Daniel Craig figures
Daniel Craig, star of 5 Bond films, has become one of the new co-owners of the 250-year-old Horseshoe pub in Clerkenwell, London. Craig is joined in this investment by Soho House founder Nick Jones, Flat Iron founder Charlie Carroll, and Justin O’Shea, with whom he launched the Bad Belze beer brand this year.
Gilbert measurements
The pub is known for the ghost of a beer-loving executioner named Gilbert, who is believed to wander its cellar. According to legend, the way to appease the ghost is to leave a pint (568 milliliters) of beer in the basement every night.
Craig’s words
Craig, who was not told about this during the sale, learned about the ghost from the venue’s former owner Pauline Tucker; Tucker said, “You don’t see it, you feel it.” Speaking to The Times, Craig joked, “We might need to leave a pint there, saying, ‘Here you go, Gilbert.'”
Craig said he has a strong bond with pubs because his parents ran the Ring O’Bells in Frodsham, Cheshire, and his grandfather and grandmother had a pub in Chester.
Background
The new owners plan to convert the upstairs bar into a dining room and add a terrace and a spacious beer garden as part of a renovation that will take a year. Craig wants the venue to be an accessible place that welcomes everyone, not just “cool people.”