Slight problem as my earliest extensive notes, somewhat akin to Pepys but with more typos, have just been overwritten by my sitting on my phone and now look like this;
A third South-West London tick in an hour, as I take the Northern Line from Clapham Common to the Oval,
and then a hop through the back streets of Lambeth/Kennington/whatever-it’s-called to the Fentiman.
Some nice tiling for you,
and some streets that simultaneously seem gentrified but Proper London.
At 56, I still get a visceral thrill crossing a road to a new pub while taking a surreptitious photo.
Back street London pubs are gorgeous, aren’t they ?
The Fentiman, named after the ginger beer drinks company, WAS pretty busy, a good dozen “ladies who lunch” and “lads who lager” spread out inside and out.
I don’t know about you, but this is my idea of an adventurous beer range;
It took ages to get served as the poor staff were split between fetching salt and pepper squid, collecting Peroni glasses and finding the WiFi code, all more important than serving me a half of Youngs Ordinary (I know, I know).
It was cool, and unmistakeably Youngs (NBSS 3), and I could happily drink it all day while you lot moan about authenticity and the ghost of John Young.
Sadly, the destruction of my notes means I can’t tell you what the music playing was, so let’s guess it was Kangaroo Air Force Ventilator. It normally is.
Three pubs down; can I squeeze in a fourth in two hours ?
Let’s head for the river.
Good grief, where did all these tall buildings come from ?
retiredmartin 
I remember that same feeling at 56 on my first trip to England.
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So “London Original” is what everyone else calls “Ordinary” is it?
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Well, “everyone” would include me and I don’t either, Bill.
This is more like how I remember the pump badges always being too:
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Ordinary, Whatever, and Special.
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Three ticks within an hour? You’re superhuman!
I’m devastated that technology stole your notes away from you like that, and not just because I wanted to know which pop songs were playing.
Looks like you had a lovely day for all this; I reckon the stroll between the pubs was as enjoyable as the pub visits themselves. Well, NEARLY as enjoyable anyway! 😉
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London pubs are often closer together than you think, Mark, and it’s possible to walk between them quicker than bothering with the tube. Same as in New York, I guess.
I take screenshots of my notes since losing them laughing at yoga the other month, so hopefully most are retrievable. Have you ever lost priceless art in that way ?
I think the pubs give structure to the walk; ticking off a McDonalds every hour wouldn’t be as much fun !
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Three London pubs in an hour does seem to have persuaded Martin to consider heading into the Thames though.
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