Another Pub Closed

It has been a wee while since I explored around Clerkenwell, hence I was rather surprised to find the Coach & Horses pub had closed.  A lovely old place not far from where the Royal Mail sorting centre was until it was sold off to developers.  The area is very quiet now. I guess more glass boxes will go up in the area.  

The Measure of Success

You are visiting London and want me to show you the sites.  I just know you wouldn't be interested in a 150 year old pub with a history and tales to tell.  I just know you would rather this corner was a glass tower with a Starbucks at ground level and loads of offices and apartments above it, that's why you've travelled half way around the world, right?  I know you'd be impressed with how much money the developer has made in the past couple of years right?  Isn't that the measure of success?

The Pub sells Pieminister pies (a successful company based in Bristol that uses locally produced ingredients), they are proud of their selection of real ales, craft beers, lagers, single malts and selection of wines. It's a live music venue with an in-house-label for regulars with their CD's on sale at the bar.  Locals, both the hipster type, and the regular oldies rub shoulders here over their preferred tipple.  (Charles Dickens lodged just up the road as a child).  The owner of the building is a company registered in an off-shore tax haven - isn't that a measure of success?

Locals want to keep their pub just as it is.  They won the battle to prevent the demolition of the pub.  However now the pub has been advised of the new rent increase that takes effect in October, it will mean the pub has to close.  That's OK though as the landlord will get more rent from the new tenant.  Isn't that a measure of success?

Oscar Wilde said "people know the price of everything and the value of nothing".

This Saturday supporters will do a pub crawl around other threatened pubs and end up here at the Gladstone pub.  Why don't you join them.

Craft Beer

The craft beer company began life in 2011 and now have four venues for you to try there enormous range of beers.  Beers on tap, beers in bottles, beers in casks, designer beers, handcrafted beers, beer tastings. 
And lovely comfy chairs.  This picture was taken in their Islington pub.  Cheers.

Protect Your Beer

The beer mugs or beer steins as they were traditionally named, were usually made of stone, pewter, silver and maybe wood. Although most of those used in England were pewter. They were beautifully decorated and often had a lid. It is believed the lid was introduced during the period of the black plague to prevent diseased fleas hopping into your tipple.

Discussing the history of drinking vessels is very thirsty work, however this pub in Covent Garden is the best place to have such a chat.

The Devil Tavern

Could there possibly be any link between the actions and behaviours that we now know emanated unchecked from the News of the world, and the nature of the first building at No.1 Fleet street?.  The street that is famous as once being the London centre of the newspaper empires and media barons.

Small Pub - Big Choice

It may be a tiny pub but it punches way above it weight in both selection of beers and interesting surroundings. This was one of the two lodges that sat either side of the grand arch that lead into Euston railway station. The grand arch was demolished during the redevelopment in the 1960's causing a huge public outcry at the time. Much of the original arch has been recovered from where it was dumped and there is a rumour it will be rebuilt as part of the next redevelopment of the station to accommodate the new fast rail.
In the meantime enjoy a boutique beer at this quaint drinking establishment.

English Pub

An English pub is more than somewhere to just have a beer. For many people it is an extension of their home. To own a small pub of one's own is a dream for some and many pubs were once part of a handful of places owned by small breweries. Sadly, over time the small establishments have been taken over by the large chains, complete with their gambling machines and garish neon lights.

But enter through the doors of the Princess Louise and you will quickly learn how special these little establishments can be. This one is part of a group established in 1758. Chris and Scott told me how Samuel Smith Brewery make their own beer from the original well in Yorkshire. They assured me that it is easy to recognise a Samuel Smith pub because they are all as beautiful as this one. Cheers to that I say.

Ten to Eleven

Was this the same mouse that was seen scurrying between number 10 and 11 Downing St?

Real Ale Trail

What better way to spend a cold rainy day than to follow the Real Ale Trail. The DLR (Docklands Light Rail) and the Good Pub Guide have teamed up to put together a couple of trails in London's East End . Classic old English Pubs and Real Ale.
Yesterday I checked out a couple of pubs on the trail. It'll take me a few days to fit them all in!
Check out the promotion as you could be in with a chance to win a brewery tour and a meal at the old Brewery.

Closed

In days gone by when Queens were no longer considered an asset, or their husbands had fallen from grace, they had their head chopped off. The lucky ones didn't actually lose their head, but instead they were sent in to exile. Mind you, if you were going to be sent to Telford in Shropshire for the rest of your days (the most boring place on earth according to a recent survey) then beheading might have almost looked like an attractive option.

In modern day Pub terms I guess that being closed down is the equivalent of losing your head. And so it is with this poor Queen. She, and 66 of her fellow local pubs close every week in the UK according to the papers. I found some stats showing that in 1980 there were 69,000 pubs. By 2009 this had dropped to 53,466. In the same time frame the percentage of independently owned (or "Free Houses") ie not owned by the breweries, dropped from 84% to 47% . So what do you think this is telling us??