21/09/26 - Drink like a Bohemian Fitzrovian

The London they knew is gone, long gone

A pub crawl inspired by a rather wonderful book (available for free on the Internet Archive) about a pub that named an area. The Fitzroy Tavern.

It documents the glory days of London's drinking dens - from the 1920s to 1940s - when the artists, poets, bohemians, knighted lords and politicians had to earn their booze. Most of the action takes place in the Fitzroy Tavern but a pub crawl is detailed. Lengthy, it dips into Soho to make the most of an extra 30 minutes of drinking time but incredibly, all the pubs still exist. 

It had to be done - but with rules. Half pints only. Not because I am going to the French House. Not because I am counting my units. No, we are at an average of £7.80 a pint and I am living off a pension.

Seeing my daughter the following day she stated "Has it come to this?" - in an attempt to get me to sell out my ideals and re-join the rat race.

The second rule - AI suggested I look for evidence of former patrons, artists and poets.

Strap yourselves in. I'll try and keep the text short but there is much work to be done.

The Fitzroy Tavern, Windmill Street

The natural, obvious starting point. It looks the part of a 1940s, although it is a sympathetic modern recreation. Lots of wooden panelling, multiple rooms and a delightful entrance mosaic. A Sam Smiths pub - seemingly run by a single member of staff both delivering food and manning the bar. This allowed for easy investigation and photo inside, where I was the only sign of life for a good 5 minutes.

AI Rule: Photos of the events described in the book, including the unique charity donations of firing paper money into the ceiling with darts to be collected by a celebrity and to pay for day trips for the poor and/or nutty kids of the area.

Bohemian Rating: 3/5 for looking how it would have been in the period.

Handsome

Richard Attenborough collecting the charity money

Lovely

The Duke of York, Rathbone Street

The author Anthony Burgess is said to have used a gang related incident in this pub in the 1940s as inspiration for A Clockwork Orange. Glasses were smashed and a menacing atmosphere created.

I'd have settled for any sort of atmosphere. I was the only internal customer in a smartly bland McMullens house - who have paid for a marketing firm for a rebranding exercise - with McM's on all their pump clips. It worked, I didn't recognise their beers and nearly ordered one by mistake.

AI Rule: No reference to the past.

Bohemian Rating: 1/5 - soulless.

Everyone out

Pretty Bar - with barhangers discouraged.

The Newman Arms (Formerly, the Beer House), Rathbone Street

What on earth have they done to this place? Checking my records, I have visited once every 10 years for the first three decades. This is the place that Orwell used as inspiration for the "Proles Pub" in 1984. Oh, the irony! Us proles cannot afford £8 pints.  It's had a rather garish makeover in red. The only punters were eating pies in the upstairs dining room. Even the alley used at the start of the 1960s film "Peeping Tom" has had all elements of seediness removed. 

AI Rule: A rotating PowerPoint on a TV showing Orwell quotes and images of the past.

Bohemian Rating: 0/5 - Cleaner than a hotel bar.

Dread in Red

Peeping Tom Alley - in 1995, I was scared to walk down here

Marquis of Granby, Rathbone Place

How sad that a pub classed as too violent for most of the Bohemian crowd is now an identikit Nicholsons pub. With the exception of Dylan Thomas - who liked to come and fight off duty soldiers who had come cruising. It was also used as a location in the Iris Murdoch Book, Under the Net.

AI Rule: Dylan Thomas references etched as text on the walls.

Bohemian Rating: 2/5 - There were some spectacularly drunk after work office-types.

Standard Nicholsons

When he wasn't fighting and drinking, he was writing

The Wheatsheaf, Rathbone Place

You manage to go a night without a Nicholson's and then get two in a row. Augustus John brought his then girlfriend, Caitlin Macnamara, here and introduced her to a drunk Dylan Thomas. Come on Augustus, you must have sensed this wouldn't end well. Dylan put his head in her lap, proposed on the spot and they eventually married.

What a chap!

AI Rule: A whole upstairs room dedicated to George Orwell and the "Wheatsheaf Writers"

Bohemian Rating: 0/5 - So dull, I didn't stop for a drink.

Orwellian in name only

The Bricklayers Arms, Greese Street

 

Nestled in a little side street off the main drag, this looked particularly handsome. Short on stories and legend - presumably the Bohemian Set simply had a rule that no watering hole could be passed when gadding about. Another Sam Smiths pub, with a couple of tiny rooms. Looks like I missed out on exploring upstairs.

AI Rule: No references, but they might have been nothing to reference.

Bohemian Rating: 2/5 - In the nicest way possible, the landlady threw off 1940s vibes, polite but ever vigilant and looked like she would take no nonsense.

Nestled in a side street

Black Horse, Rathbone Place

This is the pub that banned Dylan Thomas - saying "we don't want your sort in here". Maybe Augustus had a word. It's gone through a number of closures - and one time squatted by The Really Free School - an anarchist/alternative education project. It now has "Cocktail Bar" in its title, so I (possibly) hastily decided it wasn't for me.

AI Rule: Unknown

Bohemian Rating: Unknown

Also says "Pub"

Nellie Dean of Soho (The Highlander), Dean Street

The Bohemians have crossed over to Soho. Those 30 minutes are important. This was known as the Highlander and renamed in 1967. Nellie Dean a name in a music hall song. Little of note in a small, single roomer but I'm pleased to say the Timothy Taylor Landlord was in decent condition.

AI Rule: No references.

Bohemian Rating: 0/5 - A very standard London pub.

Cannot complain about lack of footfall

The French House (The York Minster), Dean Street

Easily the pick of the pubs tonight and a bona fide classic that still maintains its Bohemian credentials. It's not the best place to drink - but it should be experienced. Getting in is tricky, as it is always packed. Standing outside is trickier, as you are corralled into a thin space behind a velvet rope and you really need to like the smell of Gauloises. Legends are plentiful and I've blogged on them before - the frontage ripped off by a doodlebug, the base of the free French resistance in the war. Old DT losing his manuscript for Under Milk Wood. Francis Bacon meeting Lucian Freud for halves of Chouffe (assuming they are Bohemian like me).

AI Rule: Photos and artistic representations of former punters everywhere

Bohemian Rating: 4/5 - It's still got it - proper looking booze-hounds in for long sessions sharing the space with American tourists and plenty of French voices overhead.

Meta Glasses could be the future (Joking!)

Summary

If you've got this far - well done. It was an interesting experiment and took me nearly as long to complete as to read the book. Things change, not always for the better, but certainly for the safer. As recently as 30 years ago, I was on edge when walking these streets. Now Soho has night-time tour guide leaders holding umbrellas aloft, dragging behind thrill seeking Japanese.

French House excepted - a collection of very pedestrian pubs serving expensively bland beers.

On an upbeat note - it's great to see all the pubs mentioned in a book from 70 years ago are still trading..... even the Swiss Cottage in Old Compton Street - now a lively disco, called Comptons.

Protecting Privacy - Comptons Cropped

24/08/26 - A Hackney Pub Crawl

On a Monday? Madness....

My second walk from the Joolz Rather Splendid London Pub Walks. The YouTube video for an overview on the area, where he gets rather too excited about coal holes and stink pipes.

Attempting a pub crawl on a Monday is a challenge. My advance ticket means I need to be at Euston for the cancelled 3.26pm. The first handful of the pubs don't open until 3 or 4pm. So part of this crawl is virtual. Use you imagination. I did.

Royal Inn on the Park - next to Victoria Park.

Kenton Arms - gorgeous.

The Gun, less gorgeous

And the Chesham Arms

Saved time from boozing provides more time for investigation. Of a personal kind. I worked for Great Universal Stores - which also contained Burberry before it was requisitioned by the underclass. I found myself at Chatham Place, the former head office. Where as a teenager database programmer I used to (attempt to) eat watermelon in the Director's restaurant.

A factory outlet now.... and flats

For a full appreciation of Umit and Sons, watch the video. A most unusual shop, with the tiniest of cinemas contained within. This week showing "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

A real one-off

If you have watched the video, you will know that Joolz likes to cosplay as an Edwardian Dandy. I am amazed that he escaped with his teeth/life (delete as applicable) in his choice of boozer. The Crown - and the mobile shop they have extended into next door - the half crown. The veteran pub tickers on Pubsgalore claim it to be faux-Irish - even if they do have a sign saying I love fecking Ireland and sell Tayto crisps.

Crown and Half Crown

There's no denying it's a drinkers' pub. It's only been open 10 minutes and already busy with quite frankly, ill-looking men, some of whom are already double loading on the Stella. Friendly enough if you can handle banter but I am unsure how they would have taken to our Joolz.

Proper boozers out of shot. No real ale, so (a decent and cheap) Guinness

The Cock is an unexpected surprise. I noticed the Good Beer Guide 2026 sticker on the door of this shabby-chic ex-Trumans pub. The beer and cider range is comprehensive enough and of sufficient quality to justify its regular appearance. 

The Cock

A lot to admire - my Howling Hops Upper Crust Red IPA was delicious and only just over £4. Remember, I am in London. The barman/owner gave off Black Books vibes, trying desperately to plough through a huge novel, whilst thirsty punters interrupted his reading flow.

And who could fail to be impressed with the speed of the pickled egg eaters?

Some serious attention to timings there - Jack holding his own against the Simons

And I end at the unusually named Cat and Mutton on the other side of London Fields. Over the years, this ex-Charrington house has had many names, usually a combination of cat, cattle, shoulder and mutton.

More pubby handsomeness

It's decent enough, in a gentrified kind of way. All exposed wood, cat-related artworks and decent music played at a reasonable level. But I am reminded I am in London. 

Five Points XPA for £7.50.

Take me to the cock.

Pub and Dining Room

Walk Details

Distance - 3.75 miles

Walk Inspiration - Joolz Splendid Pub Walks, Walk 15

Previous Joolz Pub Walks - Bayswater

17/08/26 - Sedgley Ale Trail

Monday Lunchtime Ticking

Never the best day for visiting pubs, but I don't do too badly in Sedgley. I was here on the trail of a Victorian Widow (read on, if interested) but in the back of my mind, I knew there was another Sedgley item on my Google Calendar To Do List.

Nine available but as stated, it's Monday. Wallet and liver will be safe.

2. The Beacon Hotel

The first I reach, on my approach from a hidden medieval lane across Turl's Hill. It should be number 1 on your list too. In other pubs, I am taken as a pub tourist and the bar staff there ask "Have you been to the Beacon Hotel?". 

Even when their own pub is empty.

The Beacon Hotel

Handsome from all angles

It's the brew pub for Sarah Hughes, where their Ruby Mild is the stuff of legend. Facebook showed a delighted punter finding it in Portsmouth on the weekend. You might think a 6% easy drinker is the strongest drink available. The chalk written board has a brew called Hedgerow - coming in at a whopping 7.3%.

The bar is a near unique experience. There is a glass partition that only opens to belly button height. You can either remain anonymous, or crouch down - where the staff crouch down back to meet your gaze. It must be a health and safety concern for cricked necks for staff and punters alike.

Once you've chosen your poison, you have a considerably bigger decision to make. Where to sit. There appears to be room after room internally and then a pleasant rear patio and play area. Or you can just do what this tourist did - wander around until you find the most life.

Back to the wall pensioners

I love the old school opening hours..... maybe it was so busy, as people know it closes at 2:30 for an afternoon hiatus.

3. The White Lion - Closed on a Monday lunchtime.

4. The Bulls Head

A pleasant enough Holdens Pub, suffering with a lack of punters. I awoke the barmaid from her doom-scrolling and enjoyed another tick on the Holdens Chain, with a Black Country Special.

My type of pub

Steven Brown Highland Cow and an indication of brewery distance

1. Mount Pleasant and 9. The Crown - The Mount Pleasant is a "Want to Go" but is not open on many lunchtimes, so saved for another day. The Crown, a desi pub, will be ticked on that day.

7. Sandy's - The only one on the PDF that is closed down. It was a cafe with an alcohol licence.

8. Seven Stars - Too far out of my way.

5. The Clifton 

'Spoons cannot be kept out of the news. This week, the mainstream media has Timbo's announcement that mobile phones on loudspeaker are to be banned. The sooner we give this man other parts of society to manage, the better. And in the latest Critic Magazine - a two page article in praise of the most democratic of pub chains.

Timely article in this month's The Critic.

Mirroring yesterday's joy. pic.twitter.com/NKDJVBPUPe

— Mappiman (@Mappiman1) August 18, 2026

The crux of the article - how he saves important high street buildings, promotes cask ales and offers value for money for all perfectly experienced during my visit of this old picture house which would be otherwise left to rot.

A grand 'spoons

6. The Swan Inn

A little bit of an ugly duckling - I couldn't find a decent angle to photograph it in a reasonable light. It certainly exceeded expectations. Two old boys watching the golf and one old girl with an older dog did not seem to warrant the four cask ales available.

Yet, my Town Crier was in perfect condition.

You cannot always succumb to your own prejudices.

And on blogging, I determine it's in the 2026 Good Beer Guide.  My 1191 tick.

Reassuring to see that I concur with the bible, even when unaware.

23/07/26 - A Bromley Pub Crawl

The Modern High Street

Overnighting in Bromley, as I go through the final knockings of the London Spiral Walk. Civilisation (ha!) and a Bar Trek route that offered a couple of Good Beer Guide pubs, made it a tempting base.

Easy Crawling

The town is quite pretty. A more or less pedestrianised high street. Some interesting architecture in the old shop frontages. A lovely park just away from the main drag. Yet, here I am at 57 years old, doubling the amount of robberies I have witnessed in my lifetime. In just over 12 hours.

Crime 1: A Trainspotting-esque dash from Sports Direct, chased by the security guard, running style hampered by the boxes under his arms. My attention drawn by the crowd cheering. He was caught, but the guard simply retrieved the goods and let him on his merry way. 

Crime 2: Sainsbury's Local. Two of them, casually walking around, not even hiding the products and just walking out, setting off alarms but as casual as you like.

Crime 3: Greggs at breakfast time. A hungry fella walks in, takes his drink and sandwich and walks out again. The lady next to me reports it to the staff, who simply say "happens every day".

I'll get onto the pubs, before I start ranting about "Broken Windows Policing Policy".

The Partridge is a fine place to start. A solid, handsome Fuller's Pub, with a distinct air of civility with Chesterfields, atriums and smoking rooms. A beautiful Good Beer Guide Tick and a perfect ESB.

Handsome Outside....

.... and In

The next two on the crawl are both closed. The Bar Trek App is only a couple of years old, so its worrying how quickly things change. At least the Artful Duke has been repurposed as a chicken shop, the clucking crazy Saucy Bird. The Barrel and Horn is simply boarded up.

Since retirement, I am a big fan of Wetherspoons. But you have to be in the mood. As a solo pub ticker, the app is invaluable in protecting a table, but you have to be able to get a table in the first place. I thought that I would try The Greyhound a bit later, when things have calmed down.

Standing room only at the Greyhound

Instead, I was seduced by the architecturally imposing Star and Garter. Sometimes, the recipe for a good pub looks so easy that you wonder why more people don't adopt it.

Floor-mounted brass plaque states it is "1898 Vernacular Revival"

Tiling in the outside alcove

Unsure of the collective noun for fiddle players (a scrape?), there were plenty of them setting up in the corner. But my real love came from the drinks choice. I could (and probably should) have stayed here all night.

Amongst the many highlights on draught were Stille Nacht, Kernal, Deya, Ross-on-Wye ciders and in an unexpected turn, beer from my home town on cask. I have never seen Bewdley Brewery beers outside of the Wyre Forest but the bloke in front of me was ordering three pints.

Definitely the town's pubby highlight.

The Swan and Mitre didn't look like it would offer much and it didn't. My inability to leave things unfinished meant I popped my head in to see a very limited range. Why are bar staff so efficient and friendly when you just want to escape? A half of Cruzcampo out of politeness. I don't think the ceremonial chalice comes in half pints.

Low expectations, realised

Which leaves the ubiquitous micro pub. The Craft Beer Cabin will be fighting against many things. Its location, well out of town and the other pubs, will work against it. The music choice - heavy metal at an uncomfortable level - will dissuade more than it welcomes. As will the pricing. I vowed to stop drinking when it went north of a fiver for a schooner.

Peaceful.... apart from the music

Obviously run by an enthusiast but just two punters on a Thursday night won't be paying the electronic beer board Untapped subscription costs, let alone the rent. I wish them all the best.

Conscious of nightfall, I legged it back to the safety of the Travelodge.

Via the Star and Garter. The range deserved a second look.

 

06/06/26 - The Three Good Beer Guide Ticks in Cannock

A Spoons and Two Micros

An oddly dull walk from Walsall brought me to Cannock, a previously unexplored town. If you ask AI what there is to see and do in Cannock, it tells you to look for a dogs grave, Freda, on Cannock Chase.

Which is probably not bad advice.

The Wetherspoons, Linford Arms, is where all the life is. A twin gabled town house, where nearly every single table was occupied. Thank God for their ruthlessly efficient app. An all day breakfast and a pint of Moorhouse Pendle Witches brew, whilst I guarded the last available single seater table.

Stand further back to get both gable ends in

The New Hall Arms is just a short walk away, opposite a shabby looking shopping centre. It's a bigger than usual micro, concentrating on cask rather than more esoteric international offerings. Bass was on, but in a move that showed a lack of care and attention, it was stuffed into a craft Vocation pint pot. Covered in art.  Give my boring brown beer in a boring nonic.

New Hall Arms

On the way back to the station is the final part of the trilogy, The Arcade. A quirky little micro pub, which appears to share its space with a music shop. People enter carrying guitars. An interesting collection of keg and cask on, I went for a previously untried Feld Helles lager from Ampersand Brewery.

Cannock, greened.

 

01/06/26 - A Croydon Pub Crawl

Bob Steel's Edgy City

The second edition of CAMRA's London Pub Walks has a new area to discover - Croydon. With a population greater than Southampton and Brighton, Bob Steel, the author, describes Croydon as London's Edge City. He describes its unique identity, history and doesn't shy away from its concrete jungle associations or indeed recent troubles. 

This was when London was burning in the 2011 riots. I can't remember exactly what they were rioting about but I do know I was there shortly afterwards, walking the Capital Ring.

Still, with a handily placed Premier Inn and great transport links - I can use it as stopover for my London Spiral Walk. Wits kept about me. Phone only checked when backs to the wall. 

The pubs have to be explored. Four are in the Good Beer Guide. None are called the Swan and Paedo.

Things get off to a poor start. The only 'spoons in town is The George. The Skylark - Bob's Pub 8 - has long gone. The George is going through an 8 week renovation - possibly to banish any similarity to Piccadilly's Moon Under Water. If Social Media is to be believed, this may have been rougher. It does mean I have to re-plan tea.

GBG Dubious Tick

Surrey Street is just packing away its street market as I arrive at the Dog. It's lost the "and Bull" extension since the guide was written. It's also lost its Youngs patronage, as the beer range was rather boringly limited to Doom Bar and Landlord. Croydon's oldest pub, with an island bar and rear room with fireplace.

No Bull

Island Bar Hoggers

Two bank conversions for the price of one now. The Spread Eagle by Fullers providing Old Joint Stock vibes. Massive ceilings, a roped off staircase to a function room. No ESB but there was HSB, and a main course of Hunters Chicken only costing the same as two pints. Almost seemed a bargain. Until they delivered it to the wrong table and I nearly lost three chips.

The Green Dragon providing a similar architectural experience. A live music venue, but not on a Monday. Bob details that they have Hog's Back beers on offer and indeed, I find my first TEA for over 10 years. Thank the lord for Untapped.

Impressive Architecture at the Spread Eagle

And Green Dragon - GBG endorsed

Is the other side of the flyover Bandit Country? There's two men ripping the seats out of an SUV to use it is as a skip on wheels. By the time I return, the police are there. I'm not making this up.... the SUV was packed to the hilt with what looked like a central heating system. 

But I have to press on for two more. The Royal Standard having old school charm in spades. Not the biggest of pubs but full of different entrances and nooks and crannies running around a central bar. Lovely pale wood panelling and bar. Another Fullers pub with no ESB. If it wasn't for the Doric Arch, I would be forgiven for thinking this is now a seasonal ale.

The view from under the flyover

Proper Pub Interior

Final visit of the night and it's The Bulls Head. An Irish landlord who looks like he has been there forever, yet Bob's description from 15 years ago holds no relevance now. Bob talks about the cask offering with the Cronx brewery offering guest ales, alongside more established Courage Best and Doom Bar.

Today, there is no cask. 

This looked like the sort of pub that you could buy anything, alongside your keg lager. You know, a lawnmower and someone to operate it. A parrot that has picked up the locals' lingo. There's more, but I have heard the phrase that snitches get stitches.

Painted in the colours of Crystal Palace my abiding memory will be that all other players from any other team are See You Next Tuesdays.

Glad All Over

There's one more Good Beer Guide Tick available at the Builders Arms. This, and a Peep Show themed tour, are plenty of reasons to come back.