London: More Serious than just a Pub Crawl, honest!

I travelled to Charing Cross Station on Saturday because of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, although I didn't join in with any other commemorations or demonstrations (Independent) as I had my own objective. I did enjoy my walk from the Station, when soon after leaving Charing Cross you reach Trafalgar Square, and can cross to The Mall, which is closed to traffic at the moment, so meaning a peaceful walk along The Mall to Buckingham Palace (above).

Buckingham Palace was originally called Buckingham House when John Sheffield, then the Duke of Buckingham acquired the property and had an older house demolished and the site then rebuilt on at the end of the 17th century. George III acquired Buckingham House in 1762 as a residence for his wife, Queen Charlotte, and when his son (George IV) acceded to the throne in 1820 he decided to turn the building into a palace. Over the years since, and under many monarchs, the building has been altered and added to. For a detailed history of Buckingham Palace go to the Royal Collection Trust website.

If you pass to the right of Buckingham Palace and walk up Constitution Hill you reach the Wellington Arch (above), situated on the Hyde Park Corner roundabout. The arch was originally built as an entrance gate for Buckingham Palace, later becoming a 'victory arch' following Wellington's defeat of Napoleon. Above it was added the largest bronze statue in Europe depicting "the Angel of Peace descending on the 'Quadriga' - or four-horsed chariot - of War." (English Heritage)

From Hyde Park Corner I crossed through Hyde Park, walked north-westerly to Victoria Gate on the Bayswater Road, where I crossed the road to Brook Street. Then walked along a short distance, ignored Hyde Park Gardens, and turned right onto Stanhope Terrace and along to a small roundabout. Here sits The Victoria (above), on the corner at 10a Strathearn Place, W2 2NH (website), a mid-19th century Grade II listed building with an original 1864 built counter and a wonderful interior indeed. Legend has it that Queen Victoria stopped here once on her way to nearby Paddington Station, oh yes, and I drank a couple of pints here too. 😉

Friendly welcome from the staff on entering the pub just after opening at 11.00. I drank Fuller's Grand Slam Spring Ale (3.4%), which the brewery says very little about on its website, so nothing to link. However, I did note at the time that it does what it says on the label, "refreshing, light gold and a subtle fruitiness, nice one" - it must have been, as I did drink 2 pints. 😉

When I left The Victoria I walked straight down Stanhope Terrace to Lancaster Gate and turned right (westwards) onto the Bayswater Road. In just a short distance I reached Leinster Terrace and turned right where, on the right, I reached The Leinster Arms at number 17, W2 3EU (facebook). The Leinster Arms is another Grade II listed mid-19th century pub, and  yes, I had another wee pint. 👍

Again I went for their House Ale called Lennie (4.3%), brewed by nearby West London brewer Portobello (website). Hasn't changed, still a decent enough pale amber bitter, a wee bit sweet to taste at first, and I have no reason to believe that it's not Portobello's 4.3% Star British Bitter, but probably a variation on the theme with English hops used. But I'm only guessing still, however I'm always ready to try something different, and the only alternative was Doom Bar...

On leaving, I headed back to the Bayswater Road, turned right westwards yet again, and continued on to Notting Hill Gate, where the road then becomes Holland Park Avenue. Just before reaching Holland Park tube station, on the corner with Holland Park, on the left (south side of the road), I reached my link to the Ukrainian anniversary day:

The statue of St Volodymyr (above) on the corner of Holland Park Avenue and Holland Park. Volodymyr was from Kyiv, and a major actor in bringing the Russian peoples together in the 10th and 11th centuries. He had been a 'pagan' and converted to Christianity for 2 reasons. He believed having a single deity as in Christian Byzantium (Constantinople), rather than having many pagan deities, would help the unification of the Rus' tribes, and he could only marry the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II if he converted to Christianity (Encyclopedia of Ukraine). 

Volodymyr successfully ensured the unification of the Rus' people, and their conversion to Christianity, and was canonized in the 13th century. However, this statue remains a symbol of Ukrainian defiance of the Russian imperialist assault on Ukraine as you can see from the photograph above, taken yesterday. Incidentally, St Volodymyr is not only the patron saint of Ukraine, but a patron saint of Russia too...

Whilst in the area, I also visited The Castle, 100 Holland Park Avenue, W11 4UA (website), which was originally built in 1827. and the frontage added in 1857. I hadn't been here for about 15 years, and it was strange to discover it is not a listed building when I searched the Historic England website, because it's really a lovely building. 

I drank the Suffolk brewer Adnams (website) Ghost Ship (4.5%), a pale sharp refreshing ale, with a slight citrus flavour from the Citra hops used (and other unspecified hops from the USA) and a dry bitter finish, their best ale, I believe, and enjoyable too.

Oh yes, and I did come for football too.😉

And I was lucky with the weather, that's all for now folks, cheers!🍻

A Few Pubs Between Marble Arch & Shepherds Bush...

This was a recent mini 'pub crawl' as there are quite a few pubs along the way, but these are my 3 favourite pubs in West London along the Bayswater Road/Holland Park Avenue (actually all just off this old pre-Roman Road, which was upgraded by the Romans Ladbroke Association).

First, around the corner from Lancaster Gate Tube Station, north of the main road and not too far west of Marble Arch, is The Victoria, 10a Strathearn Place, W2 2NH (website). This is a fine old Grade II listed Fuller's pub (Fuller's website) built in the 1830s, and named after Queen Victoria as, apparently, 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.

Anyway, a fine early Victorian public house, and I do like Fuller's ales, but I chose a guest ale from one of my historically favourite breweries, in Newport, Wales, Tiny Rebel (website). Sadly, a wee bit disappointed with their Under the Sun as this is a 'vegan' friendly beer, consequently cloudy for the brewers who can't be arsed to provide a clear ale, although trendy Yuccies seem to go for them, but not what I was expecting from a 4.3% 'pale ale' brewed with Cascade and Citra hops... Plenty of flavour, which you expect with those hops, but, well, regular readers will be aware I'm not overly impressed with beers that are like thick fruity drinks in my mouth, I much prefer subtlety of taste from these hops in a clear refreshing pale dry bitter...

I cannot fault the service at The Victoria though, notably the friendly young Bulgarian who served me, also friendly other staff, and the manager/landlord seemed a decent chap too, though I've never met him before, but he rushed off to a football match before I could engage him in much discussion. I'll be drinking a Fuller's ale next time I visit, as I usually do here. 😉

And not too far away, again north of the main road, and a wee bit further west, I visited The Leinster Arms, 17 Leinster Terrace, W2 3EU (pubanddining). Another Grade II listed Victorian pub that was originally established as The Scotch Stores in1856, changing its name to The Leinster Arms in 1881. Up to 5 cask ales available, but for my last visit I went for the...

Yes, I went for their House Ale called Lennie (4.3%), brewed by nearby West London brewer Portobello (website). A decent enough pale amber bitter, a wee bit sweet to taste at first, for me anyway, and I'm guessing that if it's not Portobello's 4.3% Star British Bitter, then it's a variation on the theme with English hops used. But I'm only guessing, however I'm always ready to try something different... Then further westwards and on to another Fuller's pub...

The Churchill Arms, 119 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LN (website), this time a wee bit south of the main road from Notting Hill Gate. Built in 1750, and previously known as the Bedford Arms or the Church-on-the Hill depending on your source, maybe both (?), this great flower bedecked pub became named The Churchill Arms after WW2, it would seem for obvious reasons, and it certainly is very Winnie themed! However, it was not him, but his grandparents, John and Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, who frequented this pub in the 19th century, indeed, there is no evidence that Winnie ever visited, contrary to rumours! 

There are over 100 flower pots, 48 window boxes, and 42 hanging baskets outside The Churchill Arms! And for Christmas every year there are many many lit Christmas Trees adorning the pub. It has a great interior, and claims to have the first ever Thai restaurant installed in a London pub, and I've eaten there before, and the food is exceptional.

Despite being a Fuller's house, I didn't drink Fuller's ale here either, but, from Cornish brewer Verdant (website), their 3.8% Penpol. I believe this is brewed using Citra hops, and the flavour supported this, very pale and light, refreshing, with that grapefruit/citrus taste and aroma, very easy to drink, and I liked it a lot, indeed, my favourite ale of the day. 👍

On my way home, I caught the train from Shepherds Bush to Clapham Junction, where I had 40 minutes to spare before catching my final train home, so I decided to go into the Nicholson's (website) pub, The Falcon, 2 St John's Hill, SW11 1RU (website). The Falcon is actually on the corner at Clapham Junction with 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 a further 150 years, maybe longer. It has the longest continuous bar in the country, a claim supported by the Guinness Book of Records, and looks good still, following its refurbishment (blog).

So, before my final train journey home I drank a pint of Blonde Brummie, a 4.4% ale brewed by Birmingham Brewing Company (website). As you would guess from the name and strength a session pale ale, quite light and refreshing, not the best ale I've ever drunk, but nowhere near the worst. 😉 A vegan friendly and gluten free beer, and nice and clear, as we all know that vegan friendly beers can be presented. British hops used, but I couldn't discover which, though I wouldn't be surprised to see that Goldings was one. I'd be very happy to drink this in any pub that looks after their ales, like here, and it was a nice start to the journey, cheers! 👌

Last and First Beers - 2017/2018

OK, my first beer of 2018 has not been a British ale, but I do like many Belgian beers too! For a Christmas present from friends Mark and Maureen, I was given a presentation case with four bottles of beer and a stone chalice from relatively new Belgian brewery, Brasserie de Waterloo (website), which has been brewing since 2014, indeed, since my last visit to the area which I went to with my brother when he was living in Belgium. The brewery is in a wing of Ferme de Mont-Saint-Jean, a 13th century farm adjacent to the famous battlefield and which was used as a hospital for the Duke of Wellington's troops during the battle.

Adrien Desclee and Anthony Martin, grandson of John Martin, the man who brought Export Guinness to Belgium over 100 years ago, opened the brewery at Waterloo to continue brewing the Triple Blond and Strong Dark that Adrien had already been brewing since 2005. I was given 2 bottles of each of these beers, and will talk about the dubbel style Strong Dark soon, once I have tasted it of course! So, to the Triple Blond...

An 8% tripel style (tripel/triple, depending on the Dutch Flemish/French Wallonian language used), brewed with the usual water, malt, hops and yeast of course, but also with herbs too. This is a top-fermented beer, as are British ales, and has a secondary fermentation in the bottle, thus producing sediment, so to be poured very carefully if you don't like to drink the yeast product with your beer! This a golden beer with a spicy, fruity and slightly citrus aroma, full-bodied, sweet at first, with a similarity to Leffe Blond, but dries out with a more bitter finish. A very decent example of a tripel/triple indeed!

My last two ales of 2017 were imbibed yesterday at the Dolphin Inn, Hastings (website), and were both golden ales too. First, from the Staffordshire based Burton Bridge Brewery (website), their Screwbydoo (4.5%), with the pump clip depicting engineer Joseph Whitworth, who was born on the 21st of December 1803, and who devised a standard for screw threads, the British Standard Whitworth (BSW), still recognised today. 

Anyway, the Screwbydoo is a 4.5% golden bitter with Progress and Pioneer hops used in the brew. There is a slightly fruity aroma and taste, gentle sweetness at first taste, and a wee bit too easy to drink for 4.5%, unless that's what you call a supping strength! I had been warned by another customer that it had seriously influenced him the day before... Not bad, but not bitter enough for a hophead like me though, so, what about:

From West London, and one of my old stomping grounds in my youth, White City, the Portobello Brewing Company (website) and their White City, another 4.5%, slightly darker, golden bitter, indeed, all 3 of the Dolphin's guest ales (6 ales in total) were 4.5% yesterday! Hops used in the brew are Fuggles, East Kent Golding and Cascade, producing hints of pine, and citrus and tropical fruit, in the flavour. A bit more bitter, with a very slight 'sourness' to the taste, apparently not everyone's favourite of the two, but I thought they were at a pretty similar decent level... 

Cheers Mark and Maureen!