London's Dead Pubs
Published June 25th 2026
An informal yet insightful guide to some of the capital's lost drinking dens, plus tips on where you can still get a great pint today!
Following from London’s Lost Music Venues Vol 1 & 2, author Paul Talling turns his attention to the capital's lost drinking dens. If you enjoyed his previous books, you'll enjoy this one too. Read about The Ruskin Arms in Manor Park where the Small Faces used to rehearse; The Star in Croydon where Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, Cream, and Fleetwood Mac all played; and Putney's White Lion who hosted punk and new wave bands including X-Ray Spex, Tubeway Army, Crass, Monochrome Set and The UK Subs. In addition to the many music-related anecdotes Paul broadens this book out into an alternative, sticky-carpeted history of London, viewed from the bar of some of its most iconic (and now sadly gone) drinking dens.
A well-stocked jukebox, bar snacks, and pints of Whitbread, Fuller's, Truman's or Courage on tap. Nothing quite matches the atmosphere of a London pub. But since 2004, one in five pubs across Greater London have closed. This book pays tribute to many of the great public drinking places we've lost, while also celebrating some pubs that have returned from the dead.
Paul Talling is best known for the 'Derelict London' website and has been giving guided walks across all parts of London for over 20 years. With over 200 original photos of pubs in all states of dereliction plus some that have luckily come back from the dead, London's Dead Pubs laments the drinking spaces we've lost and also points to places where it's still possible to drink in the (usually) convivial atmosphere of a great London boozer today.
Come and see Paul talk about the new book at the Walthamstow Trades Hall on the 16th June with the Rock N Roll Book Club.
--------
Praise for Pauls other books:
‘The book is a belter. What we call in my house a Velvet Underground - a great Loo Read’ Paul Ross - BBC London
‘Talling has managed to show another side to the capital, one of abandoned buildings that somehow retain a sense of beauty.’ Metro
‘Excellent . . . As much as it is an inadvertent vision of how London might look after a catastrophe, DERELICT LONDON is valuable as a document of the one going on right in front of us.’ New Statesman