It was the May Day Bank Holiday and with the final National League games of the season taking place, we decided to head down to London to watch our team and visit a few pubs as well, this time in a different area....
We were going to London and back in the day, so it was an early start and late finish to the day. I ordered a taxi for just after 7 and then went to the Shay Cafe in Halifax to meet the lads and have some breakfast before catching the train. Our journey took us first to Leeds, from where we caught what was a pretty quiet train to London Kings Cross.
We arrived in the capital at just before 11.30, and with the kick-off at the regular time of 3pm, we had an hour or two to visit some pubs before heading off for the match at Wealdstone, who play their games at Grosvenor Vale in the leafy West London suburb of Ruislip. For our pre-match imbibing we had opted to go to the borderlands between two other leafy London suburbs, Notting Hill Gate and Kensington, which was kind of on the way. We caught the tube there, and then after a Google Maps mishap, set off in the right direction in search of the first of three Good Beer Guide pubs we had targeted.
We did pass one of them, the Churchill, en route, but had decided to go to the furthermost pub first and then re-trace our steps back to there. We also walked past a pub I had read about, the Blue Stoops, which has been recently opened by Jamie Allsopp, a former hedge fund manager and descendant of Samuel Allsopp, who first brewed Allsopp's Ale in 1730 in the tavern of that name in Burton-on-Trent, The original brewery had been significant players on the Burton scene, but eventually merged with neighbours Ind Coope in 1934. The revived Allsopps beers are currently being brewed by Kirkstall, whose owner Steve Holt found an old ledger containing Allsopps recipes from the 19th century, with the original yeast coming from the National Collection of Yeast Cultures in Norwich. The plan though is to restore the brewing of Allsopps to Burton-in-Trent.
Our first pub was a few minutes walk away on Holland Street just over the border in Kensington. Situated at the end of a quiet lane with elegant town houses, mews cottages, leafy gardens, and expensive cars we came to the Elephant & Castle. Occupying what was originally the site of two houses, the pub has an attractive exterior of London brick and stone with a primrose yellow painted lower frontage, with a striking mural of the pub's name on the corner of the building. There were a couple of tables out the front for al fresco drinking, although despite the blue skies, with a suggestion of showers in the air and quite strong gusts of wind there were no takers today.
We walked in to a smart room with a historic bar, dark wood panelling, and exposed wooden flooring. The pub first opened as a beer house in 1865 and is a former Charringtons pub, as indicated by signs on the bar back. Today it is run by the Nicholsons pubco, with the beer choice including Fullers London Pride, Taylors Landlord, and Nicholsons Pale Ale, brewed by St Austell. I went for a pint of London Pride, which was in decent form (NBSS 3). It wasn't cheap, the round for three of us coming to £19.35. However, you can moan about the price, as you can about some of the beer you get served with, but you can't argue with the quality and look of many of London's pubs, and the Elephant & Castle definitely is a classy-looking pub with friendly staff too. There is a focus on food with several customers coming in for a bite to eat, but we were made to feel welcome even though we had only called in for a pint.
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| The Elephant & Castle, Kensington |
We went back the way we came, and it didn't take long before we were walking in to the Churchill Arms (opening image). Looking splendid with its exterior covered in swathes of greenery, embellished with hanging baskets, and festooned with Union Jacks in recognition of the upcoming VE Day anniversary, it made me think of how a traditional pub would look if re-imagined as a Lilliput Lane ceramic model and then scaled back up, and with an appearance like that it was certainly a place that enticed you to explore it more closely. And so we walked in to a busy Fullers house, which has been a pub since 1824, with all tables taken and a few customers waiting at the bar to get served. It was busy, but without the feel of the relaxed contentment you sense in a pub where there is a strong local clientele.
And so to the bar, where from a range which contained several of the Fullers beers and Dark Star Hophead, when it was our turn to get served we all went for a pint of Oliver's Island, a 3.4% pale ale, which was rather thin but in decent condition (NBSS 3). We managed to find some unoccupied stools at the side of the bar from where we could appreciate the VE decorations in the main part of the pub, which were augmented in the area where we were sat by a display of ceramic chamber pots hanging from the ceiling, with the stern countenance from a certain Mr Churchill looking on. As a pub though, despite the stunning exterior, I felt it lacked any real warmth and empathy from the staff and was very much geared up to catering for the transient tourist trade, which was a shame.
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| The Churchill Arms |
We moved on, walking along an attractive Georgian terrace from where we turned right to our final pre-match pub. The Windsor Castle is situated on Campden Hill Road from where the actual castle was apparently visible in the days before this part of London succumbed to the advance of urban sprawl. Whilst not looking anything special on the outside it was clear when we walked in that this was a pub with a rich history, one that combines an olde-worlde feel that you might find in a more rural location with a modern upmarket service and menu style. The bar room is divided into different drinking areas but, surprisingly, the partitions and other wood-panelling are not part of the original 1830 build by Fuller’s but date from a 1933 refurbishment. The refit created three small rooms separated by screens, each having access to the bar, with low openings where you have to crouch down to get through, these having been created with glass collectors and cleaners in mind, who it was assumed would be smaller. Old pictures and brewery signs decorate the walls adding to the pub's traditional feel.
It was clear the Windsor Castle was food-led, as when the three of us walked in, a distinguished-looking gentleman with the manner of a Maitre D at the side of the bar asked us if we had a booking for lunch, to which we replied we had just come in for a pint. He nodded slightly sadly and looked back at his screen, possibly wondering if the table of 3 at 12.45 would be a no-show. There were three hand pumps in action on the bar, and with one being Landlord and another one Doom Bar, it was a no brainer to go for the third one on offer, Harveys Sussex Best Bitter, a beer I have had only very occasionally. We clambered through the opening of one of the screens and found a table to sit at. The beer was good, in fact this 4% brown bitter was the best of the day so far, a nice malt and hop balance with a dry aftertaste, and not too bitter (NBSS 3.5). And the Windsor Castle was a pleasant pub for a pint, even if it was quite food-focussed.
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| We enjoyed the beer at the Windsor Castle |
We finished our beers and made our way back to Notting Hill Gate tube station, where we had around 5 minutes to wait for a train going in the direction of West Ruislip. We duly headed out in the direction of London's not so wild west, eventually emerging in the open air where we passed miles of suburbia, the occasional golf course, and even the odd field before we alighted at a rather scruffy-looking tube station. Unsure how far it was to the ground, we called for an Uber, which came very quickly and dropped us close to the bustle of Grosvenor Vale, where it seemed they were expecting a big crowd. We got in to the ground quickly though and tucked into a pretty decent burger before the game kicked off.
It was a game where nothing much was at stake for Town, who had already qualified for the play-offs, whilst for Wealdstone they needed to make sure they got a better result than east London rivals Dagenham & Redbridge to avoid relegation to the National League South. And it was the home team who got off to a flying start, with 3 goals in the first half hour against a Town side that included a number of infrequent starters. The second half performance was better, with several first teamers back on the pitch and a Luca Thomas punt from inside the Town half which ended up in the back of the Wealdstone goal raised hopes, but Town were unable to gain any further advantage. A big cheer erupted around the ground when Solihull Moors - now managed by ex-Wealdstone boss Matt Taylor - scored an equaliser at Dagenham meaning that Wealdstone were safe if the current scores stood, which they eventually did. So it finished Wealdstone 3, Town 1.
Back from Ruislip on a different underground line, our plans were thrown into disarray when we discovered our direct train back via Grand Central had been cancelled, thus thwarting our plans to try a couple of new pubs. Instead we headed back to Kings Cross where we were told to go for the 7.30 Grand Central train to Sunderland and get off at Doncaster, where a train would be waiting to whisk us back to the West Riding.
With our time limited we headed up to the Queens Head, a pub I had visited before, around 10 minutes walk from Kings Cross, situated on a quiet street where outside a youngish crowd were sat enjoying a drink in the evening sunshine. It is a lovely place inside, with large mirrors and subtle lighting bestowing a light and airy ambience, and whilst it wasn't too busy when we walked in there were enough customers spread around a number of tables to lend it a bit of atmosphere. Our numbers, by now swelled to 4, all went for a pint of the 3% Trinity, a pale ale from Tottenham brewers Redemption, which despite its low strength has plenty going on and punches well above its weight in the taste stakes (NBSS 3.5).
And from there, it was back to Kings Cross, from where we caught a (rather busy) Sunderland-bound train, got off at Doncaster where, as we had been promised, there was a train waiting to take us back home. OK, from a football point of view the result was disappointing, but with no real damage done, we had managed to have a great day visiting some different parts of London....
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