This is part 5 of a series.
Eight pubs--count them. We didn't even do all the ones available in this very small area of about two city blocks. We skipped The Olde Cheshire Cheese as it was too busy at lunch hour and we had been there years before. And the final pub on our list was way overcrowded after 5 pm, so we gave it a miss, too.We began early, arriving about 11 am in the area and settling in to the first pub. It was one of the finest of the bunch. We began our adventure outside Temple tube station, using an older pub crawl book that divides London into 15 pub walks. We walked #4, Fleet Street: Between City and Palace.
Our first pub was The Cheshire Cheese, 4 Little Essex Street. This is a quiet backstreet pub, away from the madness of Fleet Street. It is intimate, filled with dark wood and it offered an amazing selection of vegan food options. It opened at 11 am and we were there by 11:05. We were the only customers and it was like having our own private pub. It is a Shepherd Neame pub, thus I wasn't too interested in the ales. We split a half of Whitstable Bay Pale Ale, not very memorable. But we both loved the pub and we lingered here until around 11:30.
The Devereux at 20 Devereux Court is another fine pub, this one with a very long history. In the 1600s there was a coffee house here. By 1700 London had 480 of them! Men found they could work here all day and not be tempted by alcohol. Plus they likely stayed awake. The coffee house here was called The Grecian and was a favourite of Sir Isaac Newton. It was pulled down in the 1800s when coffee houses went out of fashion, and a pub was installed in the ground floor of the building. We split a half of London Pride here. So after two pubs we had only drank a half pint each. We could easily make it through this day.
Our third pub was The Edgar Wallace. All three pubs are within seconds of one another, so we hadn't actually "walked" very much on this pub walk so far. The pub proved to be a disappointment. Instead of Wallace material on the walls they had plastered them with cheap ads from old magazines. The ceiling was covered in pump clips of ales this place had never served. It didn't work. The pub is old and soaked in dark wood, and the brightly colourful and very distracting ads detracted from the atmosphere. They did have a lot of Wallace paperback novels on a shelf and it was fun to look through them. The upstairs room is where the Wallace society used to hold their meetings; whether or not they still do is beyond my ken. More Wallace books can be found upstairs. The pub was renamed in 1975 from The Essex Head, marking the centenary of Wallace's birth. Samuel Johnson once lived here, and this is where he formed Sam's Club, a group of men that would meet for ale and discussion. The pub featured the most expensive pint of ale that we had in London, at L8 (over $15 Can.) We shared a half of St. Austell Tribute, which wasn't kept very well.
We were ready to move on, and we met our London best friend Caroline outside the pub. Near where The Strand meets Fleet St. the Twinings tea store can be found. We spent some time browsing and tasting in this long but very narrow store and I came away with a box of different teas for my mother and a box for myself. Almost next door is The George, a beautiful pub that offered some serious ale choices. At last we had hit a pub that took its ale selection seriously! We spent considerable time here chatting and getting caught up on each other's news. Deb and I shared halves of Southark Brewery's Regal Red and Portobello Brewery's Crown Jewels Porter. We ordered some snacks as well, as the menu was very vegan friendly.
The law courts dominate the area, and as we walked towards our next pub we took in some of the architecture. Bewigged lawyers were sauntering from the court to other places (pubs?). It was lunch hour and the streets and pubs were busy.
We had visited The Seven Stars many many years ago, on one of our first trips to London. At the time it was London's smallest pub. Though it has expanded by about 25%, it's still one of the smallest pubs we have ever visited. Most drinkers stand outside with their pints, but we found a tiny table with three chairs scrunched into the "new" wing of the pub, once an old wig shop. Deb and I split a half of Adnams, which was quite perfect.
Next came a newer pub, one not listed in our walking guide. I had spotted this one on a search of the area on Google Maps before leaving home, checking on updated hours for our pubs today. So we added The Old Bank of England, at the corner of Bell Yard and Fleet St. It is a repurposed bank, and I couldn't think of a better use for one. The interior is splendid. Deb and I shared a half of McMullen Ale called Old Bank of England, made especially for the pub by the brewery. It was much appreciated, and we had some more nibbles here, too. We might have had coffee here, too; my mind is a bit muddled on some features of this fine day.
Next came the Old Cock Tavern, where we lucked into some fine ciders. We had run across Lilley's Cider at a few places, and it was time to imbibe. We had their Apple/Perry, a favourite combo of mine, and it was fantastic! Then came Elderflower Cider--we had hit the cider jackpot! This became a very memorable stop.
Our final stop was The Old Bell. We had planned one more pub afterwards, the Punch Tavern, but by the time we arrived it was so crowded that it was nearly impossible to pass by on the sidewalk, never mind get into the pub, get up to the bar and order drinks. I have a sneaking suspicion that due to the type of (over) crowd on site that this was a pub heavily recommended by influencers, those people who seem to know everything about everywhere and love to tell everyone about it. If standing outside with a hundred other people is you idea of a great time at a classic pub, then enjoy your visit. The Old Bell was busy but sane and we had no trouble finding a table. They had two favourites on handpull: Dark Star Brewery's Hophead, and Rosie's Original Cloudy cider. Double yum!
In bed later that night I came down with a scratchy throat. At first I thought it was from all the ciders, but it soon became apparent that I was coming down with a virus. It turned into a five day cold, nothing too serious but it did curtail activities for a few days, especially the walking and even the drinking. Deb managed to avoid getting sick. I had built in several rest and recoup days into the schedule. I had expected some rain to cancel a few outings, but it never rained in the two weeks we were there. The next day, a Friday, would feature more hiking, likely propelling the cold virus forward. But that is the story of the next blog entry. See you there.
to be continued...
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