An excellent day in London completing the South-West and South-East sections of the Guide. One of those is a chore, one a pleasure, you guess which.
I finished the former in Southfields, basically a long suburban road north of Wimbledon, full of large dining pubs, convenience stores and a vintage car showroom that assumes relevance later.
This is Southfields at night.
And this is the Earl Spencer, named after the Earl Spencer, bizarrely.
It had been a fairly convoluted journey from Norbiton, with train cancellations and walks through scary unlit parks, but I was expecting the Christmas drinkers to be the worst part of the visit.
It was virtually empty, bar a couple lingering at the bar.
“Sorry mate, private function tonight”
Has Mrs RM told you about my quivering bottom lip ?
Well, it quivered.
“Just a half I’ve travelled 3 hours (true) I’ll be ever so quick I’ll be gone in a minute please please PLEASE”
He gave in. Thank you, spirit of Christmas. I would hate to have had to make another trip out here.
I normally finish every section of the Guide on a pint. Not here.
A half of Wimbledon (£2.20) downed in 60 seconds, as the film goes.
I’d love to tell you the beer was nectar, but, hey, this is South West London. No-one drinks cask in South West London. It was meh (NBSS 2). I wished I’d had the Otter, but of course I would have broken the rules.
I saw the sign on the way out.
If I’d a) noticed the sign, b) drunk more, I’d have said I was Pamela Bird, who I guess was one of the party admiring classic cars across the road. I’ve got a Toyota Aygo. Is that classic yet ?
And anyway, what say you about closing a PUBLIC house on a Saturday night ?
And by the by, nothing about a private party on their Twitter.
NB Nice Merton Parkas/Ultravox mashup.
retiredmartin 
Closing one part of a PUBLIC house might be OK, but closing the whole gaff is out of order.
Plus, per your photo, “Single malt WHISKEYS”? Whiskey is from Ireland or America and the only single malt whiskey that I know of is Irish. Whisky on the other hand is from Scotland. Not that I drink the stuff much.
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I’m sure there are many other crimes against nature I could have captured, it was SW London after all. Makes a change from “Whiskey’s”.
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Just wrong. Chuck it out.
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“A half of Wimbledon (£2.20) downed in 60 seconds” –That must be a record speed for your blog– Not your preferred way of doing things, I’m sure. Really putting the “swift” back into “swift half!” 😉
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“what say you about closing a PUBLIC house on a Saturday night ?”
I agree, poor form.
We don’t get a lot of that over there that I’m aware of. Special function rooms (which I went to last Sunday at a local Greek restaurant which was quite nice – free food and beer!), or, as Bill said, closing one part would be ok but not the whole nine yards.
Cheers
PS – “I’d have said I was Pamela Bird”
Naw, you look more like an Emma. There’s no way someone would mistake you for a bird. 🙂
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Happens a fair bit in London. Sadly business is business.
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Yes, and pubs can open when they like. But warning via social media becomes more important. No warning on their Twitter, just a small note sellotaped to an open door.
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A sure indictment of a pub that has no regulars. And a pub without regulars is not a pub. It is an empty meaningless place that serves only to supply liquor to an infrequent passing trade. And it will never get any regulars if it closes to the public. Whoever put this in the GBG wants a good shafting, NBSS 2 FFS.
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Wishing Mrs. RM a happy birthday with my favorite RM Mrs. RM related quote: “One of these days she’ll remember her purse, have to buy her own beer, and discover it’s also very expensive.” Happy Birthday Mrs. RM! We can only guess what wondrous pub experience RM will deliver for the birthday.
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How did you know it was Mrs RM’s birthday ! Was it her private function at the Earl Spencer ?
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Yes, happy birthday Mrs. RM!
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It made the news over here. You guys are famous.
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Well she was born in ’66 so it’s only taken 51 years to cross the pond.
Oops. Shouldn’t have given that information, should I ?
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You’re in deep now.
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These signs used to appear an awful lot in pubs quite close to mainline London stations, Kings Cross was a particularly favourite place for them, we never stuck around to see if there was an actual knees up, but the clever money was on the fact they’d made their money for week and didn’t need the aggravation from folk who’d spent the bulk of their beer tokens elsewhere.
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Everyone needs a break, but you’d expect it in a weeks time if at all !
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Well this used to occur all year round, not just December.
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Never been a pub! At least he let you in…not even the Merton Parkas can save that place… however I am sure it is better than the Coopers Tavern which didn’t make it in 😵😵
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“Tarka” is very 1970s name for a British lager – up there with Einhorn and Grunhalle.
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Otter is a very 1970s brewery ! I’d rather live in 2017 but I do like their styling.
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