Blakesley Arms — Restaurant in London

🚇 Manor Park 🍺 £4.40 Carlsberg

The Blakesley Arms sits just south of Wanstead Flats in Manor Park, East London. Manor Park station is on the Lizzy Line and is literally next door.

Built in the 1890s by Saville Brothers of Stratford, the pub was taken over by Charrington’s in 1925, you can still spot some of those old Charrington details today.

It’s a proper two-bar boozer with loads of character. The front bar is the old public bar with a big central servery, cream woodwork, a bold red ceiling and no-nonsense furniture. The walls are lined with sports memorabilia, TVs, and a corner dedicated to West Ham. At the back is the saloon bar, clearly quieter these days, but you can tell it was once something special — wall panels, mirrors, a gorgeous ceiling, a pool table and even a dumb waiter. At the rear of the pub are a few benches and gazebos.

The beer line up is all keg — nothing fancy, but it does the job. I went for a Carlsberg, my pint cost under a fiver, and nicely hit the spot. No food here, just drinks — very much a wet-led pub.

I popped in just before 1pm on a humid Saturday lunchtime in August with fellow pub enthusiast @pintandanotherone as part of a Manor Park/Forest Gate crawl. A few locals were in already, most watching City v Spurs. The atmosphere was chilled, everyone was friendly, and the service was spot on. The lady behind the bar was lovely and gave us some tips for the next pubs on our list.

If the dictionary had a picture next to the word “boozer,” it’d be The Blakesley Arms. I loved it — cheap pints, friendly crowd, and no pretence. A bit rough around the edges maybe, but that’s what makes it so good. Not many like this left in London. Stick it on your list.

📅 23rd August 2025

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Walked in at 9:43pm and the bar lady shouted "we are closed it's 10pm and nobody is in here" there was 6 to 7 people still drinking. No wonder why nobody is there. I went to william across the road which was cheaper and had around 15 people in there. This place needs a hygiene inspection it is filthy full of fruit flies and bed bugs!...

It's a regular pub nothing special but the atmosphere when you want to be somewhere to relax feel comfortable and be yourself with a group of friends close to you it's the place to be with friendly staff that will look after you and understanding friendly regulars that will look out for you. The perfect local to relax and...