The Hereford Arms is one of the more historic pubs in South Kensington with a colourful history dating back to Victorian times. According to their website, the pub dates back to the 1700’s and is alleged to have been one of the drinking holes of Jack the Ripper, although this has never been confirmed as his identity has never been established.

Other famous people associated with the pub include Sir James Barrie, author of Peter Pan, who lived just a few doors down on Gloucester Road in the early 1900s and Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, another famous patron drinker, who is most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes – he made the Hereford Arms well know in his day. There are many stories about how Sherlock Holmes got his name, but the historians of the Hereford Arms would like to think that he was named after a nearby block of flats.

Later…