Does Eddie's Bar Actually Exist?
One of the most commonly asked questions by Hustle fans is “Does Eddie’s bar actually exist? Can I drink in it?”
And the answer is…YES! There are, however, two catches. The first one is that, of course, the inside of Eddie’s bar is a studio set. So although the outside of the bar is a real bar, inside has been completely rebuilt for a BBC studio set (See Photo 1 in the gallery). The other catch is that the London location only featured from series 1-4: after that filming moved to Birmingham. So then, where is the bar? We are first of all given a few clues by the team. Throughout the episodes (most notably the nude contest between Mickey and Danny in Season 2 Episode 1) the team are never a long way from both central London (Trafalgar square) and the City of London (their flat overlooks the Gherkin). Also, the bar is almost always completely empty. Although this is certainly dramatic license, to an extent, certain bars on the backstreets of the City of London are largely empty through the weekend and much of the week…apart for lunchtimes and evenings when they do a roaring trade among the city boys and corporate lawyers on their breaks! So when I first watched the series (yup, I’m old enough to have watched every episode when it was first aired) I had worked out that the bar would have to be somewhere in the City. But where? We rarely see an outside shot of the bar. So Stacey does us a favour. In Season 3 Episode 6 Mickey is “shot” by Danny in Eddie’s bar. Stacey calls an ambulance to "Change Alley, EC1". (See photo 2 in gallery). Bam. Simple as that, she gives us the address. With one slight change. There is only one Change Alley in London, and it is actually in EC3, not EC1. If you google this address, you will recognise the entrance to the alley as the one seen on Hustle. What about the pub? It’s called The Pitcher & Piano. (Photo 4). But most conclusive of all is the evidence from Season 2 Episode 2. Albert has just lost all his money to the London cabbie as he grieves over the death of his friend. He walks out slow-motion into the street and we see this scene (Photo 3). Notice the arch to the left of the couple. That is the same arch as the arch in Photo 4 to the right of the pub. The large, ground floor window on the right of this photo is also visible on the right hand side of Photo 4. In Photo 4 you can see engraved letters on the wall on the top left hand side. Although this is not visible in the photo above, if you see the pub in real life it has this engraved writing all the way along its wall. I recommend going for a drink here. Having tried it (it was the last pub I drank in before leaving England for good) I can tell you the service is good, beer relatively well-priced…and you have the fun of imagining yourself as one of the Hustle Gang! |
Real Address-Pitcher and Piano, Change Alley EC3, London
|