Going Out On A High....

A final weekend away of the 2025-26 football season saw us heading back down south once again. We had a Friday afternoon wander around a few pubs in the central London suburbs then caught the train to the Surrey town of Woking for an overnight stop before the last game of the season there the following day. Here's how it all unfolded....

The train from Brighouse to Leeds was a few minutes late. The three of us had met at the Station Cafe for breakfast, a long day ahead with plenty of travel and (almost certainly) plenty of pints to lubricate the way. The train arrived in Leeds only a few minutes before our onward train to London was due to depart, but fortunately it was leaving from a nearby platform and our seats were conveniently in the second carriage we came to. We eased into our seats and a few minutes later we were on our way.

Bright sunshine greeted us when we arrived in London, but it was underground first to take the Northern Line to Camden Town. We had a few minutes longer to wait than usual, the service gradually coming back to life following the end of 24 hours of industrial action, but it was only a couple of stops and we emerged into the hustle of Camden's busy high street. The last time we had been here was nearly three years ago in our nervy build up to the last of FC Halifax Town's FA Trophy final wins which was taking place later that afternoon at Wembley Stadium. That day had also been sunny, the crowds that milled amongst the stalls along the high street totally oblivious to our anxious state. This time we went down the high street in the opposite direction before turning off left into a quiet side street with a Greek restaurant and the odd cafe with customers sat at tables on the pavement enjoying some lunch, a glass of wine, or a strong black coffee and a smoke. The laughter and sounds of children playing out at lunchtime filled the air as we passed a school.

Our first pub of the day soon appeared. The Golden Lion (opening image) is a tall building which stands prominently alone on a corner. There was a yellow school bus parked at the side which I thought was a little incongruous. The pub dates back to the 1890s and has a spectacular exterior featuring red brick with stone dressings. Inside is impressive too with many traditional features including a Victorian bar back. The Golden Lion is a proper local which was saved from closure in 2013 as a result of the licensee and the local community, supported by Camden Council, waging a long campaign to prevent its conversion into flats and today it is listed by the council as an Asset of Community Value. A thirst had been worked up by our walk in the warm sunshine so our attention was focussed on what the bar had to offer. There were three hand pumps on the bar, one with the pump clip turned around. So two to choose from, Butcombe Original or London Pride, which had a hand-made pump clip. I went for the Pride, which unfortunately was the colour and consistency of mud. So I returned to the bar where the pleasant lass swapped it for a Butcombe without any problem. It certainly helped slake the thirst, but it's not a particularly characterful beer, but it was in good condition so I felt it was worth a 3 on the CAMRA National Beer Scoring System ratings.

A quiet street in Camden

Our next pub was about a mile away, our walk taking us past light industrial premises and along quiet residential streets before we came to another free house with an intriguing name. Tapping The Admiral it was and, I thought, there's got to be a story behind that. And I was right; Wikipedia came up with the explanation that it is "to drink directly (and secretly) from a cask, as if by a straw and gimlet. The phrase refers to British admiral Horatio Nelson, whose corpse was transported to England in a liquor-filled cask that is said to have arrived empty of liquor."

After a walk through warm sunshine on London's unforgiving pavements it was a welcome place to stop, nestled in the lee of a bridge on the Overground line. A few old boys were sat around the bar discussing this and that. The pub was attractively decorated with naval memorabilia and was immaculately clean. A thin, tall, bespectacled lass with dark hair appeared behind the bar and we ordered pints of the 4% pale ale from Kent Brewery, who are based in West Malling and, in their own words,  "brew in the traditional artisan way using modern techniques and recipes from our farmhouse in the heart of Kent." A full-flavoured aromatic golden pale ale, it was excellent, refreshing, and in great condition and served at optimum temperature. At my instigation we got another pint, with the beer going off as the third pint was pulled. I was only charged for two pints, but I took one for the team by drinking that third pint. It was still in great condition all the way down, and overall it deserved an NBSS rating of 4. I liked Tapping the Admiral; if I lived in Camden I would probably be a regular.

Tapping the Admiral, as it were

Our next nearest Good Beer Guide-listed pub was one I'd been in with my brother only a few months ago. It was located in nearby Kentish Town, around a mile and twenty minutes walk away along the thriving and bustling high street which is thronged with shops, eateries, bookies, and pubs, reflecting the multicultural make up of the area. Just past Kentish Town tube and railway stations, we turned off the main road and had a short walk along a quiet residential street to where a classic Victorian boozer lay in wait. This was the Pineapple which we had enjoyed last time both for the atmosphere and the beer. However this time whilst the welcome was friendly, the beer we chose was rather disappointing. We'd all gone for a pint of the 4% Juicy Pale from Big Hug brewery, who cuckoo brew at various sites in the London area, and whose sales support several social and environmental causes. Unfortunately this hazy unfiltered beer whilst having plenty of juicy fruit flavours was too sweet for me and lacked in body (NBSS 2.5).

The Pineapple: "Not the best beer we've had today."

Our glasses emptied, we walked to the underground station and headed south of the river to Borough, which is close to Waterloo from where we needed to catch our train to Woking at some point in the evening. It was only a couple of months or so since we had last been in the area, but there were still some pubs in the Good Beer Guide that we hadn't visited. First of these was the Trinity, next door to the underground station, which is a former Charringtons pub with a mock-Tudor facade that was acquired by Fullers from then owners Greene King in 2019. Pints of London Pride all round which did the job (NBSS 3), but the pub itself was somewhat bland and lacking in character.

It was only a few minutes walk to the next pub. Situated on a quiet street corner a short way from the bustle of Borough High Street, the Royal Oak is a Victorian-era pub which was the first pub in London acquired by Sussex family brewers Harveys, whose beers are generally more common in the capital these days than they were a few years ago. The pub boasts an attractive traditional Victorian interior with bare floorboards and old photos on the walls. The bar features a good selection of Harveys cask ales, with 4 hand pumps in each of the two rooms. We all went for pints of the Sussex Bitter which was ok (NBSS 3), but overall the visit to the Royal Oak was more notable for the quality of the surroundings than that of the beer.

The Royal Oak, Borough Market

We had time for one more pub in London before catching the train to Woking, and we visited another one close to Borough Market. This was yet another street corner pub, the Libertine, which was formerly run by Whitbread but is now a thriving free house where pizza is the main food attraction. There were tables out the front which were fully occupied with customers enjoying a drink in the still-warm evening sun. Harveys Sussex Bitter was also on sale here, but we went instead for Common, a 3.7% pale ale from Wimbledon brewery, who have gone from strength to strength since starting out in 2015, reviving the name of a former brewery in the area which had been destroyed by fire in 1889. The beer, despite having a low gravity, was pretty good, Named after Wimbledon’s historic Common, it was the colour of burnished gold with a bright sparkle. The aroma had spicy orange notes with a light malt fruitiness, whilst the palate was clean with some malt character coming through with orange and citrus finishing off with a refreshing bitterness (NBSS 3.5). A decent pint in a friendly and welcoming pub.

The Libertine, Borough Market.

We then walked from the Libertine until we came to the junction with Union Street, where we turned left to Southwark underground station. Here we caught the tube to Waterloo, from where we caught a fast train to Woking, arriving in the Surrey town just after 8.30. This was my first visit to this town of around 104,000 which is situated some 23 miles south west of central London. Most of the town centre dates from the after the 1860's and has a fairly modern and functional character with few historic buildings. The town has got several interesting claims to fame, though. Woking was the setting for the ground-breaking science fiction novel by H.G.Wells, The War of the Worlds, which was largely based in Woking, and was written when the author was renting a house in the town. He subsequently gained the ultimate accolade of having the town's Wetherspoons named after him. Other famous people with connections to the town include the members of the Jam who met at school. Their single Town Called Malice describes growing up in Woking and lead singer Paul Weller's 1995 solo album Stanley Road is named after the street where he lived. Rick Parfitt from Status Quo was also born in the town. Woking is the headquarters of the McLaren Formula 1 team whose owner Ron Dennis was born here. The team is based in a futuristic building and is one of the biggest employers in the town, with other related businesses also operating in and around Woking. The town is also the headquarters for the World Wildlife Fund. In 1889, the Shah Jahan Mosque was the first one in the country. Woking Crematorium was the country's first when it opened here in 1885. And on a similar note Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is situated in one of the town's suburbs. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. It was established in 1849 to house London's deceased, at a time when the capital was finding it difficult to accommodate its increasing population, both living and dead. The London Necropolis Company bought up acres of land in and around Woking for this purpose, and at one point the cemetery was served by two railway stations. The company eventually sold off some of the land they had bought which enabled Woking to develop and expand.

Our Travelodge was two minutes walk from the station and once we'd checked in and bags had been dropped off we were out again. Back through the underpass below the station and we enjoyed an excellent kebab in a place close to the station that the lads had been to before. Woking's real ale scene is fairly limited, with just two entries in the Good Beer Guide and not much else. We could have gone to the afore-mentioned Spoons but we had already talked about breakfast there, so we went for the other place, the local railway club which was quite well hidden away on SatNav and took a bit of finding, even though it was only a few minutes walk away.

The Woking Railway Athletic Club is tucked away in a dark and quiet yard. We walked straight in, which caused the lady behind the bar some consternation as the door should have been locked. But reassured the three of us weren't idiots - with our combined age of over 200 - she warmed to us and started talking about football, explaining she had once been catering manager at Woking FC - and served us pints of Cosmic Dawn from the Big Smoke Brew Co, who are based in Esher these days after starting out in Surbiton in 2014. The beer was most enjoyable, a 4.1% pale hopped with Simcoe, Mosaic, and Nelson, very refreshing and quaffable (NBSS 3.5). We weren't the only Town fans here either. The lady mentioned they often got away fans here and said that there were some Halifax fans already here. I looked around, and not surprisingly, the usual suspects were sat at at a table to the side of the bar. 

A little bit of Halifax in a club in Woking

We went back for another pint, which was just as good, and continued the flow of football talk, how our journeys had been, the usual stuff. The snooker was showing on several TV screens around the large room. Resisting the urge of another pint, we opted for the sensible option and went back to the hotel. The Woking Railway Athletic Club was most enjoyable and is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

After a typical night's stay with periods of quiet, heavy snoring, and even sleep at some point, we arrived to another sunny day. Breakfast beckoned and so it was back through the underpass and a wander down to the local branch of Spoons. The Herbert Wells was already busy when we walked in, a few Town fans arriving as we did but having driven down that morning. We sat at table 27, breakfast was ordered, which was a notch above the normal Spoons fare, and with the clock moving on towards 11, my brother and I decided to go for a pint. Plum Porter for him (natch), whilst I went for one called Sign of Spring. "Just to let you know it's green coloured, but people seem to like it", said the friendly girl who was serving. It was duly served and yes. it was green, and my mind went back a few years. This was a beer originally brewed in Wiltshire by Bunce's brewery in the 1990's who evolved into Stonehenge Ales. And so I had drunk it several times in the past but not for several years. Brewed as a premium 4.6% bitter with added vegetable colouring, it seemed a little thin for a beer of that strength (NBSS 3). The Herbert Wells though came over as one of the better Spoons with friendly staff  and a convivial atmosphere.

We returned to the Travelodge to check out, leaving our bags for collection after the game, and set off on the 20 minute walk to the Laithwaite Community Stadium, the home of Woking FC. In contrast to the functional look of the town centre, our walk to the ground took us through the attractive and leafy Woking Park. The game was essentially a dead rubber, with neither team still able to make the play offs. But after a fairly pedestrian first half the game came to life in the later stages, and with Town in the ascendancy they contrived a goal in the 90th minute courtesy of a slip up by the Woking goalkeeper. And so the final whistle blew and the game finished Woking 0, FC Halifax Town 1, the season ending on a high. And that was that for another few months. We'd had another really good trip, some better than usual beers in London, and a better than expected time in Woking....

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