retiredmartin

December 2023. Hackney.

I’m in danger of catching up on the blog, so let’s put an end to that with a Big(ish) Night Out in London ahead of the annual End of the Road Christmas Show..

I caught the train from Waterbeach and slept in the campervan to save the price of a “cheap” Premier Inn.

MumsNet always advises you to get one of those “cheap Premier Inns” when staying in the capital, which tells you a lot about MumsNet.

Travelling from Cambridge means you get a seat. Hear that northerners, a seat ! On a train !

Three (3) ticks in East London, starting with the inevitable newbie in Hackney, the Ouseburn of the South.

Only 15 minutes from King’s Cross via Victoria and Overground, though you’re delayed by 30 seconds as inevitably that paper travelcard you bought on the platform at Waterbeach will “seek assistance” at the barrier.

I emerge into that tight alley leading from Hackney Central to Mare Street, stuck behind the slowest people on earth, which at least gives me chance to take today’s art shot.

A new GBG pub in Hackney ? Another one ? I thought I’d done them all by now. Hackney looks quite rural from my drone, which reveals more late night venues than in the whole of Dumfries and Galloway.

Looks like the Old Ship is tucked behind this classic, packed with mid-afternoon middle-aged drinkers (i.e. older than me).

Sylvester Path, not to be confused with Sylvia Plath (who lived and died in Primrose Hill), is a gorgeous unsung little lane, the sort that makes walking London so great.

The Old Ship is a boutique 3 storey 10 room hotel (£120.61 a night), the bar area largely set for smash burgers and jerk chicken from the open kitchen.

Typical North London gastro decor, including obligatory dangling lightbulb,

typically strong 1995 soundtrack,

and untypically strong cask line-up, perhaps lacking a weaker beer for the pub ticker on an extended session.

Talking of whom, “What Would Simon Do ?“. He’d have a pint of the Siren Breakfast Stout, of course; I had a half.

It was lovely, rich and chewy (3.5); the staff were even better, the ladies in Christmas hats bubbling with pubby joy. You know, it may not be the Good Beer Guide I actually completed, but I reckon GBG24 may be the best yet.