Remembering Cockney Pride in London
Does anyone remember this huge underground pub which used to stretch from Piccadilly Circus/Coventry St. to Jermyn St.?
I got introduced to it by a British photographer from Farnham who worked for my hometown newspaper in Wolfsburg/Germany at the time.
Since then, I returned to Cockney Pride whenever I was in London (and while the pub was still around).
I particularly liked the fact that, despite the touristy location, Cockney Pride seemed to attract both Londoners and travellers.
My favourite Cockney Pride memory is an evening which involved a singing competition between British and Swedish soccer fans. In one corner of the main hall (which faced Jermyn St.) the Brits started singing their team’s anthem. Close by Swedish fans countered by trying to sing their anthem with an even higher volume than the Brits. This happened shortly before the „Last Orders“ call – you can imagine how the singing teams‘ volume increased by 11 p.m.!
[I wrote this under the influence of various songs by my favourite British pub rock duo Chas ’n‘ Dave.]
P.S.: There is a continuation of this blog post (in German): „Cockney Pride (Piccadilly): Von schönen Zufällen und der “kleinen Welt” Internet“.
www.Sozialgeschnatter.de 
[…] circa drei Monaten schrieb ich bei Qype einen englischsprachigen Beitrag über den Pub Cockney Pride am Londoner Piccadilly Circus. Den habe ich vor langer, langer Zeit kennen gelernt – durch den […]
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Von schönen Zufällen und der “kleinen Welt” Internet « www.Sozialgeschnatter.de
16. November 2008 at 2:20
Hi there, I spent every night at the Cockney Pride during spring 1987, there was a rock band playing every night, and my strongest impression and memory of this lovely local-feeling spot, was the old man with the stick, who was also there every night, dancing and enjoying the music like he was 20, on my last trip to London, which must have been summer of 1988, passed by the Cockney Pride as they were just removing the large round sign from above the back door? I asked if I could have it, and the craftsmen said yes, then I met an old friend who said, leave it in the corner there and we pick it up later, guess if it was still there on my return… nope.. I lived in Sweden at the time, and this was during my first week of a months back-packing, so, it would have been a hassle to bring it with me all way around, and back home, but believe me, amongst the few things i regret i didn’t hold on to, is this sign… loved the place! Annika
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Annika Andersson
15. Oktober 2014 at 16:46
Thank you for your memories, Annika!
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pjebsen
15. Oktober 2014 at 19:27
[…] more nostalgia about the London pub scene, check out my tribute to the Piccadilly Circus pub Cockney Pride – which generated a heart-warming follow-up (in […]
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For no reason a’ all: My Tribute to London pub rock duo Chas & Dave | www.Sozialgeschnatter.de
18. Oktober 2015 at 19:11
[…] Remembering Cockney Pride in London (2008; damit “Alterspräsident”, den ich besonders mag / 341 Abrufe) […]
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Das Sozialgeschnatter von 2015 im Rückblick | www.Sozialgeschnatter.de
31. Dezember 2015 at 16:53
it was my first month in London in a damn cold december 1984 as a young Italian i was wonderin around the west end with no money and no idea where to go when I heard loud chanting coming from the downstair, that night I discovered the most amazing Pub of all, „The Cockney Pride“ old chaps and lads young people and foreigners like me all togheter singing a world war II song..“A long march to tipperary“ since than i was in love and returned so many times..I had planned to stay six months and stayed 10 yrs, now I’m 53 and when memories go to those old days, well i have sore throat so much is the nostalghia…
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maurizio cirillo
28. September 2016 at 1:54
Thank you for sharing your memories!
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Peter Jebsen
28. September 2016 at 15:19
[…] circa drei Monaten schrieb ich bei Qype einen englischsprachigen Beitrag über den Pub Cockney Pride am Londoner Piccadilly Circus. Den habe ich vor langer, langer Zeit […]
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Cockney Pride (Piccadilly): Von schönen Zufällen und der „kleinen Welt“ Internet | www.Sozialgeschnatter.de
28. September 2016 at 15:18
A bunch of Oxford House College foreign students (Frenchs, Germans, Italians, Austrians and myself an Ecuadorian chap) went out a night in February of 88 for pints and hit the place that someone in the group knew in anticipation. Ohh what a night!!!, we boozed, chat, roared and danced to the live rock band downstairs. I got a nice German classmate which I liked a lot and we ended the night banging our heads unplugged.
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maxgalarza
6. September 2017 at 21:06
@maxgalarza, thanks for your memories!
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Peter Jebsen
6. September 2017 at 23:46
I used to go to The Cockney Pride almost every Sunday evening while living in London in 1986 with my nanny friends. There was always a friendly atmosphere and I loved singing along to the good old cockney songs with the band.
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Judy
29. Januar 2018 at 0:08
I went many times to the Cockney Pride in the early 80’s. I particularly liked the piano player, who used to greet the foreigners who were regulars in the pub by playing a song from their countries 🙂
I have many fond memories of the place…
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furs88
16. November 2018 at 22:05
I first discovered this place in. the summer of 1977 during Queen Elizabeth’s 25th Jubilee. A real party summer! Loved the singing competitions! Incredible!
Peter C
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petercantone30gmail.com
9. Februar 2021 at 5:15
It is wonderful to read so many memories of the Cockney Pride, where I used to work in the mid 80s. It was a unique bar in London, really, entirely underground, with two bars on two levels, with doors on two different parallel streets, with a very large main room. A unique, characterful pub, that also used to get football fans from every club that had travelled to play in London. I wish there were more pictures, or even video of the place.
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kiat
16. Oktober 2021 at 2:27