but luckily I was in at around 4.00 so any temptation to sample these drinks was denied me. There was a chalkboard by the bar advertising Doreen's Specials - which were in fact some pub grub favourites such as spagbol, and shepherds pie at £4.50 a pop, or sarnies/toasties at £2. There was obviously a TV showing Sky Sports, and a dartboard behind a games machine that looked to be portable enough to be moved to allow access to the board. There was not much in the way of decor, but I did spot a framed photograph of boxing greats at Harringay Arena when it closed many years ago. This is clearly a locals' pub. In fact I quite liked its simplicity, and it's a shame it doesn't do at least one real ale, but I'm sure there's no call for it.

The Bancroft Arms is a decent looking pub that is situated on the very busy mile end road,it is about midway between Mile End and Stepney Green tube stations,the large old Trumans sign looked quite nice. Once inside there was a decent sized single room with the bar facing,i was greeted by Rex who had took the time to put on his Pubs Galore t shirt,not sure how he knew who i was,but he did. The room was carpeted,there was a small stage to the right,with the seating being mainly normal tables and chairs,there was a TV on showing ice hockey from the winter olympics. There were no real ales on the bar,the keg bitter was Belhaven best which was drinkable. The pub was quite busy on a Wednesday afternoon,i was quite happy having a drink in this pub. Pub visited 19/2/2014