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Picture source: Nigel Cox

The Duke Of Wellington was situated at 145 St Leonards Road. A Watneys pub, it was known as the Wellington Arms from 1983 to closure in the early 2000s.

My family ran the pub from 1974 into the 1980s. We never new it as the Duke Of Wellington; it was run by a German family in 1919 and known locally as The Germans. My wife and I ran it from 1976 to 1980; my sister ran it from 1974 to 1976 and 1980 onwards.

Owen McCarthy

This was a Watney’s Brewery pub, present by 1874 – initially as a beer house.  In the early and middle part of the twentieth century the pub was nicknamed ‘Germans’, recalling theWiebcken family who held the licence immediately prior to World War One.  The pub closed inaround 2000 and has been converted to private residential use.

Stephen Harris

The pub dates back to at least 1819, when William Atherton was the landlord of the Wellington public house in Wells Street, Poplar. See source quote below. He is listed in "The Survey of London" as amongst, "the principal developers of the Grigges area" of Poplar … " as prior to becoming a victualler he was a builder.  "....they were leased in 1819 by William Atherton, the Wellington's landlord. He thereby acquired a block of ground on which he subsequently built four houses facing Garden Street and nine others around Wellington Alley, a passageway through to Wells Street." From: 'Between Poplar High Street and East India Dock Road: Bazely, Wells, Woolmore, Cotton and Ashton Streets', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs (1994), pp. 188-199.

Deborah Mandelli (September 2011)

My Dad Edward Kennedy and his Father also Edward were Regulars of The Germans and played in the Dart Team. I knew Ernie Wyatt and also Dennis And Maureen Booty who bought the Pub after Ernie died and they had the bars knocked throughwhich saved the walk outside to got to the toilet.As a Kid in the Days when it was safe we used to sit on the pub door step Then gradually you would be allowed to sit inside the Pub door by the One armed Bandit and you knew to behave as you were being allowed into an adult environment and wouldnt let that trust down.Eventually we were allowed to play darts and it was a wonderful experience growing up being spoken to as an Adult by Dads friends inthe days when Pubs were pubs and full of Characters. Sadly when all the old houses were being knocked down and when Dennis and Maureen moved on the Pub was never the same  and i am saddened at what has been done to it and that there are no old photos of the pub. Some of the Great Characters from those golden days were Georgie Matthews,Joe Goss,Ted Thompson,Billy Andrews,Bill Hawkeye,Irvine and Vi Gallagher, Alan jones,June behind the bar and mac the knife,Bam Bam,Tony Moses,johnny Keeting,Kenny Wiggett and Johnny Wright to name but a few.Of a Friday night the Teachers from Langdon Park would come over and as a result i had plenty on them when i starte there in 1974.

John Kennedy (July 2019)

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Name	Dates	Comments
Sylvia Dobinson	1940/1973	My father Ernest Wyatt was owner of this pub, which he ran with his wife Lilian from early 1940 until his death in 1972, I then took over the licence and continued to run the pub with my husband until we sold it in 1973.My mother and father were there most of the wars years with lots of bombs dropped near them and the pub never even had a broken window. I remember taking cover under the counter or in the cellar as a child.
Peter Nastri	1956	We lived at 37 Byron Street. My dad had a haulage firm there. Although it was The Duke of Wellington, it was always referred to as The Germans. The yard and the house where we lived were demolished and now forms part of the extended school playground which was then called Hay Currie School, but now changed to Langdon Park I believe.