The Coach and Horses at 29

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...

on the corner with Romilly Street in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

, London, is a grade II listed

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

. In the 20th century the pub became notable for its association with the columnist

Jeffrey Bernard Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abus ...

, the staff of '' Private Eye'' magazine, other

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

s and as a haunt for Soho personalities. Through their writings its former landlord, Norman Balon, became known as "London's rudest landlord".''You're Barred, You Bastards!', The Memoirs of a Soho Publican'', Norman Balon with Spencer Bright, Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1991

Early history

There has been a pub on the site since the 18th century. The current building dates from the early 19th century and is Grade II listed with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

20th century

In the 20th century, the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, t ...

for over 60 years was Norman Balon, who developed a persona as "London's rudest landlord". He began to work at the pub in 1943, when he left an engineering course to serve at the bar, after his father became the landlord there. The pub became a favourite drinking spot for the journalists of the satirical magazine ''Private Eye'' and the location of their fortnightly lunches, at which it was hoped a plentiful supply of cheap wine would prompt an indiscretion from one of the guests, such as

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

John Hemming's admission that he had got his mistress pregnant. It also featured regularly in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

s "Low Life" column by Jeffrey Bernard, who was a regular at the pub until his death in 1997.Time called at Bernard's watering hole.
Mark Honigsbaum, ''The Guardian'', 2 July 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2019. In 1989, the interior of the pub was recreated on stage for the biographical play about Bernard, '' Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell''. The play was successful, and Balon's memoirs followed in 1991, titled ''You're Barred, You Bastards: The Memoirs of a Soho Publican''.Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Norman Balon, the rudest Soho landlord.
Jonathan Sale, ''The Independent'', 21 September 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2019. Clive Jennings says of regular clientele such as Bernard that "the lethal triangle of The French, The Coach & Horses and The Colony were the staging points of the

Dean Street Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue. Historical figures and places In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then a young boy, gave a recital at 21 Dean Street. Admiral Nelson stayed ...

shuffle, with occasional forays into other joints such as The Gargoyle or the Mandrake ...

The Groucho The Groucho Club is a private members' club formed in 1985 located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mostly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club has rooms on several floors, including th ...

or Blacks".

21st century

Norman Balon was succeeded as landlord in May 2006 by Alastair Choat, Greg Stewart, and Melanie Krudy. In 2019, Fullers ended the lease with Alastair Choat and transferred the pub into its managed estate.

Notable patrons

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1974 to 1981.Scott, Danny. (1 ...

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

Danny Kirwan Daniel David Kirwan (13 May 1950 – 8 June 2018) was a British musician whose greatest success came with his role as guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. He released three albums as a s ...

* Eddie Linden *

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

Keith Waterhouse Keith Spencer Waterhouse (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series. Biography Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. H ...

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coach And Horses, Soho 19th-century establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in the 19th century Grade II listed pubs in the City of Westminster Pubs in Soho Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Greek Street