What even IS North West London ?
Well, I’d have said it’s Euston, plus the posh suburbs around Hampstead, and then a giant wasteland of nothingness (except Harrow School) championed by Russell Grant as “Middlesex”.
But that may be very, very, unfair.
Let’s start off with the Big Two;
Kentish Town – Southampton Arms
Single room, upmarket boozer, immaculate beer (and unwise cider).
“What distinguishes it for me is that it feels like a boozer, and that gets it a wider range of customer than the dining pubs that dominate further east. It’s a basic but beautiful pub, which shows off the white tiling and dark panelling without being flashy. I haven’t tries the famed snacks, but the smells and sights of the meat counter are key to the appeal.“
ALWAYS heaving.
As is;
A station pub, literally, but hardly Euston’s only station pub.
Not to everyone’s taste, and those stairs to the loos (top) are alarming, but I’ve always loved it, and that pint of Marble Stout for under a fiver recently was magic.
25 years ago I’d have picked the Holly Bush in Hampstead with its marvellous setting.
but the Magdala is almost as gorgeous, and I hear the Bass is on again now.
If the Bass is as good as the Harvey’s this might be a North London rival for the Empress.
“In Lewes, right, where this Harvey’s comes from, there was a pub called (giant pause during which I hissed “Lewes Arms”) the Lewes Arms, where the locals rioted when Greene King took the Harvey’s off”.
In the ’90s the saving grace for NWL was a string of converted car showrooms along the A410, A5 and into Harrow and Hillingdon where Spoons sold Youngers for 79p and Guinness for £1.49 and kept pub going alive.
They all looked like JJ Moons in Ruislip.
A group of Irish mates were settling in for the afternoon (to be fair, it was noon by now).
“2 Guinness, 2 John Smiths and a Strongbow” the call, perhaps the median drinks order in a North West London Spoons.
Maida Vale – The Carlton Tavern
You know the Carlton. The Carlton Tavern, the pub they demolished and had to rebuild brick-by-brick.
Worth a visit as much for the location, between bustling Kilburn and the gorgeous terraces of Maida Vale, as the pub itself, which could have done with a bit more trade on a weekday afternoon but isn’t that always the case.
Decent Anspach & Hobday,
and a startlingly good salt and pepper squid.
The Midland Hotel in Hendon would have been in if it was open. But it isn’t. I scored a 5 here, you know.
By the by, I still have no idea whether “Hillingdon” is an actual place, a borough, or a noun.
Over to you for Number 6. Be brave.
retiredmartin 
Some nice pubs there. The Southampton is a firm favourite of mine.
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Rather easy choices in this post.
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Making people rebuild pubs brick-by-brick. That’s bloody socialism for you. If you own it its yours and you should be able to do what you damned well like with it.
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They should have rebuilt it brick for brick in Milton Keynes where folk would have used it.
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How many people use that London bridge in the US?
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There’s a Bass pub over that bridge in Arizona they’re able to reach now, so it was worth it.
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Making people rebuild pubs brick-by-brick maintains the skills of artisanal builders.
It should be encouraged.
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But that Himley pub must be an example of poor workmanship as it was awfully wonky when it was demolished…
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Encouraged, Paul?
In some cases it should be compulsory I’d say 😉
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Not at all. The Glynne Arms was properly built and propped up a bit could have lasted centuries. The house, built in 1936, four doors down from where I grew up had also been properly built but the severity of the mining subsidence caused that to be demolished fifty years ago, a private house not of course deemed the asset that a public house is and so not worth propping up.
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Etu,
Yes, and they could start with the Doric Arch alongside that ghastly staircase.
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That Ruislip one can be identified as from the last century (a) by Tim having invested in some proper woodwork and glasswork and (b) him including “Moon” in the name.
They were good back then.
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I would nominate The Pineapple, not so far from the Southampton Arms. Nice local, and Jon Snow of Channel 4 news sometimes pops in.
Nice to see Ruislip getting a mention. Hillingdon is the borough, but Ruislip or Uxbridge is the place people identity with.
Hillingdon as noun? There’s a Two Ronnie’s sketch about that: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9vved
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John Snow pops in ?
That’s another one to avoid then.
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I didn’t know that sketch but perhaps it was subconscious.
I was very close to having the Pineapple in as well as the Southampton Arms but have been trying to spread the entries around. The Pineapple has been fantastic on three visits.
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“What even IS North West London?”
The historic counties are a pretty sure guide here: North and West London are really Middlesex, East London is really Essex, South London Surrey and Southeast London Kent (just as the East and West Midlands are simply the modern names for Danish and English Mercia). The Anglo-Saxons knew what they were doing when they drew a map.
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Matthew,
And there’s no such thing as South London or North East London.
That was with a reorganisation of the Postal Districts so that decades later Sheffield could have “S” and Newcastle on Tyne “NE”.
Not many people know that.
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Well that was pretty much my take Matthew, and it follows the cricket counties fairly well. It’s the splitting of North London into North and Nort-West in the GBG that seems a bit pointless.
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An old friend of mine died after falling down the stairs of the Woodman in Birmingham. That staircase in the Euston Tap is much much much more dangerous.
Talking of death, I expect we all know the history of the Magdala Tavern.
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Well, that first pint of Bass I had there had certainly died a death, Paul (end of barrel, the Harvey’s was lovely).
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