OK, this blog records a wee wander we had between Charing Cross Station and Oxford Street/Tottenham Court Road recently, with 5 pubs we visited in-between, although we could have visited many more on another day, this is a good selection for the few hours we had available. To reach The Harp, 47 Chandos Place WC2N 4HS (website), our first port of call, we walked straight out of Charing Cross Station and across The Strand to a short pedestrianised area up to Adelaide Street with The Harp directly in front of you a couple of minutes walk away.
It is known that this pub has been around since 1805 and was originally called the 'Welsh Harp' - it changed its name when Irish woman Binnie Walsh took it over in 1995, later selling it to Fuller's in 2014, after turning it into an excellent freehouse (my older blog), and good for them for keeping it a virtual freehouse still; London Pride is now available regularly. Indeed, Dark Star APA and Hophead are still available (perhaps an influence in Fuller's buying the pub) as is Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, and a few other guest ales too! The building is from the 18th century, but most probably a pub was on the site for many years previous. As far as I can find out, the building itself isn't 'Listed' although next door is, as are the lampposts in Chandos Place!
Excellent choice of ales available here; although all these pubs appear to be charging £7 plus a pint! {I will be sharing information soon on pubs up int' North where you can buy your ales for at least £2 a pint less in places!} Anyway, my favourite ale of the day was imbibed here, unsurprisingly from one of my favourite breweries, the excellent Oakham Ales (website), their 4.6% Bishops Farewell, brewed with Cascade hops from the USA (hopslist) and English Challenger hops (hopslist). This is a pale golden 'premium' ale full of flavour, decent strength yet light and so easy to knock back, fruity, indeed zesty citrus, but hoppy too, pretty damn good!
We turned left out of The Harp, then left again up Bedfordbury, walked to the end and turned right where immediately on your right is The White Swan, 14 New Row WC2N 4LF (website), a Nicholson's Hostelry. This is a Grade II Listed 17th century building, tastefully refurbished by Nicholson's after they bought it, reopening in 2012. And that's it for my being able to take photographs of the exteriors on this day without members of the public included, busy busy! 😒
I have become increasingly frustrated with Nicholson's who have been reducing the ales available in their pubs, notably cask ales from small local breweries. But I was very happy to have a pint of this ale from Titanic Brewery of Stoke-on-Trent (website), okay, not local, but another decent brewery indeed, who's brewery tap, The Bulls Head in Burslem, I have written about on my older blog. Anyway, their 4.9% Plum Porter is pretty special as ever, brewed with a "delicate blend of classic hops" which is really teasing us, although I do believe this includes East Kent Golding hops (hopslist), and the beer does what it says on the label basically, dark and fruity, nice one... Oh yes, and it annoys me when staff can't be arsed to put a pumpclip on straight, many seen on this day were crooked! Glad I got that off my chest... 😉
From here, we turned right out of the pub, virtually opposite turned left on to Garrick Street, and right again at the first turning into Floral Street, we walked along and on the corner opposite at the junction with James Street, is The Nag's Head, 10 James Street WC2E 8BT (website). The Nag's Head is a Grade II Listed pub, which was erected in 1900, with a pub called that name at the address since "at least the 1670s." This is my second McMullen's pub ever, after visiting another White Swan recently (blog), despite the Nag's Head being a McMullen's pub since 1927! What have I been doing all these years?!? 😕
I drank their own 4.3% Nag's Head Bitter, brewed by McMullen's of Hertfordshire, of course (website), an educated guess says this is their Country Best Bitter, as it's the only beer they regularly brew at that strength. 😉 Brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Progress (hopslist) and Bramling Cross (hopslist) hops, producing a very decent traditional best bitter indeed. 👍
To reach our penultimate pub, we turned right out of the Nag's Head, walked along James Street, turned right at the end onto Long Acre, and followed this down to Endell Street where we turned left up to the end and reached the corner pub at High Holborn, Craft Beer Company, 168 High Holborn WC1V 7AA (website). This is a modern built pub (1961), bought by the company in 2014, and here we were met with a pretty decent choice of cask ales and crafty keg beers!
Here we drank, from East Sussex, Lakedown Brewing Company (website) Sussex Pale (4.2%), and their beers seem to improve every time I taste them, an improving brewery indeed. Brewed with English hops Cascade (British Hops) and Ernest (British Hops), this ale brings an English twist to traditional APAs. Notable mandarin citrus in aroma, but gentle fruitiness to taste, easy bitterness to finish and really quite refreshing, will be a great summer ale methinks. 😎
It is another Nicholson's pub, so a wee bit uninteresting ale-wise, but I did drink their own Nicholson's Pale Ale (4.0%), brewed for them by Cornish brewery St Austell (website), which ain't too bad! Brewed with English hops Fuggle (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist), and Australian Galaxy hops (hopslist), so citrus and tropical fruits in the taste, pale, dry and bitter, could do with being a bit more bitterness for me, but very easy to drink, not bad at all.
I have quite a lot to write up to come, please be patient with me... Cheers m'dears! 😁
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