Clubs in Profile - The Nags Head

Many venues try and do art, only the Nags Head succeeds.... 

There are almost as many club formats as there are clubs and speaking for myself I tend to find myself in smaller East End venues and of these there are a few such as The Horns, Browns and The Nags Head that are well worth a visit. Our last club profile featured The Horns on the border of Hackney and Islington. For this profile we find ourselves in Tower Hamlets and The Nags Head. Its a venue with history and from what I can see on the internet, there has been a pub called The Nags Head somewhere on Whitechapel Road since at least 1807.It seems to have undergone a name change (initially it was referred to as The Nags Head and Woolpack) and a change of location…

It seems that the first location was 9 & 10 Whitechapel Road and it moved to its current address (17 & 19 Whitechapel Road) sometime during or after WW2. I have the feeling that the first location was destroyed in the Blitz. If we add in the fact that a pub called the Angel and Crown at 2 & 3 Whitechapel Road was destroyed by bombing, it is a reasonable assumption that the original Nags Head suffered the same fate or was heavily damaged.

Its current format seems to resemble two georgian houses knocked together as you can see in the picture below. ...

To the wary eye it may not look that inviting, but believe me you will have to go far to find a friendlier welcome in a strip pub. Like all strip and lap dancing pubs the venue is incredibly safe, I have been a customer for almost ten years and have never seen a problem there. Bar prices are the same as the pub down the road and as any regular will attest, The Nags Head has some of the most attractive girls in London working there.

Recently the venue has benefited from a total refurbishment and the photograph I took below gives you an idea, but does not really do the work any justice....

Owner Manu clearly has doubts about my compositional abilities.....

As you can see its a small venue, but that's fine and every day you will find a mix of local residents, tradesmen and City workers all of who know each other and have done years. The Nags Head is probably the best venue in Tower Hamlets and those of you that follow my blog on a regular basis will know that it is threatened with closure by the Council. This saga drags on and on and it seems there may be a meeting to discuss the boroughs venues some time in September. That said, the recent shattering defeat of prohibitionists in Leeds with seven venues being re-licensed may even make the firebrands of Tower Hamlets think again.

Like many venues, The Nags has a website which can be found at http://nagsheadgentlemensvenue.com/ . The website is well thought out and includes a search feature that lets you know when any particular girl is working on what day, a feature that no other clubs website currently possesses.

Its an easy place to get to and find and we have included a map below....

As you can see its about 5 mins west of Aldgate Tube and even Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street stations are not that far away.

If you plan on visiting London for the Olympics you can combine a visit to The Nags Head with a meal in Brick Lane, (we recommend Cinnamon because its brilliant) and history lovers can visit the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, where the Liberty Bell was cast.

Opening at 12.00pm 7 days a week, The Nags Head is a must visit pub.