Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: London

  • London – City of Westminster – Star Tavern

    London – City of Westminster – Star Tavern

    I suspect most people have to come looking for this pub, it’s not one you’d easily stumble on, tucked away on Belgrave Mews. It’s in the heart of the diplomatic area of London, with the German and Austrian embassies being located over the road.

    The history is one of the selling points of the pub and although it has been serving customers since the Victorian period, it’s the 1950s and 1960s that perhaps are the most notorious. This period was when the pub was frequented with criminals and also many celebrities from the period, not least figures such as Princess Margaret, Diana Dors, Clement Freud, Elizabeth Taylor and Bing Crosby. It’s also where the Great Train Robbery was planned, in the room upstairs, and where corrupt police officers were known to hang out.

    The pub themselves have some history about the building and its characters on their web-site, I like it when an effort is made like this. The pub also haven’t glorified the crimes that took place, which caused substantial suffering to many, so it remains an intriguing part of the history.

    The main room downstairs, all rather comfortable and cosy. The welcome was friendly and the beer selection reasonable, mostly Fuller’s since it’s one of their pubs.

    The half pint of ESB and bacon crisps, reasonably priced for the location, and the beer was everything it should be in terms of the taste and temperature.

    I liked this pub, all laid-back and comfortable, with the clientele seemingly much more genteel than they perhaps once were. The pub is listed in the Good Beer Guide, but that might be an under-statement, it has been in every single issue which as of 2017 was an achievement just five pubs had managed. These are this pub, the Buckingham Arms in Westminster, the Square & Compass in Swanage, the Queen’s Head in Cambridge and the Roscoe Head in Liverpool. They received their 45th entry award in 2017 which was presented by the brilliant Roger Protz, so not long until they hit 50 years of entries in the guide. A remarkable achievement.

  • London – Reform Club Dress Code

    London – Reform Club Dress Code

    I’ll firstly note that I’m not trying to join or visit the Reform Club, I was just reading something that the formidable and brilliant Michael Palin had written about the club so was meandering through their web-site. I just liked how the club are clearly so appalled at the thought of hiking boots crossing their threshold that they’ve listed them twice in the prohibited list, alongside trainers and sports style footwear, as the thought of such depravity is clearly too much to bear. But, to be fair this is why I’ll never join a club like this, they wouldn’t have someone like me and that is probably for the best…..

  • London – Central London – Farringdon – Hoop and Grapes

    London – Central London – Farringdon – Hoop and Grapes

    I had a little visit here as it’s a pub in the Good Beer Guide that I haven’t visited before, a rare survival of an historic licensed premises which was nearly demolished in the 1990s. It’s fortunate that it has survived, it’s got some history as being a location for where Fleet marriages took place and it’s also built on a former burial ground.

    The welcome was a bit stilted with the staff member looking at me confused that I’d come into the pub. At a guess I’d say that anyone coming into a pub and standing by the entrance, where it says to wait, is probably a customer and might need assistance. Anyway, I was seated and when I asked what real ales they had and was told a list of their lagers, which isn’t quite the same thing.

    I went for a half a pint of Spitfire and it puzzled me, as the pub must surely have enough volume of this beer to ensure it doesn’t taste off, but this pint was only just on the right side of me sending it back. At the prices charged, I thought it should have been better, especially from a Shepherd Neame pub since it’s their beer.

    The rest of the service was much better and was from a different staff member (who I think was the licensee), so there was more engagement and interest in me as a customer. Not that I really needed any interest, but it made me feel more welcome. The pub was clean and organised, with a nice olde world charm. The pub was also following all of the rules, two multi-household groups came in and admitted they weren’t in the same household, with one asking the licensee to turn a blind eye. I’m not sure that’s a very fair thing for a customer to do, but the staff member apologised and turned them away.

    I liked the building and the service ultimately was fine, but I’m not sure that there was anything else of interest here beyond the history and heritage. But, it was a pleasant location for a drink and it was relatively busy during the early evening. The pub normally has a good reputation for food, but they’re offering a reduced menu at the moment, mostly curries and snacks. The downside was that it felt like a Greene King pub, but I won’t digress down that line of thinking….

  • London – Camden – British Museum (Beer for the Workers)

    London – Camden – British Museum (Beer for the Workers)

    This is rather sweet and is one of the oldest examples of writing to have been found. It dates from around 3300 to 3100BC and, even more excitingly, it’s a beer token issued by a temple for workers. It’s from Uruk in Mesopotamia and when this token was issued, the settlement was likely the largest urban area in the world. The drink the workers received was barley beer, although they weren’t fortunate enough to be able to express their views on it using Untappd.

  • London – Camden – Uplifting Message on Northington Street

    London – Camden – Uplifting Message on Northington Street

    Some central London positivity….

  • London – Camden – Old Street Sign on Heathcote Street

    London – Camden – Old Street Sign on Heathcote Street

    I’m sure there are many older examples of street signs, but I’m still impressed that this one remains. The WC postcode was scrapped in 1917 and replaced with WC1 and WC2. Or, more precisely, it was a postal district back when it was created in the mid nineteenth century, as postcodes are more modern. But they’re of a similar principle.

    The Heathcote Street sign mentions that it leads on to Mecklenburgh Square, Doughty Street, Caroline Place and Guilford Street. The sign has lasted longer than one of the streets, as Caroline Place has now become part of Mecklenburgh Square, likely because there’s another Caroline Place in the city.

  • London – Central London (Photos of St. Paul’s)

    London – Central London (Photos of St. Paul’s)

    Just photos, I quite liked the colour of the sky because of the heavy rain which was just passing by.

  • London – City of London – London Liverpool Street – Fur das Kind

    London – City of London – London Liverpool Street – Fur das Kind

    I’ve wanted to take a photo of this numerous times before, but there have always been people sitting either on the sculpture or perched on the seat like thing next to it. Since London is suffering from a lack of visitors and workers at the moment, the railway station is quiet and there were few people around at all.

    The sculpture is designed by Flor Kent and not by Frank Meisler as I had thought, although he designed the sculpture on the main concourse and the one in Gdansk. They commemorate the same thing though, the Kindertransport which saved thousands of Jewish children from death. Unfortunately, the transports were brought to a halt by the start of the Second World War, but the lives of 10,000 children were saved.

    Originally this sculpture was placed on the main outside concourse of the railway station, but just the girl, which is a life size cast of one of the survivor’s grand-children. Along with the girl was a large perspex case of actual items that had been brought over by the children. Today, the figure of a child has been added and the case is no more, and they have been placed in the railway station as a reminder that this is where many children came on their rescue mission. I’m not sure that it’s best placed by the entrance to the underground station as it’s easily missed because of the people who often stand in front of it.

    There are other similar sculptures across Europe which note other parts of the journey that children went on. It’s a very emotive piece and a reminder of what went on here.

  • London – Hard Rock Cafe Oxford Street

    London – Hard Rock Cafe Oxford Street

    I haven’t grumbled about anything in a while, so now feels appropriate. I received an e-mail on behalf of Hard Rock Cafe saying that they had a 50% offer which was off all food in their Oxford Street location in London. This is a very good offer, as Hard Rock might be a little expensive, but that makes it quite a reasonable expedition to get food at half price. I’ve been to around ten Hard Rock Cafes over the years, with the service in Atlanta and Krakow being outstanding, and my visit a few months to Hard Rock Cafe Bucharest was also perfectly enjoyable.

    Anyway, after being quite interested in this offer, it was then noted that solo diners were excluded from taking part. So, group sizes of 2 to 6. I don’t much like this at the best of times, but it’s vaguely understandable as solo diners don’t make as much money. But, nor do three diners at a table for four. And, judging from recent reviews, Hard Rock Cafe Oxford Street is not exactly busy. Which is evident from their deluging food out at half price.

    I remember doing some work for a certain Italian restaurant a few years ago which was how to make solo diners welcome. This was marvellous, there are people who are on business trips, who might be lonely, key workers or just people who want to get out of the house. Ideally, the welcome should be positive and engaging for all of those, especially somewhere upbeat such as Hard Rock Cafe which can offer that friendly feel.

    Or, they could be like the management at Hard Rock Cafe in Oxford Street who puts two fingers up at solo diners. Unimpressed.

    Anyway, moving on, I can write about the rather lovely brewery I’ve just been to.

  • London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – The Drum

    London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – The Drum

    This is one of the oldest pubs in the JD Wetherspoon estate (opened in the mid-1980s) and it’s one of their smaller locations as well. Since I was staying at the Ibis Styles nearly next door, this proved to be a convenient breakfast option and it’s the best part of a decade since I was last here.

    As an aside, this is the opposite side of the street, and in the middle (with the white doors) is the former JD Wetherspoon pub that was known as The Auctioneers. That pub was even smaller than The Drum, which is named incidentally as the former owners had a collection of commemorative drums hanging from the ceiling.

    Photos of the interior and this is about the entire size of the place. It was all sufficiently clean, the health protocols were followed and the staff member was personable and helpful.

    A dray delivery arrived when I was there, which meant closing off the bar area and pretty much suspending service as well.

    And the traditional breakfast, purchased under the bargain JD Wetherspoon £2.99 for a traditional breakfast which is running at the moment. This is as good as their breakfasts get, the egg was runny and the bacon was crisp, with everything served hot. There were a couple of other customers in the pub, but it was otherwise quiet when I was there, although that was between 08:00 and 09:00 to be fair….

    I think this is one of the better pubs in the JD Wetherspoon estate as it retains some atmosphere to it, unlike some of their larger more sterile pubs. Having written that though, I think it fills up quickly, so it’s probably a nuisance to get a seat quite a lot of the time. As a piece of JD Wetherspoon history, it’s interesting though, and perhaps an unusual survivor.