October 2026. Aldgate. London.
Quite a contrast between the tower of Rye and the towers of the City of London.
I let the train take the strain (they can have that slogan for free) between Rye and Sheffield, but split the advance fare in two to get a couple of hours ticking in London.
With odd things happening in Aldgate I left the tube at Moorgate, and what a joyous walk eastwards past the Gherkin and some wonderful street art.
But remember, Americans, London is VERY dangerous. Your president says so.
Frankly, even the roads aren’t dangerous these days, I’ve never seen so much jaywalking across London Wall and Bevis Marks.
At Aldgate, I’m confused by the public footpath sign,
which I now understand to be a kissing gate called Monument of Shima.
But where’s my pub ? You get so used to City boozers that look like this;
you forget that the Taps occupy the oddest of buildings.
I always recommend Tandleman’s blog, well-written and to the point, and for quite a while now he’s been recommending the cask in the Aldgate Tap, so I’m surprised it took so long to make the Beer Guide, but a worthy debutant.
Perhaps not one for the Proper Pub enthusiast,
with a bit of an overload of Muse in the soundtrack,
but you enjoy your heritage indie, kids.
The early trade is coffee and Sapporo, the beer range mostly keg (boo/hurrah),
but a cool Otter (classic Boring Brown Bitter) is under a fiver, and you’ll struggle to beat that in Sheffield, let alone Devon. Could Otter be the new Bass ?
If I’m honest it’s a bit too cool, even for me, but I’m not moaning about quality cask for £4.90, and some of us welcome pubs being open at 8am, rather than 4pm.
And lacings never lie.
£4.90 for a pint of Otter in the City is pretty amazing. I miss Otter. (Which is ironic in the true sense as we have otters in Shetland the way other places have mice.)
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I was given a settee once, which turned out to have a nest of mice in it.
I didn’t think so at the time, but now, in retrospect, perhaps I was quite fortunate, Bill.
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A nest of otters might have been more disruptive.
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No, def not a ‘proper pub’, but that 2 cask & a million keg lines thing is prevalent at the North Bar chain of ‘not prooer pub’ style taps up our way. It used to be 3 cask lines back in the day, most annoying they’ve gone down to 2, but of course, could be worse…..
And I do like Muse
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Glad you were safe from some weirdo going in for a kiss at the kissing gate. Anything goes in that London.
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Yes Lana.
Kissing. You never know what that might lead to !
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Hmm. Making eye contact with, never mind talking to the person rammed up against you on a crowded tube seems to be a bit of a no-no?
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That’s exactly the sort of behaviour Donald Trump warns Americans about, Lana.
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Sitting on a bus as it went over Tower Bridge yesterday, I was lucky enough to remember reading about the Aldgate Tap here. My bus terminated less than a 10 minute walk from Aldgate Square – but you knew that, because all pubs are within a 10 minute walk, aren’t they.
Just a swift half of an old favourite, Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted – just £4.60 a pint! In the heart of London! Astonishing!
Thanks for mentioning it.
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Tandleman has a flat close by and has been plugging it a few years, surprised it took so long to get in the GBG, as central London doesn’t have as many new and exciting pubs as you might imagine. I found the Otter a bit chilled.
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The B&T was enjoyable, but had a faint haze to it, so no better than Good. Wouldn’t have gone there without your (and Tandleman’s) efforts, so it’s good to know that reading blogs is not a total waste of time. (Not that I ever thought it was.)
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B&T will always be Banks & Taylor of Shefford to me, loved their Edwin Taylor Stout.
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No doubt an uneventful bus journey over Tower Bridge yesterday, not like on 30th December 1952 when bus driver Albert Edward Gunter ( 28 February 1906 to 2 February 1968 ) jumped London’s Tower Bridge in his double-decker bus.
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London’s bus drivers seem to be very well trained and much more circumspect than they were back in the early 50s, Paul.
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Not such an adventure nowadays then ?
My bus pass has only had me on the 18, 205 and 390 and so not even a river crossed.
The ‘best’ I’ve known was a fallen tree only three miles from me and the bus abandoned after the driver wrongly thought the A513 was wide enough for doing a three point turn !
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