There’s nothing quite like sitting down for a cold pint at one of London’s oldest and liveliest pubs to soak up the atmosphere.
And now, you can do it completely naked.
The Coach & Horses in the city’s bustling Soho district have started to welcome customers and bar staff alike to strip off before having a refreshing pint.
A landmark of the area since the 1800s, the pub offers everything from vegan-friendly food to cockney sing-a-longs around an upright piano.
It has been described as the ‘last bastion of the traditional pub boozer’, and has quenched the thirst of Spectator columnist Jeffery Bernard, and journalists from Private Eye magazine.
Historic Soho pub Coach & Horses has released a naked calendar or regulars, that inspired the pub’s decision to gain a nudist licence while attempting to save it from a takeover by brewers Fuller’s
The inn’s became notorious under the landlordship of Norman Balon, claimed to be the ‘rudest’ in London during his 63-year tenure.
Punters now have the option to bare it all after the establishment was granted a nudist license.
Landlord Alastair Choat says it’s all part of the community atmosphere he’s fostering in his pub – which he might be about to lose.
‘There is this – in times of real need and despair and trying to defend something of value – great British tradition of stripping off,’ Choat told CNN Travel.
Choat explained that the pub had to seek special permission from local authorities for punters to go nude, similar to an adult entertainment establishments.
Landlord Alastair Choat and his daughter Hollie (pictured) run the pub on Greek Street, that has stood in some form for over 170 years
He said that any nudity will be pre-arranged, in a consensual environment so that someone looking for a quiet .
‘You do have to have the right staff on, because obviously the team have to be comfortable with it,’ he says.
‘But to be honest with you, when you do these things, after 10, 15, 20 minutes no one notices anymore. It’s a bit like you go to a pub where there’s a band playing and you not very interested in it, after a while it’s just background music.
The pub was once famed for having ‘London’s rudest landlord,’ Norman Balon, for 63 years before being bought by Choat along with Greg Stewart and Melanie Krudy in 2006.
Staff and regulars were both involved in launching the ‘Beauty and the Beasts of Soho Calendar’ featuring regulars stripping off in the pub, with 10 per cent of profits going to British homeless charity Centrepoint
The idea for the nudist licence began with a naked calendar, made by Choat and the team to help fund a fight against brewer Fuller’s who are attempting to complete a takeover by not renewing Choat’s lease on the property.
Fuller’s wants to bring in its own management, which according to a petition to save the pub will turn it into a ‘soulless chain outfit and strip it of its unique character’.
Staff and regulars were both involved in launching the ‘Beauty and the Beasts of Soho Calendar’ featuring regulars stripping off in the pub, with 10 per cent of profits going to British homeless charity Centrepoint.
When the calendar launched, Choat was inundated with calls from naturists across the world asking whether the pub was now welcoming nudists
When the calendar launched, Choat was inundated with calls from naturists across the world asking whether the pub was now welcoming nudists.
The Norman’s Coach & Horses was established in 1847, and has been described as the ‘last bastion of the traditional pub boozer’.
There has been a pub on the site since the 18th century. The current building dates from the 1850s.
This legendary pub has a long-standing association with the columnist Jeffery Bernard, Private Eye magazine and other journalists.
Choat explained that the pub had to seek special permission from local authorities for punters to go nude, similar to an adult entertainment establishments
Alastair Choat (pictured with daughter Hollie), along with Greg Stewart and Melanie Krudy, bought the Coach from the long standing landlord of 63 years Norman Balon, in May 2006.
Its former landlord Norman Balon became famous too – in part for his self-proclaimed title of ‘London’s rudest landlord’.
Alastair Choat, along with Greg Stewart and Melanie Krudy, bought the Coach from the long standing landlord of 63 years Norman Balon, in May 2006.
Alastair has ensured the pub has retained its great atmosphere and ambiance built up through the last 77 years. Little has changed much to the acclaim of 1000’s of regulars and the local community of Soho.
The interior of the pub was recreated on stage for the biographical play about Spectator columnist Jeffrey Bernard’s life called Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell.