The Lord Stanley, Plaistow, E13

Visited 09/12/25. Visited previously 04/10/23. No cask. Keg offering of Guinness, Carling, Coors, Aspall, Staro, Pravha, Madri, Doom Bar. Reasonably sized venue with a large bar counter with service on three sides with serving on two of those sides, both bare boarded. The far side from the entrance is a lighter affair owing to the windows on both sides facing the bar counter and has three pool tables and a dart board with limited seating apart from a couple of regular tables and chairs by the dartboard and then some tall stool seating at the bar counter on this side. A couple of fruit machines and a TV added to the entertainment options in this side. The side by the entrance was livelier and had a tiled area by the bar counter and then the rest of the space was carpeted. Tall stool seating at the bar counter and a large projector screen on the wall opposite. Again, a dartboard and even more fruit machines, plus a stage area suggesting there is some regular entertainment here beyond the screen variety. The carpeted area housed a fair number of regular tables and chairs. Proper old school East End venue.

Official site of The Lord Stanley - the-lord-stanley.edan.io

Official site of The Lord Stanley - the-lord-stanley.edan.io

There’s no real ale here, and no sign of food when I was in on Monday lunchtime. The old West Ham colour scheme on the exterior has been replaced by a more neutral light grey. The landlady told me that they don’t get so many football supporters now that West Ham has moved from Upton Park, so I guess the claret amd blue paintwork is now less important. There’s what’s now a central horseshoe servery, that effectively divides the two rooms. Access between the two rooms is at the rear of the pub, behind the bar counter, where the counter has now been truncated to provide a small passageway. The room on the left is essentially a sports room, having three pool tables, a dartboard, and no seating to speak of. It also contains one of those large punching game machines; I’ve never seen one used, and I don’t think I’m mssing much. On the plus side, it does have a bit of nice old tiling in the splash area surrounding the counter. The other room is a bit more upmarket, being carpeted and furnished with loads of normal tables and chairs. It does have another dartboard though. There’s also a stage at the back, with live music apparently a big draw at the weekends, when it stays open until 2.00 AM on Friday and Saturday nights. As you might expect, there’s loads of West Ham memorabilia around the place, including framed photographs and signed football shirts. I guess it’s popular with locals, and of that I’m very glad, but it’s not somewhere I’m likely to revisit.