Good mourning

Pub 44. The Prince of Wales, 28th March 2012.

A mate of mine died the other week. Not a really close mate or someone I knew incredibly well, but still a mate. I hadn't seen him for a while, but it's still a shock. We're used to old folks dying, and that's upsetting enough. We even expect to bury our parents one day. It's how things happen. But when a young man dies, a young talented man with a new-born baby, well it's just not right.

The wake was in the Prince of Wales in Highgate - he was a local lad. I sampled much of Red Stag Bitter, which was a good proper tasty bitter. Given the occasion I didn't let the pompous burk at the bar annoy me who was holding court and ranting about mobile phones, the Duckworth-Lewis method and accusing someone of taking his pint when his was behind him. Well, annoy me too much anyways. Nor did I get annoying by the mouth-watering but all-invasive aromatic pong of the Thai food.

The Prince of Wales is a lovely pub. And we have him a lovely send off. Lots of lovely people, and lots of lovely love for Nick. We gave him a good send off, but it's never really why you want to be in a pub. RIP mate.

If you're curious about the talent I mentioned, check Nick out here, singing and playing guitar with his band the Dirty Feel. I don't want to sound wishy-washy romantic or melodramatic, but he'll live on.

Lock out

Pub 43. The Lock Tavern, 25th March 2012.

Another one nicked off Streetview. Thanks Google Corp!

You're young, trendy and hip, so therefore want be seen in dark, shabby-chic, noisy pubs staffed by wannebe models. I'm not young, trendy or hop and therefore don't want to be seen in somewhere both loud and gloomy. Or rather, not so much not wanting to be seen here - just not wanting to go.

The Lock Tavern is not really near Hampstead Road Lock, (or Camden Lock at the marketeers are trying - and succeding - in re-christening it), they should have kept it as the Railway Tavern in honour of the Borough's first passenger rail terminus just across the road.
But when I got a call on the Bat-phone that two of my lovely young Italian pals were there, who aren't quite so grumpy about such places, off I went to meet them. A pint of Southwold bitter was perfectly drinkable. But I've never liked the place - to me it just always seems dirty, noisy and crowded - crowded with posers who think they're too cool even for the Hawley Arms. And while not doubting their cellar-skills for a moment I've definitely had some very odd pints in here - without even a second glance given to a pint served looking like lumpy-latte. As for trying to get into the beer garden or roof-terrace in the summer. Don't bother!I remember the days a few years back when they hadn't rammed it so full of benches that the only other company in the back was dog-dirt.

So I drank my pint, caught up with my pals, and then we went out seperate way, leaving loads of people loving the place and having fun. Those young 'uns!

Washington De.Cent.

Pub 42. The Washington, 24rd March 2012.

I remember when I was nipper being quite amused by a little cartoon of a chap nailing a sign to the his guest-house saying "George Washington slept here!", and turning to his dog and saying "What do you think of that, George?!". I think I liked it because I got it, not that it was actually very funny. But to the pub. I don't get why this place is called The Washington, perhaps the internet knows? But it it is quite likeable, although it was getting late so my recollections maybe hazey.

Decent beers available - I'm pretty sure I had one of each, and they all went down fine. I can't remember how much any of the cost, but given the locale I don't they would've been cheap. So just as well I can't remember...

The Washington is a big, grand old pub. A bit tarted up but unspoiled. What I guess is the original interior, or at least pretty old, is lovely but sadly seemed on the whole unappreciated by most of the clientele. But there again it was a Saturday night so I guess these young uns have better things on their minds.
It was busy but not rammed or unpleasant.  A very nice pub, it could so easily have been gastroey and terrible, but perhaps people are finding out that there's money to made be in running a good boozer, and what I guess is good food. No need to go all fancy schmancy if you're in it for the long haul! A decent pub. All very decent indeed. Do call again!

Quiet Queens?

Pub 41. The Queens, 24th March 2012.

Thanks Streetview!

 The trouble with going to the park on a sunny day in March is that as soon as the sun goes down it gets rather chilly. So having gone to the park about 20 minutes before the sun went down we found ourselves in the pub. We weren't the only ones. And not being the only ones in Primrose Hill can be a bit of a drag.

The beer was fine, the full range of Youngs this and that. I had a pint of ordinary bitter and a pint of Special. The food was nice, my friend has a burger and chips and she scoffed the lot. We watched the football. The service was fine. Had some pleasant chat with the people sat nearby.
But this pub is tiny - it looks quite big on the outside but it isn't. The first time you go in you may well find yourself looking around for the rest of the pub, but it's not there. This is it. And it was rammed, which isn't a problem, but it only takes a couple of hooray-henrys to start to get annoying.

We didn't hang around for too long. The Queens would be nice if it was quiet, but because it's near the park and the only pub on a busy boutique and coffee-shop street, it's probably rarely quiet. And the people round here aren't the quiet type, so when it's not quiet it is definitely not quiet.

Man of Mamalia?

Pub 40. The Mamelon Tower, 23rd March 2012.

This has been closed for a little while now, but I when last went in it was ok. It looked scary, with scary people but as it happens it was fine. Much like Queen's Crescent really. Pleasant enough, one chap even struck one of those half conversations about nothing you get in pubs, pubs where despite not being a local they don't mind your face being in there. No ale though as I recall.

I was also never quite sure what it was called, as it seems to have two names - I'm sure it was the Man of Aran when I went in. Google tells me that 'mamelon' is French for nipple. Hmmmm. 

But it's all over now. Start saving if you want a luxury flat or cross everything and start praying if you want a pub back.

Self assembly

The Assembly House, 23rd March 2012.

The Assembly House is like a few of the other boozers along Kentish Town Road and up to Highgate, namely very old. The lovely follying Victorian building isn't, but you've been able to booze on this site since, well Dick Whittington may have quenched his returning thirst on this site... possibly. I should really do at least a little bit of research. Nah! 

Big, loud, brash contrived and show-offy but tasteful at the same time on the outside, it's much the same on the inside. And it is very loud on the inside. I always feel a bit exposed and agoraphobic inside. Big pubs like this get me a bit disorientated. But I managed to find my way to the bar.

A pleasing choice, I went for 1/2 a Lees for a taste of Macunia, for £1.70. This choice seemed to confuse or confuse the barmaid as she pulled a funny face, as if Lees was causing her some awful rigmarole and she was thinking "Oh no... not another Lees!". Or maybe I glanced at her for at the wrong millisecond.

The interior is very smart, very trendy, very fancy. And therefore will look awful, tatty and dated in 10 years time. Lots of bare wood - fancy people like bare wood. Fake flock wallpaper, which I assume only fancy-schmancy people would like. I like the big old mirrors and the lovely ceiling. With ceilings like this, I think they look amazing when they've painted the embossed bits (I'm sure there's a proper word for them... but hey - research!?) a different colour. A bit of faff, but the results are amazing.

That's pretty much all I like really. Except the trains carry commuters back off to the home counties rumbling underneath. I like it when trains rattle buildings, it's quite reassuring in an odd way.

The Assembly House is very nice to look at, but not quite so nice to be in. But as it is very, very nice to look at, take that how you like it.

By George!

Pub 38. The George IV, 23rd March 2012.

My grasp of history is not the best I admit, but George IV was not a hugely popular king was he? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do wonder why he is such a popular chap when it comes to naming pubs. I'd hazard a guess that after Victoria, GR IV is the most common monarch specified to by pub nomenclature. As if King's Cross wasn't enough of a naming shame!

This George IV is tucked 'round the back' of Kentish Town, between a college and a school, and although it's a busy little area with a flats, shops, cafes and even industry (!) you could spend years in the borough and never encounter the place. Which would be a shame, as in the summer it literally really is a blooming marvel. The flowers and foliage are so lush, gay & bright they almost look fake - but they're not. It's a toss-up between here and the Exmouth Arms as to whose pub sports the most growth. 

Inside the George IV is rather lovely too. Carpets, flock wallpaper, velvet upholestry - all things a nice proper should have. Lots of art on the wall, both anciet and modern. But the nicest touch were the little modest, tasteful lamps on the tables. Why don't more pubs have these instead of those awful stupid little candles? Because idiots think stupid little candles are posh, sophisicated and fancy. Agh! Yesterday's necessecities are today's luxuries etc. mentality. Anyways, no such posturing or pandering to fanciness here results in a really nice pub. You could happily spend all day in here. Except there was no ale. There were two pumps on the back bar, but they weren't doing much. So I had to settle for a glass of John Smith's Smooth-o-keg for £1.85. Hardly a session beer!

The George IV gets a thumbs up from me, and it would get two thumbs up too if those two hand-pumps were brought out of retirement. Some Flowers inside too would be great!

Pass the parcel?

Pub 37, The Parcel Yard, 19th March 2012.

A new station, and a pub or so they might say. But station pubs can get the alarm bells ringing. They can be awful like the Britannia at Euston or gastro-ey like the Betjeman's at St Pancras. Word on the rails had it that The Parcel Yard is the biggest station pub in Britain. Eek. A cavernous, cacophonous, warehouse-like pub, stuck unimaginatively in the corner of an old engine shed? It wouldn't really matter - station pubs are just somewhere to sit while waiting for your train, right? Let's see.

Entering via a modern version of a grand staircase - or a lift (disabled people need beer too!) what greets you looks rather nice. Ignore what looks like a matre d's lecturn by the door and carry on walking. And walk... and walk... and walk... past rooms and windows and rooms and more windows, or so it seems, and you get to the bar. This is a good thing. I like a bar buried away at the back of a pub. And I like lots of rooms. This pub immediately feels very nice, and doesn't smell new... well, it does, but a kind of 'oldy-new'. I guess because of all the reclaimed timber they've used?

A good selection of well know Fullers names. I settled for half a Chiswick bitter, 3.6% at £1.78. And went to explore! For this a pub for exploring. There's probably at least 6 seperate areas, and despite some (quiet) piped music it was very quiet. There were a few people in, but you get the feeling that even when very busy this place would still be tolerable. Amazing what a few interior walls - ie. rooms! can do. Why didn't they think of this before... oh, they did. 

There's an also an upstairs bit too, that you might miss as the stairs are just to the right of the entrance. There's a whole new world up there! Well, more seating. It looks like upstairs is more for eating. And for looking down into the 'atrium'. There's a weird indoor-outdoor bit, where it looks like you might be able to smoke but you can't. A sign proclaims that there's a 65 person capacity for this bit. No other areas have their capacities announced - I wonder why this bit is different.

There's not much to be seen of the outside world, which is fine. Especially as the whole place is pretty light and airy anyways. What windows there are either look out over the train sheds upstairs, or into the train sheds downstairs. Both fine views! Especially the latter when they've finished doing whatever work they're doing. Too bad the old bridge is gone. 

It might actually be handy to peer inside the station if you're waiting for a train, as there's only one departures board in here. Something to watch if awaiting a departure, but the rest of the pub is free from distractions. Or they trust you to be able to use a watch.

For a brand new pub, they've done a really good job here. It even has lovely toilets - not many pubs have Crappers in the crapper. It just all feels nice. It feels welcoming and enveloping. And I think it owes a lot to the Victorian grade I listed building that it sits in. A Fullers brew a good pint. Well worth a visit. Even if you're not leaving the smoke, don't pass the Parcel Yard.

Vine fare

Pub no.36. The Vine, 14th March 2012.

The Vine. This may be one of the oldest pubs in the Borough. There's been a pub here for hundreds of  years, when it was all fields round here. Not this building of course, it's late Victorian, but a pub of this name has been on this site for yonks. Which accounts for its odd position set back off the road slightly.

 

And that is the only interesting thing about the pub. Everything else is a bit dull really. I met an old pal, drank some lovely beer - Dark Star Partridge 4% - and had a lovely time. Everyone was cheery and very friendly, the bar staff, other customers, my pal's pals. Even the fancy gastro food was nice. They do take-aways here incidentally - who would order a take-away from a pub?? Takes allsorts I suppose. There was a terrible quiz going on, but I felt a bit sorry for the quiz-master and his distorting PA as I'm sure only two teams were doing it. At least three others who'd paid to enter were just ingoring him. And rightly so - I can't stand pub quizzes. Do Bamboozle if you want a quiz!

So a good time was had by all, but the problem is that this pub is big, empty, cold and has no atmosphere. Often the curse of  pubs that have recently been done up. Pubs rarely benefit from being 'done up'. Am I wrong? Anyways, two nice things caught my eye - all the old photos of Camden upstairs (not uncommon in pubs these days, but I'd not seen these particular ones before) and the mosaic doorstep. And the's the Vine.

The Grand Un-doing

Pub 35. The Grand Union (Kentish Town). 7th March 2012.

Another pub has closed since the blog-quest began before I got the chance to visit. But I had been here once before, and was in no rush to go back. I rarely like to see pub close, but can't say I'm hugely bothered about this one. It's not a pub building, and it wasn't a nice pub really. All lager and loudness. The best thing about it is the 'Sommers Town' cannon bollard outside, which is still there - and I bet was never appreciated by the clientele as they stubbed out their Marlboro lights in it. 'Nuff said.

Wether you like it or not

Put 34. The Sir John Oldcastle, 7th March 2012.

I always think I'm going to hate it when I go in a Wetherspoons, but they're not really all that bad, are they? Cheap - 1/2 a Bateman's Hooker 4.5% for £1.38, and cheerful - no music. I'm sure you know what a Wetherspoons is like, so I don't need to waffle on for too long. This one is named after the Lollardy chap Shakey's Falstaff was based on, and who also gave his name to a tavern of old that was nearby. Long since gone, but I wonder where it was...

The good thing is with a Wetherspoons is that are so cheap, but my problem is that they also feel cheap. But they're good for ale and good for the pocket, so I mustn't grumble. I do appreciate the local nod they give to each one. So there you go, always popular so good for them and good luck to them.

The Fleet's beneath.