Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Ealing

Monday : Barnsley to Ealing During an Underground Strike

The LDWA 100 had seemed to go quickly, although the entrants might not say that, and it was the end of the Jubilee Bank Holiday so it was back to usual for me, which meant travelling about the place. I was heading to London, conscious that there was an underground strike which would make crossing the city just that bit more exciting when I got there.

Penny Pie Park is about to reopen soon and this site has had an interesting history. It was a colliery in the mid-nineteenth century, then brickworks were built there and those buildings remained until the post-war period. Then they were demolished and the local authorities dumped a load of refuse into the holes to fill them up, then it became a green space. As the road network nearby has been reworked, they’ve taken this opportunity to develop the park and they’ve been busy moving the trees about the site. They now have 243 trees, which is an increase of four. That doesn’t sound very aspirational to me in terms of increasing the amount of foliage, but there we go. The park wasn’t open when I walked by, but as can be seen, it wasn’t far off and I’m surprised some of the local hoodlums haven’t pulled that fencing down.

After walking back into Barnsley (again) from the hotel, I popped into the library for a while to use their electricity. I had thought about going into the Toby Carvery next to the hotel for another unlimited breakfast, but I overdosed on bacon and salt last time, so decided against it. My train journey was from Barnsley station, which is part of the integrated bus and rail interchange.

Welcome to Barnsley with some vibrant artwork.

I had two trains as part of my journey, the first to Peterborough and everything was going to plan timewise.

Not particularly busy, the colours remind me of a Ryanair aircraft, but the guard didn’t try and sell me lottery tickets.

At Peterborough station, the EMR Intercity train to London arrived a few minutes early.

As can be seen here, I was able to find an empty seat.

Into St. Pancras railway station in London on time. I was annoyed that they’d shut the front of the railway station because of the underground strike, I don’t know why they felt the need to do that, they could have just closed the entrance to the underground network itself. I noticed someone joined the queue to board Eurostar thinking it was the taxi queue, but fortunately he checked before accidentally arriving in Paris or something.

There was though quite a long queue for taxis, the drivers do well out of these strikes.

The strike did reduce my options to get to Ealing somewhat, with absolutely no services from King’s Cross.

So, I remained calm and resourceful and I went to Mikkeller bar to think what I should do. This is the All Day Haze which Mikkeller brew here, a very acceptable Double IPA with a depth of flavour and a not inconsiderable 8.4% ABV.

I’ve never really noticed their brewing equipment at the back at the bar, so I went to sit by it. I’d add there were tables here, I didn’t just sit randomly in their way. Although I could have lingered for hours, I thought one drink was enough as I wasn’t sure how busy the public transport options would be.

And with my plan developed whilst in the pub, I decided that I would walk to Farringdon’s Crossrail station as that line was still operating.

And my first time in the Crossrail part of the station at Farringdon.

I think it was also my first time on the central section of Crossrail, or the Elizabeth Line, which now all joins up to form a complete line, but for the next few months it’s still necessary to change trains at Paddington and Liverpool Street. It’s not ideal, but they’re getting there.

Very nice, platform edge doors have been put in here, just like on the central section of the Jubilee Line.

The section of the journey to Paddington wasn’t particularly busy, but these services are frequent at around every ten minutes and they’re long trains so have plenty of space.

This is a bit of a faff with the current set-up, as it’s necessary to leave Paddington station, walk through the concourse, towards the back and then connect with where the other part of the Crossrail service is. The part of the journey from Paddington to Ealing was much busier, although I was just able to get a seat, but thought it was a bit packed to take a photo.

Although I’m not entirely sure that I needed a seat, it’s only one stop to Ealing from Paddington. This Crossrail thing certainly speeds things up somewhat. And it was fortunate for me on this journey that the Crossrail drivers hadn’t also gone on strike, as otherwise it would have taken me three bus trips to get to Ealing, which would have been quite a trek.

I was staying at Ibis Styles Ealing for the first time, a rather attractive building about a ten-minute walk from the railway station.

There’s a movie theme across the hotel, which is one of the better Ibis Styles designs that I’ve seen. All clean and comfortable, with nothing for me to feel the need to complain about here.

Spot the movie related design items in the photos. I can’t remember why I booked a twin, but it was probably 20p cheaper or something.

My welcome drink, which was the Goose Island IPA, which is something else which is always acceptable to me. It sounds like I’m getting easier to please, but there are some grumbles coming up with some other hotels, so I hope no-one thinks I’m tolerating anything less than what I perceive to be perfection (and what some others would consider to be petty comments).

This is a nice environmental idea, avoiding the need for a plastic keycard.

They’ve put some real effort into this design and the welcome at the front desk was also friendly. The hotel seemed to have decent sound proofing as it felt like it was empty, but I noticed the next morning that it clearly wasn’t given the number of guests at breakfast. With that, it was time to spend some time getting work done that I’d neglected a little over the weekend, pleased that I had managed to tackle a public transport system which was partly on strike. And thank goodness for the Elizabeth Line.

June 24, 2022
London – Ealing (Borough of) – Brewdog Ealing

I am continuing on my little project to visit all the Brewdogs in London (and indeed, further afield, but that will take me a little longer) and this one is in Ealing and only opened a few weeks ago. The reviews so far are nearly all very positive, although I’m genuinely amused by the review which noted:

“The beer is sad – need better flavours.”

I assume that this is from someone who loves their Fosters or something. Anyway, that sounds sneery and isn’t really relevant (although I won’t let that stop me). As for why I keep visiting Brewdog bars, it’s because there is always something new to drink, the service is friendly and the locations have a bit of excitement to them. I also like their vibrancy and energy, it’s not something that a lot of pubs and bars can get right.. And, they also have a policy of showing football, but only showing it in a limited part of the bar to avoid annoying those of us who want to concentrate on the beer. A win-win compromise as far as I’m concerned, especially as they are doing deals to get football fans in, so they aren’t neglected.

There’s a large interior and it’s all nice and shiny, as it should be since it only recently opened. I had reserved my Wings Wednesday extravaganza in advance as usual and I’m not entirely sure that they found my reservation judging by the confused looks, but it didn’t matter, they had lots of space. They offered me a choice of tables inside and outside (unlike the Roebuck and their shove him in the corner approach – although I note they’ve been picking up more bad reviews over the last few days and I suspect it’s the same staff member I experienced. But I digress….) before I announced that I liked inside and I could do with a power point if they had one. I’m a little surprised that a new Brewdog bar doesn’t have more tables with power points, but the staff member found one and that sufficed me perfectly.

I’d add that the bar staff seemed quite young. That annoyed me because that made me realise I’m not 14 any more, but I don’t think I can really blame the bar for that. The staff were all well trained, engaging, knowledgeable and keen to help, so there were no issues in that regard. The service remained very impressive throughout, always attentive and polite, I was suitably impressed.

My unlimited chicken wings and although it’s exactly the same dish as the other bars, the sauce seemed a little less harsh, with the chicken wings having that more crispy edge to them. As much as anyone can have a favourite Brewdog for their chicken wings, this is my preferred bar so far.

Onto the drinks, of which I went for three. The Frog Gone Rouge from Elusive Brewing (on the left in the above photo) is defined as an “Hibiscus & Rhubarb Kölsch-style Lager”. A certain person, who I will begrudgingly admit slightly knows more about craft beer than me, would probably have been able to pull out the hibiscus flavour and tell me what beer he’s had that was similar (I struggle to remember what I had yesterday, which is one of the reasons that I have this blog to remind me). Unfortunately, I have no idea what a bloody hibiscus tastes like, so I’m going to define this as more of a fruit juice with a rhubarb kick. I’m not sure that this is the delicate phrasing that this beer deserves, but that’s about my limit of wording to it. I liked it though, refreshing and with an edge of tartness.

My second beer (on the right of the above photo) is the 42|DDH Pale Ale – Citra & Sabro from Brew by Numbers. I like BBN beers (and thanks for the toast on Untappd, I’m easily pleased by such things) and it’s defined as “this double dry hopped pale ale delivers tooty fruity intense bursts of flavour, tropical fruit, grapefruit, coconut, melon and freshly cut spring grass”. Another refreshing beer with a tropical taste, certainly with the grapefruit and I think the coconut, but I’m a little less convinced by the grass. I liked the clean flavours and the lingering aftertaste, a decidedly lovely beer.

My third beer (that I didn’t take a photograph of) was more complex, the Arcade City by Overworks (effectively Brewdog) and it’s noted that:

“Black as a Ninja’s robe, an Origami of flavours unfold. Floral jasmine and sweet cranberries are layered over the indulgent big sour stout beneath. Poached prunes, deep notes of raisin and roasty chocolate flavours compete with the seismic sourness. Finishes with the complex malt and alcohol warmth expected of Tokyo. Jasmine creeps back again as mouth-watering acidity plays out.”

These sour stouts do confuse me, it doesn’t provide me with the rich and decadent taste of chocolate, Bounty bars, coffee or liquorice, but it does offer, as they say themselves, poached prunes….. The beer is thick (is that proper beer describing language?) and I did wonder at first if I had ordered sump oil. But, after the sour hit of what is a 10% ABV and that strength is obvious from the taste, there was a richness of flavour that meant I really did like this beer. Very much a beer that can be sipped, there were a few different flavours there and I wouldn’t have picked out cranberries, but after I read they were there, I could get that fruitiness. I don’t know about the poached prunes and I’m not sure that it was actually that chocolately, but it was rich and felt like it was a beer for grown-ups. Although it feels its 10%, it was still smooth and these initially what seemed conflicting tastes and flavours blended nicely. I think I’m starting to write drivel now, so I’ll stop on the beer description….

More chicken wings and these kept on coming nice and quickly. There were no delays with the payment process, but I had to confess to the bar staff that they had forgotten one of the three drinks that I’d had. The staff member told me that they couldn’t find that drink on the till, therefore they considered it didn’t exist. I’m happy with that decision, although if I had realised it didn’t exist, I might have had two thirds of it.

I know that Brewdog have faced some criticism nationally this week, but their bars are being run with some considerable ability and management skill. The staff are knowledgeable, the locations are on-trend, the beers are excellent and I can see the juggernaut of Brewdog openings likely to continue around the world. It’s becoming apparent just how far behind some pub chains are getting as well and I wonder whether there might be some major crashes in the years to come as the beer market all realigns.

As for this bar, I couldn’t fault it and I’m really rather impressed by the whole arrangement. Very lovely.

June 16, 2021
London – Ealing (Borough of) – Sir Michael Balcon

I thought I’d visited every JD Wetherspoon outlet in central (well, centralish) London, but I’ve either missed this one or forgotten that I’ve been. Anyway, that wasn’t the reason I went, this is the only Good Beer Guide pub listed in the centre of Ealing, so another one to tick off the list.

This former Slug & Lettuce venue was turned into a JD Wetherspoon outlet in 2008 and it’s relatively small. The steps up to the toilets are quite narrow and there’s not a vast amount of table space compared to many of their other pubs. Usually, these smaller outlets are from Wetherspoon’s expansion phase in the late 1980s or 1990s, but the quite vibrant carpet gives it a bit of character at least.

I wasn’t on the hunt for beer, but the pub did have a few real ales on and their normal reasonably wide selection of craft beers in cans. The entirely non-alcoholic San Pellegrino, still at the competitive price of £1.09, sufficed for today.

The staff member who brought the drink over was sufficiently engaging and helpful, there was a relaxed atmosphere and I’m guessing that most of the customers were locals. The pub is named after the film producer as he was involved with the nearby Ealing Studios and before the building became a pub, it was used as Bryant’s Furniture Store.

Anyway, I had a little look at the on-line reviews and I’m moderately confused by the complaint from someone asked to leave at 19:00. The reviewer, who was most upset said:

“Signage also only stated Families welcome until 6pm and children to order before 5pm”.

Hmmm, seems quite clear, although it seems they thought if they were in before 18:00 then they could stay, well, until whenever. I’d have thought that the sign should have been a clue…

And another customer who wrote:

“We had just travelled all the way from central London after seeing a show at the theatre as my father wanted to specifically go here as he is a Wetherspoons fanatic. When we arrived, the manager immediately and abruptly asked my daughter for some ID and then told us that our daughters, 16 and 17 could not come in as it was past 6 O’clock. We told him we were there to celebrate my fathers 70th birthday by having a meal and that we had specifically come here from Central London. He then told us he would lose his license if he served us as it was gone 6pm. He would not listen to us at all and did not want to know.”

I’m puzzled as to what the manager was meant to do if their license doesn’t allow under 18s in the pub, which is hardly rare…..

Otherwise, the reviews aren’t particularly notable, but this is a worthy entrant into the Good Beer Guide, perhaps one of the slightly more quirky JD Wetherspoon outlets. I also know that the chain are making an effort with the hanging baskets and floral displays outside their pubs across the country, but this is one of the more notable attempts.

September 4, 2020