London Trip #17: Pt. 3 Pub Crawl

It was Saturday and I had planned a fun day in inner London.  It was supposed to be a more relaxing day without as much walking.  However, thanks to a geographical error on my part (we aimed and arrived on foot at the wrong station.  We should have aimed for Hyde Park Station, but we ended up one stop east at Green Park).  So we walked a lot further than planned.  By the time we got to our first stop, Apsley House Museum, we were pretty bushed.  The pub crawl was supposed to be later, but we started early.  Our walk was in the rain, a light rain.  It took us past Buckingham Palace, where only madmen and women would voluntarily go on a Saturday during a long weekend.  We bustled our way through crowds, eventually surviving and gasping for air in Green Park.  We stood under a large tree in the rain for a time, enjoying the smells of wet grass and leaves, and watching groups of people hurry past, heading for the palace.

 

We chose a pub close to Apsley House, and eagerly entered The Grenadier, one of London's oldest standbys.  We had left our home station, East Croydon, 90 minutes earlier, and we were thirsty.  The pub has its own ale, called Grenadier Ale.  It was beautifully kept (cellar temp of 50 F) and was quite delicious.  We also shared a juice before heading towards Apsley House. 

 

We were glad to see the back of the palace, and we turned and headed into Green Park.  Because of my error we had circled the palace, with the front of it packed with tour buses and people who think the royals are important to their lives.

 

Green Park, heading for Hyde Park Station area, the long way.

 

 Even with a good map and directions, The Grenadier is not an easy pub to stumble across.  It seems to sit within its own dimension.

 

A small, sane and secret corner of heaven in London.  Our first pub of today's crawl.

 

Apsley House was the home of the Duke of Wellington.  It's address is Number One London.  How about that?  Designed by Robert Adams in the 1770s, the Duke purchased it in 1817.  It houses a collection of china and silverware together with paintings.  The staircase has a 12' statue of Napoleon, naked.  For us the highlight was the paintings, with Spanish masters prevalent.  We last visited this place in 1991, on our very first visit to London.  We still had fond memories of that visit, so it was high time we returned.

 

The entrance to Apsley House.  A large demonstration was going on in Hyde Park behind us, and the police were swarming the area.  All was quiet within.

 

Staircase in Apsley House, with Napoleon statue.

  

Table center piece for the Egyptian dishes setting.

 

Each dish, this being one of several dozen, was individually decorated with different images.

 

Yellow Drawing Room.  Internet photo.  

https://tmlighting.com/projects/apsley-house-london/
 

 The main gallery. Internet photo.  

https://www.thegeographicalcure.com/post/guide-to-apsley-house

 

Brouwer is one of our favourite Flemish artists.

 

Another favourite Flemish artist.

 

More Brueghel, son of Bruegel the Elder.

 

A beautiful early Flemish Annunciation. 

 

Titian shows the correct way of depicting the shower of gold; not as coins but as golden rain showering down upon Danae.  Internet photo.

The masterpiece of the collection is The Water Seller of Seville, by Velasquez.  This is his finest painting outside of the Prado. Internet photo.

 

Not far from the museum was a little corner of London we had never explored.  Shepherd's Market is a small warren of narrow streets with shops and restaurants.  It was still raining a bit, so we didn't spend a lot of time here.  However, an unplanned stop at the Market Pub brought us great joy and happiness.  We had a half of Harvey's Best Bitter (brewed in Lewes) and some remarkably good Rhubarb Cloudy Cider from Rosie's.  We also ordered and split an order of mushrooms on toast, which turned into one of the best meals we had on our trip!  Vegan food is plentiful at most puts.  We only went to an all-vegan restaurant once in two weeks.

 

Now the official pub crawl resumed.  I use London By Pub: Pub Walks Around Historic London by Ted Bruning.  Last time we did a walk in the Strand with Caroline.  This time we were just two and we chose the chapter called "Belgravia: Masters and Servants."  We had been to a few of the pubs many years ago, but the revisits were welcome.  Many of them used to be divided into smaller rooms.  Grooms and servants would use one part of the pub while the upper class (men) would use the fancier part.  Today most pubs dispense with such class divisions, but still retain their historical integrity.  In addition to the two pubs visited earlier today we managed to visit four more.  Not bad for a day's work.

 

The pub is infamous for being the safe haven of a woman, Lady Lucan, whose husband had just murdered the nanny to death and was trying to kill her.  He escaped and was never seen again.  This occurred Nov. 7th 1974.   We kept our eyes and ears open.  We had two brews from Greene King, their standby IPA, usually quite bland unless, like today, perfectly kept and fresh, and London Glory, which was even better.

 

Most of the pubs were very crowded inside due to the rain, as the gardens went unused.  A few were too crowded to enter, so were skipped some. This is the interior of The Antelope, where we shared a glass of Vocation Brewery's Bread and Butter Modern Ale.

 

Exterior of The Antelope, on a rainy Saturday.  The area surrounding the pub also has a dark history, in the age of ruthless brigands who preyed on travellers as they attempted to cross nearby "Bloody Bridge." 

 

This is a Fullers Pub, and as you can see from the sunshine this is an internet photo.  We were beginning to lose our wits around this time.  We had Fullers ESB in tip top condition.

  

Last but not least comes this tiny oasis for drinkers looking for someplace a little different.

Kevin no longer seems to run the place.  The Asian bartender barely spoke English and did not know what cask ale was.  Sigh.  The interior remains majorly quirky.  We had Adnams Southwold Bitter, a very fine ale in reasonable condition.  If you know anything about Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar, this is where Faffrd and the Gray Mouser would most likely be found if in London. The pub is straight out of their home city (Lankhmar).

 

We  walked to Victoria Station, taking a train directly home.  We were back in the room by 8 pm, with supper from a Japanese place at the nearby Boxpark in a take away container.

 

Sunday was to be a local day, visiting our favourite pubs and cafe in Croydon.  There was still a fair amount of walking, and no less than four pubs.  But we mixed in some outdoor culture.  Croydon is this year's London Borough of Culture, and they are having events all year.  For four days this weekend they were featuring something called Unexpected Croydon, with seven colourful inflatable sculptures spread around the town center.  By Monday we had found all of them, most of them high atop buildings.  Near our hotel was a giant fly high on a building wall.  In the mall across the street was a large paint can and brush.  Here are photos of some of them, including one atop our favourite London pub!

 

Sunflowers at the entrance to Croydon offices.  We stopped here on a quiet street so I could call my mom back in Sudbury (Deb's Lyca card gave us 100 minutes worldwide).  We were nearly run over by a firetruck.  With lights and siren drowning out my call, the vehicle climbed onto the sidewalk right in front of us and we had to dash.  There was no fire, but perhaps a poker game, as four men emerged from the truck and entered a building, never to be seen by us again.

 

This was our favourite, atop the balcony at Festival Hall.  The tentacles were moving in the wind. 

 

Clock tower in central Croydon. No balloons here.  Move along.

 

Two views of a sea anemone atop The Green Dragon, our favourite pub.  This one moved a lot, too.

 

East Croydon Station might be the best station in England, with connections to almost anywhere.  On the left is the signature station entrance, with the signature round building across the street.  This is a twice daily (at least) sight for us.

 

   A favourite local pub for us, it's about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.  Sunday from 1 -3 was

a jazz trio, so we got a free concert with our ales.  We had a perfect glass of St. Austell Tribute and a glass of Southwark Brewery's Routemaster Red.

 

 

On our way to our next pub we stopped at Urban Coffee, a really fine cafe and enjoyed our afternoon fix.  There were expensive coffee table books about coffee and growing areas which we browsed as we sipped. 

 

Next came The George, a Wetherspoon pub and the closest one to our hotel (about 5 minutes walk).  With about 15 handpulls there is always something interesting to try.  They also offer a ton of vegan food options.  We always visit here, usually several times on a journey.  Today they had an Oakham Brewery (we visited there a few trips ago, in Peterborough) Omarta.  I wasn't too crazy about this ale, though I usually adore Oakham offerings.

  

Next it was finally onward to the Green Dragon!  I could spend a whole week here.  They have 8 hand pulls, all from small breweries, about a dozen drafts and usually 4 or more ciders.  It's big and roomy inside, though they do show 'the football' on a big screen above the bar.  We had the blueberry porter, shown above, as well as a pear cider from Pulp. 

 

Lastly came Arts and Craft taphouse, with offerings similar to the Green Dragon, just a few yards away.  No food, though they do have several Banksy works on their walls.  Even better, there is one in situ just across the road!

 

This abandoned tower across from the taproom has a Banksy up there.

 

Closeup of the Banksy in Croydon. 

 

The entrance to Arts and Craft Taproom is just to the right.  This is the view of the alley.  Like something from Bladerunner.

 

This is one of several works by Banksy on display in the Arts and Craft Taproom.  We enjoyed a glass of Nitro Stout from Ansbach and Hobday.   Afterwards it was back for an early night, with more takeout noodles.  We have a choice of about 6 great restaurants within minutes of the hotel.

 

Telephoto view from our room, #911, showing Crystal Palace hill and towers.  The train station is just to the right of the foreground building.  From our lobby to the platform is about four minutes walk. 

 

The journey continues in Part 4.  Check back soon.

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 

London Trip #17: Part 2 The Capital Ring Segment 12

 This is part 2 of a series.

Highgate to Stoke Newington is a terrific walk.  Much of its 4 1/2 miles is along an abandoned rail track.  It was busy today with dog walkers and joggers, along with babies pushed in strollers.  Along the way are numerous opportunities for cafe and pub stops, something that always makes us happy.  The Ring is a 75 mile trail that circles London's Zone 3 and we are nearing its finish.  Here are some photos of today's walk.

 

A helpful sign leading us from left to right.  We took a break at Finsbury Park, continuing on via streets and other parks. 

 

This tree is now dedicated to babies who never quite managed to survive birth, or died shortly thereafter.  It is a sobering memorial and was quite unexpected.

 

Another view of the baby tree.

 

View of the trail and one of many bridges.  Just ahead can be seen an old passenger platform, once the stop named Crouch End Hill.  Just up to the left, beyond the underpass, are stairs that once led from the station to the road above.  Those stairs now lead to a cafe, where we had our first stop.

 

An enticing little cafe lies seductively close to the walking path.  It had taken us over an hour of trains to get to the start of our walk today, so we were ready to sit for a short time and sip.

 

Overview of abandoned rail station.  The sign below directs walkers to the cafe, above.

 

Historic photo of the actual station.  My photo, above, would have been taken from the station building overlooking the tracks.  Note the arches on right, which are still in place.

 

Inside one of the old arches this weirdo looks down on walkers, many of them oblivious to his stare.  This view is nearly straight up.

 

A view of central London from Zone 3.
 

The Robin.

 

Before too long it was time to stop once again, this time at a pub close to the path.  Alas, upon arriving at Nicholas Nickleby pub we discovered it would not open until 4 pm.  Hmm, I thought this was just a Detroit problem.  Not to worry, because just a bit further in the opposite direction was The Robin.  Formerly known as Brave Sir Robin, they were about to be sued so they changed it to the present name.  This turned into a real gem of a pub, with a connection to a pub we would stop at a bit further on.  Close to Crouch Hill station, this one is worth a visit for ale lovers.  We had two half pints here, Lamanva Best Bitter on hand pull and Black Gates Nitro Stout on draft (referred to in England as cask ale and keg ale, respectively).  The bitter was quite fantastic, though served too warm.  The stout was also pretty fine.

 

With the first pub now conquered, we could relax and die happy, if need be.  We returned to the path and continued on, soon arriving at Finsbury Park.  We could have stopped again at a cafe (most London parks have cafes), but pressed on.  We made a wrong turn leaving the small lake, exploring a bit more of the large park than planned.  By the time we found our way out at the correct gate, pangs of hunger were driving us to extreme seek and find mode.  The park itself was our first experience with the great drought of 2026 in England.  It is very bad, and though it rained twice on our visit, it did nothing to alleviate the problem.

 

The recreational lake in Finsbury Park. There was a unicorn paddleboat we could have rented.  Next time for sure.

 

The great English drought was in full evidence on our trip.  This is Finsbury Park at its summery bleakest.

 

We found a store that carried an amazing variety of ready to eat vegan products, and soon had a bag full of food.  We sat on a raised cement planter box, devouring food as if we hadn't eaten in hours, which was true.  We had burned a few calories getting to our hotel yesterday, and through two major airports.  With our stomachs in much happier moods we continued with part 2 of the hike.  This took us through a vast development project.  London is going completely mad about high rise living, with literally dozens of enormous blocks going up.  These are characterless areas that one flees from as quickly as possible.  We fled as quickly as possible.  We eventually arrived at another large park, stopping for coffee this time at its lovely cafe.  It was coffee time, our fist since Wednesday, and it was badly needed.

 

The first leg of our walk was from Highgate Station to Manor House Station, along a disused rail line.
 

 

A woman sits and works outdoors at Clissold Park Cafe.  We stopped for coffee and a restroom break.

 

A memorial fountain at Clissold Park Cafe, once the mansion house.  Three daughters of Wilson Yeates, aged 1, 3, and 4 all died.  The surviving sister set up the fountain.  

Two sad memorials in one hike.

 

The walk leaves the park via a churchyard and its cemetery.  This is St. Mary's, with a truly magnificent spire.  Just across the street is the smaller Ancient Mother church, which was open so we paid a brief visit.  Just up the road from the two churches and directly on our route was another great pub.  The Mary Wollstonecraft was the sister pub to Sir Robin, both owned by the same man.  Like its sister, this one is devoted to great beer and terrific atmosphere, and pays tribute not only to Mary (mother to Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein) but to all women dedicated to fighting for women's rights.  A wall of specially made tiles pays tribute to about a hundred women, including our very own Margaret Atwood.

 

The 220' spire of St. Mary's as seen from near the exit to Clissold Park.

 

Part of the churchyard cemetery.  Picture that door as your main entrance to your house.

 

The smaller Ancient Mother Church was open, so we stepped indoors.

Inside Ancient Mother church.

 

Ancient Mother Church.

 

Ancient Mother Church.  Note the intensely scientific lower half of this great window.

 

Ancient Mother Church. 

 

With our religious fervor quenched, it was time for pub #2!  The Mary Wollstonecraft is one of those pubs that you truly wished was near one's home.  We spent a long time here, enjoying three half pints.  Orbital Abyss Breakfast Stout was a real treat!  We also shared Dark Island Ale from Orkney Brewery, and finished up with a Lilley's cider, their unbeatable apple pear.  This was a very memorable stop on our walk today.

 

After leaving the pub we soon passed a violin shop. 

 

The final site on our walk today was a vast cemetery. As described in the Capital Ring guide book, "Abney Park Cemetery is a cheerfully eerie place, whose 300,000 graves [!] are framed by foliage amid an air of controlled abandonment."  Who could resist a stroll through here?  We missed out on the park cafe by just minutes, as it closed at 4 pm.  Do you know many cemeteries with a cafe and public toilets?  It was a most memorable visit, on a par with our visit to Highgate Cemetery many years ago.

 

 

A headless angel.

  

Emma. 

 

 Pussy cat.

 

Family tree.

 

Graves askew.

 

 Main street. 

 

The second part of this Ring segment went from Manor House Station to Stoke Newington Station. 

 

The hike finished up at Stoke Newington Station, on a London Overground route.  Getting home from here wasn't easy, so we headed north (away from home) two stops to Seven Sisters Station, with a connection to the Victoria Line Underground.  Now we had a direct line home, via Victoria Station.  However, much to our delight, Deb discovered True Craft on her phone, not very far from the station.  Away we went!  It was a pizza and craft beer bar.  We enjoyed olives (an enormous bowl of them) and pizza bread, as well as a glass of nitro stout from Anspach and Hobday.  It was a perfect ending to our day, on one of my favourite segments of the Ring so far.  While the walk itself could likely be done in two hours or less, the many stops we made along the way stretched out our time to about 7 1/2 hours.  My kind of day hike.

 

We ended up taking the Victoria Line as far as Finsbury Park, only one stop, then changing to a direct train connection right to East Croydon via London Bridge.  Our first full day in London had been a total blast!

 

Mapman Mike