The Drayton Court is a former hotel and one of the oldest pubs in Ealing

Ealing

Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...

, west London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The former Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, Hồ Chí Minh

Ho Chi Minh

Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...

, worked in the kitchens in 1914.

History

The pub was conceived as a family and residential hotel, and the plans were drawn in 1893 by the Stephens Brothers. The pub opened in 1894, making it one of oldest pubs in Ealing. It contained four floors and sixty rooms; behind the hotel were ornamental gardens, tennis courts, a bowling green and skittle courts. It initially charged 25 shillings per week for residents.

Hồ Chí Minh

Ho Chi Minh

Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...

, the former Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, worked in the kitchens of the Drayton Court Hotel in 1914.

The building remained a hotel until the 1940s, when it became one of the area's largest pubs, an off Licence was granted for the sale of beers and spirits to be consumed off the premises. Delivery to local customers was by bike with a large wicker basket over a small front wheel. It currently is in possession of a small theatre, and the largest beer garden

Beer garden

Beer garden is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local food are served. The concept originates from and is most common in Southern Germany...

 in London (and indeed, the largest of any city in the UK).

It is owned by Fullers Brewery.

Media

The pub has been seen on screen on several occasions, including in the film Carry On Constable

Carry On Constable

Carry On Constable is the fourth Carry On film. It was released in 1960. Of the regular team, it featured Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques. Sid James makes his debut in the series here, while early regulars Leslie Phillips, Eric Barker and Shirley...

 and, along with some nearby vintage shopfronts, in the Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

 episode Survival

Survival (Doctor Who)

-Writing:Writer Rona Munro approached script editor Andrew Cartmel at a BBC scriptwriting workshop and said that she'd "kill to write for Doctor Who." The story Munro developed incorporated themes including the morals of hunting...

.