It’s always awkward when the truth undermines your underlying narrative, and I have to admit that beer quality in London has been decent in recent months (the financial heart apart). On the other hand, I’m always stressing my admiration for CAMRA branches and their ability to find the best beer for the Beer Guide, which… Continue reading BERMONDSEY RAILWAY ARCHES, ROTHERHITHE JETTY
Tag: London
END OF THE ROAD CHRISTMAS SHOW – THE FAIRYTALE OF SHOREDITCH
Barely back from Burton an hour, we had to shoot off to Shoreditch for the End of the Road Christmas show. This is typically a tiny show in a new east London club venue with decent sound; last year’s gig at Oslo had the best sound and most overpriced beer of the year. The last few… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD CHRISTMAS SHOW – THE FAIRYTALE OF SHOREDITCH
SURVIVING SOUTH-WEST LONDON PART 2 – TOOTING TO CLAPHAM
The No.44 dropped off us off at Tooting Broadway, allowing us half a mile walk along one of London’s most calorific streets. Yet another place Mrs RM has worked (St Georges) though she claimed to have resisted the lure of the barfi in Nirala back then. Asian sweets and cake shops all the way up to… Continue reading SURVIVING SOUTH-WEST LONDON PART 2 – TOOTING TO CLAPHAM
GOOD BEER IN LONDON SHOCKER
Contrary to what you might think, I’ve nothing against London. It’s one of the top ten cities in the South, with a musical heritage stretching from Adam Ant to Gary Glitter. Music drew me there on a super off-peak slow train on Sunday; a rare one-off gig by alt-country legend William Tyler and a very… Continue reading GOOD BEER IN LONDON SHOCKER
NO-GO CAMDEN ?
I’m unimpressed by media alarmists (that’s all of them) telling old folk that our town centres are no-go areas and they should stay at home on a Saturday watching “Strictly” with a bottle of imported booze. They should get down the pub and watch English eccentrics with a pint of English beer. In the last year I’ve… Continue reading NO-GO CAMDEN ?
THE STAG’S HEAD – A BASIC GEM IN W1
Searching for proof that you can find decent beer in That London if you really look for it, I visited two new Guide stragglers near Regent’s Park. For all its problems keeping beer in good condition, W1 remains a great place to get lost, particularly if you then stumble across places like the Ship, next… Continue reading THE STAG’S HEAD – A BASIC GEM IN W1
ONE GEM AT LEAST IN THE CITY OF LONDON
You might deduce from this blog that that I don’t much care for that London place, and you’d be half right, you’d be half right*. If the town itself is a 9/10, and the pubs an 8, it’s only the beer that’s a 5 and lets it all down. Each year when the Beer Guide… Continue reading ONE GEM AT LEAST IN THE CITY OF LONDON
THE FELTHAM HERITAGE TRAIL
No-one believes it, but I can get to Durham quicker (and cheaper mid-week) than West London’s suburbs. Three hours to Sunbury, but of course it’s worth it to see the UK’s fourth greatest city. I felt a bit cheated. Sunbury-on-Thames in the Beer Guide normally means this; A smart dining pub with riverside views and… Continue reading THE FELTHAM HERITAGE TRAIL
FIVE MILES OUT OF LONDON OFF THE WESTERN AVENUE
Hanwell hasn’t been celebrated in song in the same way as nearby Perivale was in 1980, though admittedly Costello wrote about 80 songs that year and I haven’t heard them all yet. Never mind, the equally venerable Stonch wrote about his Hanwell walk recently. That ended up with a pint in the Fox, one of West London’s… Continue reading FIVE MILES OUT OF LONDON OFF THE WESTERN AVENUE
CONTRASTS IN EAST MOLESEY
As I come towards the end of this years new Beer Guide entries for “Greater” London, I’m starting to get full value out my Travelcard by crossing the dangerous border into Surrey when I can. On Tuesday that meant the train to the furthest extremity of Zone 6 at Hampton Court, crossing the road to… Continue reading CONTRASTS IN EAST MOLESEY
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