By Enti Bracamonte
Posted: March 4, 2022

The Birthplace of Iron Maiden 

I recently made the pilgrimage to one of Maiden’s fans’ holiest of places: a pub, in Stratford, London, called Cart & Horses. This is what I expected to see…

Instead, this is what I saw…

Sunk in utter depression, I wandered randomly about the neighborhood for a while, trying to imagine what it must have been like to have been there, back in the day.

Although probably a very hazardous experience, to say the least (with all that lingering cigarette smoke and loud music blasting in your ears in such a confined space), just the initial state of excitement alone, upon hearing those distant drum beats gradually turning into discernible music as you approached the venue, would have been something to remember for a lifetime.

Luckily, visiting that particular site had been kind of a spur of the moment decision and not the focus of my travel plans across the pond. As a matter of fact, Marisú—my wife—had an entire itinerary planned out on paper, and I had a say on at least two of the items on the list.

But, anyway, standing there and then, the place seemed to me like it had been shut down for good and, from the looks of it, was about to be demolished. There was a gigantic hole behind the building that looked like they were about to pour the foundation of a skyscraper. Still, I was happy to have been there while the building was still standing. Life was good.

As my wife and I made our way back to the subway station for a fun-filled shopping afternoon at the Westfield Mall, in Stratford—one of those items on the list I had no say on—we came to the point where we had to cross the street towards the Cart & Horses once again. Halfway across the street, we caught up with this young-looking fellow that seemed to be just standing there, in the middle of the street, holding his coffee and looking at us. “Are you Maiden fans or just looking for a drink?” he asked. “Both!” I replied without a moment’s hesitation. “Would you like to see the pub?” he continued… “is that even possible?” I inquired, “sure!” he said, politely showing the way with a soft hand gesture.

That friendly, down-to-earth, young-looking fellow turned out to be non other than Kastro Pergjoni, the guy that runs Cart & Horses, since 2016, as reported by blabbermouth.net*

During our fortuitous encounter with Kastro, I was relieved to learn that not only would Cart & Horses not be demolished, but it would be renovated. Kastro took the time to explain, in great detail, his plans for the grand re-opening of the pub (scheduled for March 12, 2022); he even showed us the newly excavated basement, where the up and coming bands will play their hearts out for the crowds as Maiden once did.

Kastro showed us the inside of the pub while the works were still in progress. The ceiling bears the artwork of the album Brave New World.

* The article talks about the health condition of Paul Di’Anno (early-day frontman of Iron Maiden) and Kastro’s fund-raising efforts to help him.