The Glory Days Are Back....

A whirlwind weekend in London, taking in several pubs in different parts of the city, a trip to Wembley to watch our football team in the FA Trophy Final, and numerous trips on the underground....

A few months ago if you'd said we'd be in London to see Halifax Town play at Wembley I would have laughed. A season going nowhere, the threat of relegation still a worry, lower mid-table at best seemed to be all we could hope for. And then on April Fool's Day, it all changed with a dramatic second half equaliser away at Altrincham in the semi-final of the FA Trophy after a dreadful first half performance. We then won through on penalties, and Town were back at Wembley for the second time in 7 years. More fool us. Not only that, that dramatic game at Alty served to galvanise the team and after several outstanding results in the final league games of the season, they managed to finish a pretty respectable 11th in the National League table.

And so last Saturday morning 7 of us met at the Station Cafe in Brighouse for breakfast before boarding the 10.48 Grand Central train to London King's Cross. The train was on time, and we pulled into King's Cross at just before quarter to two. Out into the sun briefly, and then a long underground journey out west to Park Royal, where we were stopping at the local Travelodge, situated a few minutes walk from the station alongside the unrelenting traffic of the A406 North Circular. Checked in and bags dropped off, we went back up to the tube station and caught the next train back into the city centre, emerging eventually at Baker Street.

An evening in the streets of Marylebone beckoned. However, the first pub we had planned to visit, the Barley Mow, was closed for a private party, so the first pint of the trip was drunk outside the Golden Eagle, a small but attractive pub on a corner in the heart of a busy area of shops and restaurants. There were four beers on handpump, from which I went for a pint of Knight of the Garter from Windsor & Eton, a 3.8% golden ale. It was served without a sparkler and lacked any real character (NBSS 2.5).

Things did pick up though at the next pub, the Jackalope, which apparently is a mythical North American creature with the body of a jackrabbit and the horns of antelope, though quite why there is a pub in west London with such a name remains unclear. Set in an attractive mews and dating from 1777, it is Grade ll listed and has a historic interior and bar (opening picture). There was a choice of both cask and keg beers, but with it being early on, I opted to stay on cask rather than hit any of the more weighty beers on the taps. I ordered a pint of the 3% Trinity from Redemption, whose beers I find to be pretty reliable and much more to my taste than some of the cask beers brewed in these parts. It was sharp and citrussy, with plenty of flavour, belying its low gravity and most enjoyable (NBSS 3.5). A must-visit if you are in the area, it was the best pub of the evening we were to visit.

We made our way then to the Stags Head, situated on a corner of New Cavendish Street in Fitzrovia, in the shadow of the Post Office/BT Tower or whatever it calls itself these days. Another decent pub with an art deco exterior, with the Nottingham Forest and Arsenal playing out on several TV screens dotted around the interior. Here I ordered a Tring Side Pocket for a Toad, their 3.6% bitter, pulled by a lady from Leigh. It was the first time I'd had this beer for a while, and it was quite pleasant (NBSS 3). We took our beers and sat on a large picnic table watching the expensive cars and beautiful people of West London passing by in the early evening sun.

The Stag's Head, Fitzrovia

We then went back towards Baker Street, calling for a welcome chicken shawarma en route. Duly fed, we called in another busy pub, the Globe, situated directly opposite the tube station. It was again busy, with plenty of the punters staring at the TV screens showing the denouement of the Forest-Arsenal game. We ordered our beers, me going for a pint of the Kensington Pale Ale from local brewers Portobello, whose beers I'd not come across before. It was a pleasant, refreshing pale (NBSS 3.5), and one of the best beers of the day.

The final pub of the evening was the Angel in the Fields, a Sam Smiths pub, with an attractive exterior, lovely wood panelled interior with stained glass windows, and £5.75 a pint for Old Brewery Bitter, which was I have to say was thin and lacklustre (NBSS 2.5). A shame because it was a lovely pub, but like most of the places we'd visited over the evening we were paying a lot of money for very ordinary beer, and whilst you can pay a lot of money these days for beer in Manchester and Leeds, there is no way you could get away with serving ordinary beer. And that's not to say every pub in London serves ordinary beer, far from it, it's just that in the gilded streets of this part of London it seemed to be the norm.

The Angel in the Fields, Marylebone: attractive pub, disappointing beer

Day 2 dawned. The day of the final. We were up early, nervously anticipating the day. We were meeting some more of the usual team who were coming down for the match, and so it was back on that increasingly familiar tube journey to the centre, where after hearty breakfasts at the Rocket pub near to Euston Station, we repaired to a regular stopping point over the years, Mabel's Tavern, a pleasant and comfortable Shepherds Neame pub and Good Beer Guide regular situated on a quiet road just off Euston Road to await the arrival of the rest of the crew. We ordered a beer, most of us going for Whitstable Bay, their 3.9% pale which was OK (NBSS 3), and repaired to a small room to the left of the entrance and to the left of the bar. Shortly afterwards we were joined by the rest of the team, who each got a drink before we moved on.

Mabels Tavern, Euston

We got the tube up to Camden, where the Sunday market was in full swing as we walked up the busy street from the station. We called in the Oxford pub, a so-so pint of London Pride (NBSS 2.5) at least being redeemed by a decent beer garden where we were able to have a relaxing catch up. We did though find a little gem away from the hustle and bustle of the busy high street about 10 minutes walk away, a lovely ex-Charrington pub called the Prince Albert with a beautiful tiled exterior and lovely interior and a mix of cask and keg on the bar. I opted for a pint of the 4.2% hazy pale Solar on keg from Laines, which was very refreshing and a welcome antidote to some of the beer I'd had over the weekend. We took our beers out into the small but attractive tree-covered beer garden and built up the big match mood by singing along to the Town anthem When Glory Shone Around.

Prince Albert, Camden: classic pub

By now the nerves were kicking in. It was as if you were having a big interview, or having to do a presentation, or that first day in a new job. We went back to Euston, had a quick pint at the Doric Arch beside the station (Dark Star Hophead - NBSS 3) and went via the Metropolitan line from the nearby Euston Square to Wembley Park. From there it was straight up Wembley Way towards the ground, where a dodgy hotdog beckoned us despite the princely sum of £8.00. Once that was out of the way we were in the ground half an hour before kick off, the players warm up having been cut off by the sprinklers watering the pitch. And then to the game. Not a classic, Town taking the lead just before half time courtesy of a mix up in the Gateshead defence which was pounced on by midfielder Jamie Cooke. Despite all the efforts of the Heed to break down the Town defence in a determined second half performance they could not get through and the game ended with the score FC Halifax Town 1, Gateshead 0. A result that we would not have envisaged a few months ago, and if you went back to the hard times the club faced in the 70's and 80's, if you had said that at some point Town would play two finals at Wembley in 7 years and win them both you would have been ridiculed. But here we are....

Winners: celebrating victory on Wembley Way

We got away pretty quickly after the game and soon were back in central London, where we made a beeline for the the Euston Tap. Despite having been in several pubs in the area over many years, this proved to be a glaring omission. Situated in a couple of stone lodges, separated by a road, inscriptions on the outside wall feature several towns from up and down the country, presumably destinations that could be reached from the nearby station, and we were pleased to see Halifax up there. Inside, there is a small room with the bar facing the entrance and a spiral staircase leading to a room with seating upstairs. There was a fridge in one corner selling cans, with boards on the wall listing the wares on offer on both cask and keg. I went for a pint of the Howling Hops Tropical Deluxe, a 3.8% fruity, hazy pale ale which after the generally disappointing beer of the weekend really hit the spot. Refreshing and sharp, it was a treat for the taste buds and was easily the best beer of the weekend (NBSS 4). I liked the Euston Tap; great beer, friendly staff, and a cool and eclectic soundtrack featuring such as Max Romeo, Sly and the Family Stone, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Incidentally, the Euston Tap is owned by Bloomsbury Leisure who also own the Jackalope, which had been my favourite pub of the previous day!

Small but perfectly formed; the Euston Tap

And then sadly it was back to type at our final central London pub of the weekend, the Royal George, a few minutes walk away. A traditional Greene King pub, it was busy, noisy, with disappointing beer (Greene King IPA NBSS 2.5), with some of the party who had a further pint disappointed that their expensive pints of beer were served in plastic glasses as the staff were about to call last orders. 

Monday came along with news that our train back up north via Grand Central had been cancelled, following similar issues on Sunday. There was no explanation from the company as to why, and when you consider that the company are a partner company to Halifax Town it is an absolute disgrace, and the club should cut all ties with them forthwith as hundreds of fans were affected. We did though manage to get a train back up north from Euston to Manchester, and despite this and some indifferent beer at times, it had been a fantastic weekend overall. And for a time at least, the glory days are back for our football team....

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And here is that song I referred to - Simon Conway and a collection of Landlubbers and others singing 'When Glory Shone Around'....