Desi pub landlord - Southall (1976)
Photographer Dennis Morris has left a clue to the first desi pub in Southall, West London but the trail has now gone cold
These articles are vital and entirely funded by me, so please donate here to continue to support similar investigations. If that link doesn’t work for you (or if you’re paying by Mastercard) then you can also use my Ko-Fi here.
I am a journalist who writes for BBC Culture, Pellicle and Vittles. I was named Beer Writer of the Year in 2023 by the British Guild of Beer Writers.
I’m offering my book, Desi Pubs, at Amazon prices. I can have it sent to you very quickly for £12.29! Message me on Bluesky for copies. There’s a review of it here.
Disclaimer: this newsletter often mentions beer and pubs. You do not have to read this if your life has been affected by substance abuse.
Dennis Morris took a series of photos of life in Southall in the 1970s after apparently driving past the West London suburb on the way to a Bob Marley gig.
This one was sent to me by a friend visiting an exhibition of his in Paris. I’ve asked people if this is the legendary Glassy Junction (more info here on Britain’s first desi pubs) but none can confirm.
All I know is this is a Sikh pub landlord photographed in Southall in 1976. So if anyone has any idea what pub this is or the name of the man pictured, please get in touch!
The pub
To try to find out more about this photo I visited a great exhibition on Southall at Gunnersbury Park Museum. I didn’t find out much but the show touched upon a lot of my previous work.
There was the computer Panjabi Hit Squad used to create ‘Hai, Hai’, a photo of the Atlantic in Brixton in the 1980s (below right) and information about the Southall branch of the Indian Workers’ Association (below middle).
I was then supposed to go to Southall but I decided to take a pitstop at the Express Tavern opposite Kew Bridge. Discovering they had Bass, cheap eats and a pub dog (an aged Labrador, alas deaf as I couldn’t get his consent for a photo) a quick pit turned into a driver’s retirement.
They even played records - god tier pub behaviour.
