Captain Kidd, Wapping, E1

Randomness Guide to London - Captain Kidd entry

Randomness Guide to London - Captain Kidd entry

One main space, with a couple of side rooms. There is a restaurant upstairs. Great river views, either from the terrace or the seats next to the windows. Stone flagged floor, some exposed brickwork and exposed joists and beams. Seating is a mix of settles, benches and stools. A bit of local history displayed in information boards particularly relating to Captain Kidd's fate. Worth a stop for the views but sadly only keg Sam Smith's.

This is a Sam Smith’s pub, but unfortunately one of those that for some reason doesn’t stock the handpump version of Old Brewery Bitter. The pub itself is very attractive, housed in a rather old tackle shed with plenty of the original wood frame in evidence. There is a flagstone floor, which could well be an original feature of the old building. It’s named after the 17th Century privateer who was hanged for piracy at nearby Execution Dock in 1701. I was told by some retired river workers on one of my visits that it had only been a pub for twenty years or so. As you would expect, it has some rather superb views of the river, as well as some outside seating consisting of picnic benches. On my recent visit one of our party had to wait some 45 minutes for a chicken sandwich, which is a bit excessive, although they explained that they had a large party of diners in the upstairs dining room. It seemed like a pretty good, and reasonably priced, sandwich when it eventually arrived, but even though I didn’t eat it, it didn’t look as if it was worth the wait! Anyway, it’s a pretty decent pub as long as you’re not fussed about drinking Sam Smith’s keg beers, or their lagers. Like the other pubs on this stretch of the river, it’s not that easy to get to while the East London Line is suspended, and thus Wapping Station closed. It is supposed to reopen this summer.