Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • London – City of London – Seething Lane Tap (Brewdog)

    London – City of London – Seething Lane Tap (Brewdog)

    My aim of visiting all the Brewdog bars in London is nearly complete, but they also have a few pubs which are remnants of the Draft House chain which they took over a few years ago. This is one of them which is located very near to Brewdog Tower Hill and the Tower of the London. I think this one is quite sports orientated, although I visited on a Wednesday afternoon, so I’m not sure that there’s much to show which was handy.

    It was quite busy on the tables outside, but it’s fair to say that it wasn’t entirely packed inside. There was a friendly staff member who welcomed me near to the entrance and noted that I could sit anywhere. A lot of the tables had power points located by them, which is always a handy facility to have. The ordering process is the same as with Brewdog, so I ordered via the app and went for half a pint of Amygdala from the Solvay Society brewery in London. The food menu also looks the same and I noted that they offered Wings Wednesday, although I decided against going for that today.

    What arrived was a pint and I did own up to having only ordered a half, not as a complaint, but in case they had brought the wrong drink over. The staff member said it was fine to keep it, and I did, as I’m very accommodating and helpful like that. It’s a saison, not a beer style that I’m particularly used to drinking, but I do know that I like the flavours. As I haven’t had many of these, it’s a little hard to compare with others, but I liked the aftertaste, a very drinkable beer.

    There seems something slightly disappointing that Brewdog have nearly entirely incorporated these pubs into their chain without keeping them distinct in some way. Much as I like being familiar with the ordering system, they could perhaps have kept some of the original Draft House character. They do seem to have a larger food menu than Brewdog bars though at least, including fish & chips and some more starters. But, no complaints about my visit here, five different guests and the standard Brewdog options, all in a clean environment and friendly staff. And definitely no complaints about the free half a pint, much appreciated.

  • London – City of London – The Ship Pub

    London – City of London – The Ship Pub

    This is the Nicholsons operated pub in the city of London, a short walk from Greggs and Monument station. As an aside, and not that I’m one to moan (but yet here we are as someone used to say…..) but it’d be nice if Nicholsons didn’t just say on their web-site that their pubs were historic, but actually said why. Fortunately, CAMRA have something to add on this, namely “on the site of the Talbot which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London”. The former name of the pub, and the current name of the court, is named after the breed of hunting dog, known as the Talbot.

    Also, if anyone has a Good Beer Guide book from the last couple of years (but not last years), let me know, as I think that this pub was listed, but it seems to have been removed from the latest edition. As I have the app, I can only see currently listed pubs and not ones that are no longer listed. There’s another pub called the Ship nearby as well, to add some extra confusion to arrangements.

    I was welcomed by a friendly member of staff who was standing near to the door to meet the Covid requirements. It was quiet inside, but there are some tables outside (apparently something that they’ve only recently been allowed to do) which I studiously ignored on the way in as I was quite happy to sit inside in the cold. The staff member offered to take my order, but I mentioned I’d use the app, as then I can automatically get the 25p off my half pint without having to ask for it and look stingy. Anyway, although it was agreed it’d probably be easier for the staff member to take the order (and I’ve discovered they can apply the 25p themselves now), they also wanted to test the app as they’ve had problems. So I ordered via the app. Fortunately, it went through, although the staff member had already brought my drink over before I’d finished paying using the app.

    There are five real ales available here, perhaps none exceptional, but the Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was well kept and tasted fine, and indeed better than I remember it. I do like the element of history in this pub, although there’s a touch of the generic in what is a very distinctive building. That’s not the fault of the very capable staff, just the whole Nicholson’s vibe doesn’t really offer anything particularly unique for individuals to rush there. It’s a decent pub through, a comfortable evening and they serve traditional pub food. For tourists to the nearby Tower of London, this isn’t a bad location to walk to for a British pub experience.

  • London – Lambeth (Borough of) – Waterloo Station – Former Eurostar Platforms

    London – Lambeth (Borough of) – Waterloo Station – Former Eurostar Platforms

    Another in my series of niche posts (although, to be fair, I rarely veer into mainstream posts…..). These are the former platforms at Waterloo Station which were used by Eurostar between 14 November 1994 and 13 November 2007, when the services were moved to St Pancras railway station. It was decided that St Pancras was a better long-term solution for Eurotunnel, as that’s the end (or beginning, depending where you’re going) of HS1, not too far from the end of HS2 which is at nearby Euston.

    I’m glad to see the platforms back in use, as since December 2018 they have been used by South Western Railway. I’d noticed they were in use before, but hadn’t had a need to use them since they opened.

    The platforms are on the left-hand side of the above aerial photo, with the cursor marking where I was standing to take the photos.

    This is what the station looked like at the beginning of the twentieth century and it can be seen just how much land these buildings took up, and how much had been demolished to allow for their construction.

    On that subject, and apologies it’s not very clear, but there’s the area at the end of the eighteenth century, with the cursor marking where Waterloo Station is today. It’s fair to say that this south river side of London has changed considerably over the last 200 years.

    This additional section of Waterloo railway station was first opened at a cost £120 million to provide a connection for the London to France rail link which used the Channel Tunnel. There was an inaugural service on 6 May 1994 which carried HM the Queen and the then British Prime Minister John Major to a formal opening ceremony in Calais. Passengers got to use the platforms a few months later when all the official approvals had been granted.

    It seemed a shame that this whole section of the station was closed off after 2007, with just some temporary usage when work was going on in the main part of the terminal. Here, they retain their open look and are now firmly back being used by the rail network. All spacious, with plenty of seating before the gatelines, still I think looking bright and modern.

  • London – Newham (Borough of) – Stratford – Travelodge

    London – Newham (Borough of) – Stratford – Travelodge

    Travelodge are doing a promotion at the moment where if you book four nights in London (and I think it’s been extended to Edinburgh and a couple of other locations), then you get the fifth night free. That meant that I had a five night stay last week in Stratford for just over £100, which I think is pretty decent value for money. This all means that I’m not spending as much time at Accor and IHG hotels, but variety is the spice of life (and Greggs).

    The room, which looks like most other Travelodges in the country, was clean and too hot. There’s not much that they can do about that given the lack of air conditioning, and there was a fan available in the room. That fan was on the entire time that I was in the room, as it was too hot (London was far too hot last week). They’d put the duvet into the bag in the corner as they said nearly all guests were content with just a sheet, and their judgement seemed sensible to me.

    The view from the room, over the delights of Stratford, the Las Vegas of London……

    I really quite liked this hotel, although I dreaded getting in it every day as the staff have to open the automatic doors (so they’re not very automatic) and so I had to stand looking confused outside. There is a doorbell, but I felt guilty pressing that (even though that’s the point of it), but the staff always seemed keen to help and said hello when I walked by.

    The amount of cleaning I saw here was also impressive, there seemed to be a staff member spending their time nearly entirely cleaning surfaces, the lifts, the floors and the like. There needs to be a bit of maintenance on the carpets in the hotel from Travelodge, but I can’t deny that the staff were making huge efforts to keep everything clean.

    As a hotel stay, I was entirely content with the value offered here, and it’s nearly opposite Stratford High Street DLR station, or just a relatively short walk from Stratford railway/underground station. For those going into an area near Liverpool Street, TFL Rail run regular services there as part of what will become the Crossrail service when the thing finally opens.

    The reviews of the hotel aren’t entirely ideal (but are much better than some others in the chain), but the problem for Travelodge is that I think it’s great value for the £20 or so per night that I paid, but I’d be less pleased if I’d paid something like £60 per night, which many have done.

    There’s a long review on Google about how someone was furious that they’d “booked a room for 3 people” and the hotel wouldn’t let them have four people in the room. I’m not entirely sure how they were planning to fit four people into a room, and seemingly, nor did the hotel. The end result of this exciting saga was that the four people were kicked out, slept in their car and remained very angry at the hotel manager. The hotel do make very clear everywhere that they never accept more than three adults in the room, it was a very brave guest that risked sneaking more in….. Sounds an exciting drama though for anyone watching events unfold.

    And there’s the review from a furious daughter that her father was smoking in the hotel and she was most upset that security asked him to leave. Not really a surprise.

    Anyway, I didn’t have breakfast or evening meals at the hotel, as adding breakfast would have increased the room price by 50% and it never looks that appealing to me anyway. But, I’d merrily stay here again, I thought it was all comfortable albeit it rather too hot. Thank goodness for the fan.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Ibis Styles Kensington (Again)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Ibis Styles Kensington (Again)

    I stayed at this hotel about ten times last year, and have done so again this year several times. I stopped posting about the hotel given that I had little new to say (not that this usually stops me to be honest…..), but thought I’d do a little update here. Nothing much has really changed at the hotel, although breakfast is no longer included in the room rate. It was just a takeaway bag which was lacking a little in innovation towards the end, and I suspect that quite a lot of the food and drink was just being wasted. It’s possible to pay for this takeaway bag, but I haven’t yet been tempted to do so.

    The free welcome drink offered to me lacks in excitement, they don’t even have Tiger any more, so I selected a bottle of Budweiser. I see this as useful, as I’m trying to lower my average Untappd score (I don’t want to sound like I enjoy everything) and this is a perfect way of doing it.

    My room rate was £22.50 per night and I was staying for two nights, making this really quite excellent value for money. The hotel is just a short walk from Earls Court underground station, so is convenient for central London. There’s also a Greggs around the corner for those who need food and drink, as well as the Bolton pub which is nearby.

    For that price I was entitled to a solo room (since that’s what I booked), but I was upgraded for what I think is now the fourteenth time in a row in this hotel. What they lack in decadent welcome drinks and welcome gifts, they make up for in room upgrades. I even had my own little corridor in the room, as can be seen in the above photo. As an aside, the staff members here are always friendly and helpful, with no change to that on this visit.

    And the rest of the room, which was air conditioned, clean and comfortable. I didn’t have any noise problems from either inside or outside the hotel, so I still like staying here as it feels a safe and reliable environment. It’s a series of houses which have been joined together and turned into a hotel, hence the rather strange shape of the rooms. I think it all adds character to the arrangement though.

    Richard was staying at the same hotel, and was on the floor above. He laughed when he discovered the lift was out of order, as he likes carrying his giant bag up two flights of stairs. And, as an extra treat, there was a football outside of his room. Someone must have known that one of Norfolk’s biggest football fans was staying there. On a more petty level, I was very pleased to note that Richard didn’t have his own corridor in his more expensive room (although he did have larger cardboard cups than I did for his drinks, so he had a win there).

    Anyway, for £22.50 per night, this remains excellent value, and highlights how there remain problems with so few tourists coming to stay in the city. I can’t imagine the prices will be anything like this again in future years, so I will continue staying in London for as long as they are……

  • London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – London and South Western Pub

    London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – London and South Western Pub

    As we were walking back to the railway station from the Brewdog in Clapham, we thought we’d pop into this new JD Wetherspoon outlet near to Clapham Junction. I don’t do the whole argument of “I don’t visit Wetherspoons because they don’t pay staff” as I’ve heard that piffle before, but each to their own, as I’ve decided to work through the Good Beer Guide and there are too many outlets from this chain in there for me to avoid.

    This pub only opened a few months ago and it has been converted from a Revolution bar, apparently at a cost of just over £850,000. They already have the relatively nearby Asparagus pub, which I rather like (but that one is more traditional than modern), and I’m not sure whether they’re planning to keep both. This one has more of a Lloyds feel to it, although I think that branding has pretty much gone within the chain now.

    There’s a history about the building outside (too few pubs do this….), noting that before the building was used by Revolution, it was constructed in 1935 as a flagship store for Hastings, a furniture showroom. The pub name is taken after the railway company, a nice nod towards the local area. We had a bit of a wait to get inside, although there was plenty of seating available so it just seemed to be a matter of managing numbers rather than it being particularly busy.

    Richard had already had his decadent cheeseboard at Brewdog, I went for a rather more affordable pint of Punk IPA with burger (classy, eh?…..). I did note that the pint of Punk IPA here is only slightly more expensive than at Brewdog, but it comes with a free burger. Anyway, they’re different places, and there are usually more exciting alternatives to Punk IPA for anyone who is at Brewdog.

    I had a quick half pint of Urban Dusk from Redemption Brewing, as it cost the grand total of just over £1. Perfectly well-kept, at the appropriate temperature and all that. The service in the pub was also fine, everyone seemed friendly, with the environment feeling safe and well managed.

    The burger. There is a Facebook group now where people post photos of their meals (which I accept is ridiculous enough as it is for me to do here) and they then count the chips and post that total number. I decided even I wouldn’t be doing that…. For the money, this was entirely reasonable, but I won’t spend too much time describing JD Wetherspoon food.

    Anyway, I suspect this pub will end up in the Good Beer Guide in due course, although it’s too early for the current edition as they weren’t open at that stage. There’s more of a cafe style in the day it seems with its outdoor seating for those who like sitting outside inhaling traffic fumes. The reviews so far aren’t great, but I’m not sure that JD Wetherspoon are too much bothered about that since they’ve withdrawn from social media. For those who hate the chain, then that’s easy, don’t go, but, for others, this was a clean, modern and seemingly well managed JD Wetherspoons with a few real ales to choose from.

  • London – Illuminated River Bridges Walk

    London – Illuminated River Bridges Walk

    This post is just made up mostly of photos from a walk that I went on yesterday evening along the River Thames. It was expertly led by Licia, who I met on Des’s walk last week, and was on the theme of the Illuminated River Bridges project. There’s plenty of information about this whole project at https://illuminatedriver.london/, but in short, it’s an art installation along the river which currently covers nine bridges.

    The nine bridges are London Bridge, Cannon Street Railway Bridge, Southwark Bridge, the Millennium Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Golden Jubilee Footbridges, Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridges. There were plans to extend the project to Albert Bridge, Chelsea Bridge, Grosvenor Railway Bridge, Vauxhall Bridge and Tower Bridge, although these need further funding and that isn’t currently guaranteed.

    Licia led five of us (there were some no-shows, a problem becoming ever more challenging for walk leaders up and down the country, but that’s a different matter) along the route, which ended just after Westminster Bridge. I never knew that Westminster Bridge is green and Lambeth Bridge is red to reflect the colours of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The temperature was just right (for me) and there was quite a relaxed atmosphere along the River Thames and along the South Bank. Other than for the most ill-placed adverts that I’ve seen, promoting Nissan and it was a huge block of light and noise (the advert, not the car).

    We saw a seal merrily swimming along the Thames and it was nice to end the walk at the National Covid Memorial Wall, which is where I’ll receive my second vaccination in a few weeks (most precisely at St. Thomas Hospital which is above the wall, rather than at the wall itself). Des had led a walk that I went on last year which visited some of the other bridges in this project, so it was interesting to meander along this section of the Thames and it all went very quickly (the sign of Licia being a very good walk leader!) and I only got in the way about three times. The walk was free and was listed on Eventbrite, with future ones also being planned I think.

    Anyway, all very lovely, and, as usual, click on any the photos to make them larger.

  • LDWA 100 – Andrew Gordon (the Story of the 100)

    LDWA 100 – Andrew Gordon (the Story of the 100)

    A few days ago I posted about the experiences that Andy and his team had with a murder of cows (I know that it’s a murder of crows, but I like using the word for cows too) charging and galloping towards them, and he’s been kind enough to send more details about his team’s adventure (Andy mentions with many thanks for Dawn for much of the text!).

    I like the line “Dawn thought she’d test the water and questioned why were they doing it” and that rings some bells for me on our 100 walk a few weeks ago. I suspect that Nathan and I didn’t talk enough about why we were doing it, perhaps as secretly neither of us knew the answer other than it seems a good idea when drinking in the pub. The phrase of “testing the water” is an excellent one though here, very brave of Dawn  🙂

    On another point, this whole thing with trackers is interesting. The LDWA are looking into various forms of trackers for future 100s and there’s clearly lots of work needed here to establishing what will work best and be the most reliable. But, back to the main point, congratulations to the bravery of everyone involved in this walk!

    Anyway, the story of Team Barandaw in Andy’s words:

    The journey began back in October 2019 when Andy Gordon, Barbara Hutton and Dawn Jones met on a White Cliffs Ramblers walking holiday to Majorca. Andy had recently completed the Sussex Stride and was looking forward to taking on Y Sir Fynwy 100-mile challenge to be held in 2020. Barbara and Dawn were full of admiration and a little disappointed that they would be unable to tackle such an adventure without a qualifying 50 under their belts. Barbara, Dawn (and Andy for good measure) hastily signed up for the Spring into Lakeland challenge event for April 2020 in the hope that if there were still places available, they may be able to squeeze in to do the hundred.

    But the pandemic struck and both events were put off until 2021. Oh well, undeterred the plan was to still try for a 50 event and the Bullock Smithy was pencilled into the diaries as indeed was The Tour de Trigs, an event not taking place until December so surely that would go ahead, surely the pandemic would not still be playing havoc with these events? As history unfolded one challenge after another was postponed or cancelled. But out of the disappointments came the chance to tackle the Y Sir Fynwy Virtual challenge without a qualifying 50, what a result. The Tour de Trigs had needed them to form a team and have a name and that is how Team Barandaw came into being. Later they referred to themselves as the Barandaw Goats when they noticed they were all sporting Hoka One One Speedgoat footwear.

    Taking on a 100-mile challenge as novices meant planning and training. Dawn’s husband, Steve, was enlisted to support them around the route at various checkpoints. It did not take long to realise that an elongated or linear route would be a lot harder from a logistical basis and so the decision was made to walk the Canterbury Outer Ring modified to 26 miles and do 4 loops, with the 4th loop being a bit shorter which helped psychologically. Covid-19 restrictions meant the Team couldn’t all walk together in the early training preparations. The route was recce’d and modified around areas considered dangerous to tackle in darkness or when tired. Various day and a night lap were walked, finally culminating in a 60 mile day and night combination which was the furthest any of the Team had walked before and all came up against a bit of a wall with sleep deprivation. 4 main checkpoints were identified where supporters could park. The Team were offered more support from Keith, Barbara’s husband, who took on the role of supporting Steve and keeping an eye on the trackers that were hired to see the Team’s location and John Gilbert, who has undertaken various LDWA 100-mile challenges over the years and nobly manned a couple of checkpoints at very unsociable hours. It should be mentioned here that Sarah Turner also with a few 100-milers under her belt made contact and offered valuable advice.

    The day arrived and Team Barandaw was well prepared. They set off at 8am as planned and the first loop went without any hitches. Jacket potatoes at the lunch stop and a coffee and cake mid-afternoon. Barbara had already started to be aware her feet were uncomfortable. The second loop included having a very pleasant meal at the Golden Lion, Broadoak, where the accommodating landlady was ready to put the food on the table as they arrived with thanks to Steve and Keith in giving her the heads up when the Team were 10 minutes away and the food choices already made. So far, so good, the Team set off to walk through the night but with a welcome hot drink and plenty of snacks provided by John Gilbert around 11.30pm. The night walk brought the extra challenge of long wet grass and soggy feet, this will be addressed with different footwear for any future 100 milers! The Team in their planning had walked the route at night but they had dealt with sub-zero temperature and next to no grass – what a difference 4 weeks can make.

    6am, an hour later than planned, Steve and Keith met the team and disappeared off to walk the dog with instructions to not return for one hour but to make sure the team were awake after an hour. This gave the team a chance to sleep in the van – in their planning this was considered necessary – in reality Andy snores which fortunately both Dawn and Barbara saw the funny side of. The sun was shining, and the Team were ready for another day. 56 miles completed, over halfway and only at 23 hours. The Team were doing OK. Barbara’s feet were giving her some problems, but she soldiered on. The next stop, only 4 miles along the route was a superb breakfast, cooked in the field expertly by Steve and Keith. The rest of loop 3 went without complications, but as loop 3 was ending and with less than a whole loop to go, Dawn thought she’d test the water and questioned why were they doing it? – what was making them carry on? – did they need to? After all, they had clearly done enough to qualify for next year’s 100 and it was only a badge! Well, even with Barbara’s poorly feet Dawn was put right in her place with a very emphatic chorus of ‘we’re not stopping now’. She hadn’t meant to sound so serious – it was only posed as a question, but it was good to know they all still wanted to complete this challenge. A decision was made at this point, as they were running later than their original schedule, that they would have dinner in the next pub, so Keith and Steve were called to meet them.

    The Team were now about to start lap 4 – it was going to get dark again and head torches were sorted out, yet another change of socks – Gortex lined footwear this time to deal with the wet grass for Dawn and waterproof socks for Barbara who’d had to resort to sandals to cope with the blisters. Andy’s feet were doing remarkably well, and he swears it was down to the constant sock changing and the ‘Udderly Smooth’ cream he was using. The Team knew they had to dig deep now to get through the last 22 miles. Some family members who had been following the trackers and realised the team were stationary at a pub close to where they were driving paid a very welcome timely visit to cheer the team on. Dawn also took a phone call from her daughter who said ‘Mum, we (me and the children) are going to meet you at your next checkpoint – what time will you be there?’ After a quick calculation the Team set off with an extra bit of excitement knowing that Dawn’s family were travelling from over an hour away to be at the next checkpoint. Little did the Team know what awaited.

    Just before the checkpoint was a series of 4 fields. The 2nd of these had cattle in which the Team had walked past 3 times already. The account of the stampeding cattle has already been written about but for anyone who has not seen the article it’s probably worth a read. This was a freaking scary experience, possibly made somewhat more heart wrenching for Dawn who had her daughter and grandchildren attempting to enter the field from the other end of the footpath whilst the cattle charged across the field. Thankfully with modern technology and a mobile signal the Team established that the family had made it safely out the field their end, but the Team were in the middle of the field being stared at by angry cattle looking ready to charge again. The Team turned around and Dawn and Barbara found enough energy to run …. Andy was more controlled with his exit from the field and thankfully they all got out in one piece. Now, with family that had travelled for an hour to see them and a field of dangerous cattle between them some quick rerouting had to happen. A permissive footpath leading to another footpath (albeit not well used) was followed and eventually the meeting with the family took place.

    The Team now needed to get to one more important checkpoint, the last at 91 miles. Here the Team were met, along with Steve and Keith and hot drinks etc, by two very good friends, Jan Hartopp and Jim Cheney, who at the unearthly hour of midnight were willing to walk the last 10 miles and keep the spirits up. There was a surprising amount of chatting and good humour, and it was only as the Team approached the last couple of miles that they realised the trackers they had hired had not managed to record the walked distance. This knocked the team for 6. Whilst they had planned the route meticulously and knew the mileage they had walked; the trackers had been unable to deal with the altered last loop and had not recorded the actual distance. It also transpires that because a tracker only sends a signal every two minutes, it takes a straight line between each of these points and because this route involved lots of twists and turns the route recorded by the tracker missed sections actually walked.

    Each team member also used a Garmin watch, and they had a separate GPS device. As anyone who has used them will know, keeping these gadgets going over a long period takes some doing as the battery does not support recording for 48 hours without needing to be recharged several times. Fortunately, Dawn was meticulous with her battery management, setting alarms to remind her when to recharge, and her Garmin watch kept running for the entire event and at the end recorded 103.17 miles.

    The Team reached its destination to find John had turned out at about 4:30 am to greet them. As soon as they stopped walking Barbara and Andy’s body temperature plummeted and they demanded to sit in John’s van with the heater full on. Soon the Team were whisked off to get a shower and some sleep before reconvening for a celebratory Champagne brunch later in the day.

    As this account is being written Team Barandaw have had their evidence validated and are in the planning stages for their next adventure. Bring it on.

  • London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – Brewdog Clapham Junction

    London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – Brewdog Clapham Junction

    I continue to work my way around Brewdogs in London, with Richard joining me on this visit as he was in the city for his specialist work purposes. I had wondered whether it’d be quite busy in the bar on a Sunday evening, but it was nearly empty inside (although full outside, where Richard and I had agreed we didn’t want to sit anyway). I hadn’t realised that this branch existed (lots of things seem to pass me by), but it’s been here since 2014.

    And welcome to Brewdog….. The decor was modern and typical Brewdog in style, all well maintained and comfortable. We were offered a table that was a bit high up and Richard worried he’d get drunk and fall off it (I think that was the reason, it might not have been though) so we sat at some lower down chairs to avoid any mischief happening. I liked how many power points had been installed throughout the bar as well.

    The beer fridge at the front of the shop.

    A couple of the third pints that I purchased, the Black Ball from the To Øl Danish brewery (on the left) and the Blue to a Goose from Wild Weather (on the right). Both were excellent, the latter had a very rich hit of blueberries (certainly the best way to get fruit into the body) and quite a sweetness to it.

    Richard ordered this, I can’t afford decadence like this. I haven’t seen them serve this in Brewdog before, but it’s a marvellous idea and the quality of the cheeses was very high. Richard was very pleased with the £10 that he paid for this, and they also have a charcuterie board as well. They don’t serve burgers here, just pizzas and these platters, because of the small kitchen. I prefer this set-up, although of course there’s a problem that I couldn’t get all you can eat chicken wings here (and nor could I bring anyone for their cauliflower wings)….. Having said that, looking at reviews they used to serve very popular Scotch eggs and sausage rolls, their loss is disappointing.

    I’ve had a run of excellent customer service in the Brewdogs at Canary Wharf, Ealing, Seven Dials and Brixton, but it was all a bit more muted here. No real engagement about the range of beers, but the service was always warm and polite. It was just very good, rather than the exceptional service that I’ve experienced recently in the chain. The branch is smaller than some other ones in the chain, but it was clean and organised throughout. The range of beers was a little more limited than some other Brewdog branches, perhaps given that they’re a smaller size. Anyway, all a rather pleasant experience (and Richard didn’t fall off his chair).

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Barrel Project

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – The Barrel Project

    This is the Barrel Project, which interested me as it is the taproom of the London Beer Factory and they say that it’s a fluid space which is used for numerous different purposes. The brewery themselves are located in Norwood and they were founded by brothers in 2013. This space along the Bermondsey Beer Mile is in their words, “a joint blendery, conditioning area, and taproom for the London Beer Factory”.

    My phone didn’t like the lighting in the venue as the quality of the photos isn’t great, but they give an indication of what the interior looks like. It took a minute or so for a staff member to notice me at the entrance, and although that isn’t very much time at all, I know I stand awkwardly whilst waiting to be noticed. I don’t want to draw attention to myself as I’m British, but equally I did want to be noticed so that I could be seated. To deal with this dilemma, I looked at my phone so I appeared to be casually waiting without looking like I was annoyed at waiting. It’s a hard balance and challenging not to stand looking awkward…. Anyway, I digress.

    The main bar, a traditional style frontage which looks quite grand. The venue is generally well reviewed, although I noted the:

    “Sterile, gimmicky, the ‘craft’ beer scene at its worst. Can’t see it lasting”

    That was three years ago, and it seems to be lasting quite well…. I didn’t find it formulaic, it ended up feeling vibrant and on-trend for me without really needing to try. The nod towards a traditional style also works well with the modern elements.

    And another 1/5 review of:

    “Stag groups not allowed in”.

    Good.

    Everything else is much more positive in terms of reviews, with the atmosphere here feeling very relaxed and informal. Although being located in railway arches does make for a poor phone signal.

    To the left are some of the hundreds of barrels which are located here, along with the seating which goes all the way to the back of the unit. It was busy on the Sunday afternoon that I visited, with most of the tables occupied during the entire time that I was there.

    There was a printed menu for customers, but I did like that they’d still made the effort to chalk the beer list onto the wall as well. There were numerous different beers that I wanted to try, but I limited myself to 1/3 of three of the stouts.

    And the three beers, with the staff member very carefully remembering which was which, pretty useful since they’re all stouts that look the same. Not that it matters to anyone, but I can still remember the order, so I shall note that here as a nod towards my professionalism….. All brewed by the London Beer Factory themselves, the top one is the Big Milk Stout, then the one with the head in the middle is the Zia and then the one at the bottom is the Wonky Tonk. The first two beers were very acceptable, but it was the third one that interested me the most.

    I left the Wonky Tonk until last as I thought it would be the best, and it did work out like that. The description for the beer reads:

    “A three bean stout, dripping with deep chocolate, heady vanilla and roasted almondy tonka beans. Layered and luxuriant, this beer morphs as it warms, cascading through the strata of flavours. Relaxing you into that post-dinner armchair”.

    That sounds decadent. And it didn’t disappoint, a rich and full mouthfeel with a delicious initial chocolate hit. A smooth aftertaste, almost like a liquid hot chocolate, but with slightly nutty and vanilla flavours. Really quite lovely, and I didn’t get bored of it either, sometimes these strong ABVs, and this was 11.5%, can get a little harsh by the end. I like beers with a real depth of flavour.

    This is the third attempt that I’ve made to get in here, they’ve been too busy before. However, I’m glad that I persisted, as the welcome was authentic, the interior is quirky and interesting, with no shortage of excellent beers to try. The service is friendly and knowledgeable, so definitely a recommended visit for anyone visiting the Bermondsey Beer Mile.