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Turners Old Star, Wapping, E1
E1
E1W 2QG
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Delboy 20 left this review about Turners Old Star
Great unspoilt back street boozer. I came here because of it's use in the Krays film - "Legend". It was like walking on to the set! I don't normally take pictures of an interior but couldn't resist it. As we were amongst the first customers the bar was empty. Great service from the friendly landlord. On the beer front there were 2 ales on - Southwark Brewing West Coast IPA and Happy As Larry from Heritage. I went for the latter which was fine.
Well worth the visit.
On 15th June 2023
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1656 recommendations about 1556 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Turners Old Star
Turners Old Star is a fine example of a no frills old school backstreet boozer and just the type of pub I was hoping to find during a recent midweek crawl of Wapping. The L-shaped bar area is served by an L-shaped bar counter to the right rear. Three hand pumps were drawing Southwark Brewing’s Mayflower and Borough Market Brown Ale alongside Heritage Brewing’s St Modwen Golden Ale. Standard and premium keg was also available and the food stretches to pies in a cabinet on the bar. The television was off. Six Nations bunting was wrapped around the top of the bar, so probably no Sky Sports. There was some low background music playing through some old speakers. The well-trodden floorboards lead to a room at the rear that houses a pool table and dartboard. This pub is of a dying breed so is certainly worth a look.
On 18th March 2023
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5228 recommendations about 5196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Turners Old Star
A rather splendid and unspoilt locals pub , unfortunately all three handpumps were barren on my visit with just a basic keg lineup available. I still enjoyed my twenty minutes or so with half a Stella taking in the authenticity of the pub and admiring some ornate woodwork on and behind the bar. Quite a rare pub nowadays and well worth a look , beer or not.
On 12th June 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
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Ian Mapp left this review about Turners Old Star
An unspoilt gem of a pub for the locals. Looks unchanged for decades but is neat and clean. Used as a location for the big "I came for a shoot out" fight scene in the Krays film, legend.
Open plan, with pool table room to the side.
Two from the Southwark Brewing Company on - at £4.20. As the minimum card transaction was a fiver, they had me hooked for two.
Authentic.
On 19th January 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Turners Old Star
A first in here the other night whilst out on a tour of Wapping, a fascinating area rich in history and one which is subject to immense change and gentrification. Whilst this may have affected neighbouring pubs, the Old Star has so far escaped.
As mentioned this is a largely traditional East End boozer (with traditional staff) which would once have served the local dock workers. The exterior still displays some original Taylor Walker regalia which probably dates from the early '70s. Inside the L-shaped interior, the bar has an attractive rear as well as pot shelf; spirits bottles are inverted and dispense via traditional optics rather than the infuriating modern cylinder measures which take up so much time.
The picture windows have lower portions which are leaded and stained and the floor is bare boarded, furniture is very standard; to the rear is a pool table, beyond which are the lavs and attractive rear garden.
Unfortunately the sport TVs let the place down as do the ugly combined lamp/ceiling fans.
Ales: three pumps, one unclipped the other reversed thereafter just so-so London Pride at a very reasonable £3.80 a pint.
This pub is worth a visit if in the area and in many ways I prefer it to The Prospect of Whitby but in my opinion I'd take The Town of Ramsgate over this if I had to choose.
On 1st September 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1982 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Turners Old Star
As far as interesting back stories go, this pub has to be up there with the best of them. Originally comprising two cottages, the pub came into being when the artist J M Turner bought the cottages and converted them into a pub so that he could install his mistress - a recently widowed landlady from Margate - as the proprietor. He named the pub 'Old Star' and continued seeing the landlady until his death in 1851. The pub was renamed 'Turner's Old Star' in 1987 to celebrate this rather remarkable genesis. The pub looks rather attractive on approach and has a lot of evocative old Taylor Walker livery on display. A corner porch boasts some ornate glasswork and leads into a small bare boarded L-shaped room with a similarly shaped servery to the rear left. The bar has an angular counter that zigzags its way across the room in quite a satisfying way. The counter is a marvellous chunky old specimen with a decorative dado and some carved columns, whilst above there is a fine canopy with nice etched glass and beautifully worked support pillars. The bar back is fitted out in a darker wood and also has some nice details, with decorative panes between each section and a rather incongruous gnome collection on the top. A second, smaller porch to the right has more of the etched glasswork and a mocked up Turner's Old Star road sign and to the rear there is a smart tiled fireplace with a nice painting above. Standard tables and chairs with a few low stools run around the perimeter under a wonderful mix of stained and etched glass windows. To the left is a small side room with half panelled walls and more bare boards, which makes the space echo quite a lot. The room opens into the main bar and is dominated by a pool table. A couple of TV screens were showing the day's early FA Cup fixture and I think I spotted a juke box, although it might have been one of those electronic advertisement boards.
There are three hand pumps here, but only one was operational on this visit, serving a very good pint of Fullers London Pride for £3.70. The barmaid was very friendly, stopping to help an elderly visitor enter the pub before serving me. I'm told that the pub usually has Sharps Doom Bar and/or a guest ale on as well, but with the Pride drinking so well, I wasn't too fussed by this omission.
This is a lovely, down-to-earth local's pub of the sort that are increasingly vanishing under the wave of gentrification engulfing the capital. There are plenty of interesting period features throughout which, combined with the pub's unusual history, makes it worth a pilgrimage in its own right. Finding some excellently kept ale on the bar was a real bonus and whilst this isn't going to set the pulses racing in terms of ale range, it's well worth a look should you ever find yourself in Wapping.
On 31st January 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Turners Old Star
First time to visit this attractive old school corner local for many a moon and it was good to find it still functioning in the back streets of Wapping. I remember it as being a real spit and sawdust type of place back in the day and although the small one room interior has obviously been brought up to date, it’s still fairly basic when compared to the food and tourist led Town of Ramsgate and Captain Kidd down by the Thames.
Not very busy for my visit but still a few ‘old characters’ ensconced on the bar stools on this early evening. Sadly however, for me to the ale offering was a disappointment with only London Pride going with the Elgoods reversed clipped and the other pump not in use. And it would be fair to say I’ve had better pints of Pride. So could not agree more, a friendly welcome and some historic interest but this pub could benefit greatly from a greater attention to the quality and offering of its ale. And if it had a couple of well kept beers from the plethora of small breweries now functioning within the East London post code , this would be a much more interesting pub to visit..
On 19th April 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2109 recommendations about 1991 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Turners Old Star
Attractive, old-school pub retaining some heritage features within the 'L'-shaped bar. Limited amount of fairly basic furniture, with a pool table at the far end. Garden "closed" according to a notice on the door. Two of three handpumps in operation, offering Pride and (Elgoods) Old Star Special (£3.55, 3.8%, and not fresh - very poor for a Cask Marque accredited establishment). Friendly welcome and some historic interest but they need to be more careful with the beer they serve.
On 21st February 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Turners Old Star
A pub of a type long gone in many parts of town as redevelopment has swept certain types of life away. So, good to see it standing, proud with the old Taylor Walker badging still in place. These days it seems to survive on local trade, quiz nights on a Thursday, plus TVs for Sky Sports heavily advertised.
An L shaped room with a zig zag bar in the crook of the L. Pride on handpump, so a simple ale policy. The floor is partly finished, bare ply in the centre and laminate elsewhere, but I'd be surprised if this will change soon.
A pool table with red baize, radio music, and a couple of locals in drinking lager and tea. Friendly and apologetic barmaid when the beer went.
The type of pub that has vanished over the last 30 years or more, so although it's not my style of pub, it serves a purpose and a community and long may it stand.
On 8th March 2010
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
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Rex Rattus left this review about The Turners Old Star
As you walk up to this pub you see a pub that looks exactly what it is – a backstreet locals’ pub. There was just one real ale on when I visited – the ubiquitous London Pride. Unfortunately it went off straight away, and I went for the keg Whitbread Bitter (not sure who brews that), which also went off as soon as I ordered it. Just bad luck with the Pride I suppose. They didn’t seem to be doing any food, although there was a (empty and switched off) heated food container at one end of the bar – the sort that would have contained a few hot pies and pasties, and were standard issue in pubs thirty or forty years ago.
This pub was once owned by the great artist, Joseph Turner, and there is a large plaque on an outside wall giving the history of the place, plus a sketch of the great man hanging above the fireplace on the inside. A large part of the floor is covered with hardboard, which I guess must represent work in progress in replacing the flooring. The furnishings are normal basic tables and chairs, no sofas or such fancy fripperies here. There is a pool table and dartboard in a separate room to the left; a one armed bandit; a large screen TV on the wall but switched off; and they were playing some of the usual banal pop music. There’s not much to make this pub stand out from its peers, except perhaps for the unusual feature of the green painted ceiling. Actually I didn’t mind this pub even though it has to be said that it is a bit basic, but I certainly wouldn’t rush back to sample the ales on offer!
On 6th March 2010
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]