Drinking around Covent Garden, London.

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. 😎

Image thanks to Wikipedia

Finally, we crossed the road, and down Dyott Street opposite to New Oxford Street, where we turned left up to the junction with Tottenham Court Road. Where, just after on the right hand side, and opposite the Tottenham Court Road Tube station entrance is the last surviving pub, apparently, in Oxford Street, The Flying Horse, 6 Oxford Street W1D 1AN (website). Another Grade II Listed public house, built in 1892/93 in a Flemish Renaissance style on the site of an older pub with a history dating from at least 1790, and it does have quite a grand interior! 

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! 😁

5 Pubs Visited in London, 1 New to Me!

You'll realise by the gradually darkening photographs this visit was late afternoon/early evening, except for the last pub. First stop, The Albert, 52 Victoria Street SW1H 0NP (website), once a Taylor-Walker house, now Greene King. The pub is a Grade II listed building, built 1845-52, just over the other side of Victoria Street from the notorious Devil's Acre (Londonist), and originally called 'The Blue Coat Boy' until Artillery Brewery took it over, rebuilt it and named it The Albert in 1867 in honour of Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, following his death in 1861. Now I have to own up to not taking note of the beers we drank, obviously not great or I'd have taken notes, but I hadn't been in the pub for years, probably not this millennium, and it's a lovely old building that avoided bomb destruction luckily during World War 2!👌

These first 3 pubs are all close to St James's Park tube station, near where I worked many years ago, near the old Westminster Hospital, on the edge of the Devil's Acre! I only learnt about the Devil's Acre many years later when referenced in a novel, but I have investigated since. Next was a Nicholson's pub The Feathers, 18-20 Broadway SW1H 0BH (website), the pub being in existence since at least 1745, and rebuilt in 'the Flemish style' towards the end of the 19th century. This was the pub that I had never visited before, so new to me, and a it is a very fine building, both the exterior and interior, so I wasn't disappointed, nor by the ale...

I did drink an ale I haven't had for a while now, from Midlands brewery Purity Brewing Co (website), and their 4.2% Mad Goose Pale Ale, brewed with Pilgrim, Centennial, Chinook and Cascade hops, quintessential hops for an APA style beer! As you would expect, it's pale golden in colour, and look at those hops (!), it has a hint of citrus in the aroma, but much more citrus to the taste, with a nice clean, dry bitter finish, nice one! 👍

Then, literally around the corner and along a bit, another pub I haven't visited for years, still a Young's house, the Buckingham Arms, 62 Petty France SW1H 9EU (website). Originally licenced as the Black Horse in the 18th century, and also rebuilt towards the end of the 19th century and re-named the Buckingham in honour of the Duke of Buckingham in 1901. The pub used to have a second entrance which meant you could walk through the pub from end to end (confirmed by bar steward, so not a false memory), with a narrow bar to your side; the second entrance/exit was removed, presumably along with the interior refurbishment in 2009.

The usual 2 Young's ales were available, the Special and Ordinary, plus 4 guest ales, including 2 from Twickenham Brewery (website) including their very often sold in Young's houses, the 4.4% Naked Ladies, named after statues in York House Gardens in Twickenham. So I drank a pint of this hoppy, pale golden bitter, brewed with Herkules, Celeia and Chinook hops, it has a subtle citrus aroma, a slightly malty taste at the start, and with some citrus flavours coming through as the ale goes down, and a lovely refreshing dry bitter finish, another nice one! 👍

Then we jumped on a District Line train from St James's Park to Hammersmith and visited another Nicholson's pub, The Swan, 46 Hammersmith Broadway W6 0DZ (website). The Swan was re-built by the architect Frederick MIller in 'the Free Jacobean' style as a hotel in 1901 on the site of an old coaching inn, the 'Old Swan', the first and last stop to the west of London. It has an imposing exterior and breath taking interior, and is a Grade II listed building.

As usual for a Nicholson's pub there are half a dozen or so ales on offer, and we went for one from the East Anglian brewery Adnams (website), that was their Ghost Ship (4.5%). This is a pale sharp refreshing ale, brewed with Citra hops, consequently, as you would expect, it has a subtle citrus flavour and a nice refreshing dry bitter finish, and in my opinion Adnams best ale. 👍

I more recently visited (Saturday) The Victoria, 10a Strathearn Place, W2 2NH (website). This is a fine Grade II listed Fuller's pub (Fuller's website) built in the 1830s, named after Queen Victoria as it was opened on the same day as her accession to the throne, and she visited the pub after the opening of the rebuilt nearby Paddington Railway Station in 1854. Slight damage during World War 2, it has a grand exterior and wonderful interior, well worth visiting if nearby.

I didn't take a photograph, so this image is from Fuller's own website, but I did drink, and a few pints of only this, believe it or not, their 3.8% Oliver's Island. Brewed with Goldings, Hallertau Tradition, and Liberty hops, this is a pale golden session bitter, with gentle grapefruit and tropical fruit flavours, and a refreshing dry bitter finish, not bad Fuller's!

And we had something to eat here, sharing their "Hummus & spiced lamb to share with pine nuts, corianders & pomegranate, served with grilled flatbread" and it was pretty tasty, if the 'hummus' a wee bit thin, and they could have provided a few more flatbread pieces. 😉

Cheers folks! 👍

Cask Ale Week 19-29 September 2024

How I missed he beginning of this 'festival' I do not know, but know I do now 😉 Cask Ale Week 2024 has begun, and runs for another week until next Sunday the 29th of September (website). This is a week organised to celebrate cask ale, so is essentially British, cask ale being lauded as "Britain's national drink." Although I only found out yesterday, I did partake in a few pints...

We started off at The Crown & Sceptre, 57 Melina Road, London W12 9HY (website), where an ale from the Welsh brewery Tiny Rebel (website) was imbibed by us both, but only by me continuously, it being a Fullers pub... 😏 Anyway, Tiny Rebel Park Life is a crystal clear 4.2% pale golden session bitter, brewed with Cascade (hopslist), Citra (hopslist) and Ekuanot (Yakima Valley Hops) hops, regular readers will appreciate these hops aroused my interest! My notes say 'very easy to drink' which it was, the subtle citrus and pine proved they hadn't gone over the top with the hops, and with a gentle bitter finish, I could have drunk this all day! 👍

On our way back to the South Coast we had a brief period in-between trains at Clapham Junction, so took the break to drop into The Falcon, a Nicholson's pub (website) at 2 St John's Hill, London SW11 1RU. The Falcon is on the corner at Clapham Junction of Falcon Road and, at the bottom of St John's Hill, with Lavender Hill going up the other way, pretty much a landmark. The building is Grade II listed, and was built in 1887, although a pub had been on the site for at least another 150 years. It used to have the longest continuous bar in the country, a claim supported by the Guinness Book of Records previously. But they've done some weird thing around the back where customers can stand behind what was the bar?!? For the sake of a few more standing customers I don't see the point! Now they can no longer make the claim. 😕

Nicholson's get ales brewed for them, and this one was brewed by the 'organic' Stroud Brewery in Gloucestershire (website) in celebration of Organic September (Soil Association). Gaia is named after the Greek Goddess of the Earth, Gaia/Gaea (Britannica), and is a 4.2% 'organic pale ale' that we chose from the 5 ales on offer (they used to have 10 available from handpumps not so long ago). Apologies, but I cannot discover which specific hops were used, but I did find out that Gaia is brewed with 'old and new world hops.' A bit darker and with more body than the Park Life, slightly spicy with citrus and tropical flavours and aroma, with a dry bitter finish, not bad at all, cheers! 🍻

For further information about this collaboration I suggest a good read at the Stroud Times.