Alex and James’ Almighty London Pub Crawl

2013 pub crawls

12th December 2013 - Soho

Alex and I missed our usual jaunt to the excellent Pig's Ear Beer Fest so we did another pub crawl pronto. Alex had to meet Merdol so had a pint start on me. I started in the Crown and Two Chairmen which was rammed with what looked like a Christmas party. We headed south to the French house which was French in the sense that they only served halves! After that we hit the Golden Lion, Alex got some much needed McDonalds and then the St. James Tavern. From there we visited the White Horse (Sam Smiths!) and then the Lyric. I have a note that the Lyric has the best ale in Soho but I am uncertain of what that really means. After that we found the Duke of Argyll (another Sam Smiths!), the Old Coffee House and finally the Sun and Thirteen Cantons - which had very nice Brodies ales on tap.

a) Crown and Two Chairmen
31 Dean Street, W1D 3RZ

b) French House
49 Dean Street, W1D 5BE

c) Golden Lion
51 Dean Street, W1D 5BL

d) St. James Tavern
45 Great Windmill Street, W1D 7NE

e) White Horse
45 Rupert Street, W1D 7PJ

f) The Lyric
37 Great Windmill Street, W1D 7LT

g) Duke of Argyll
37 Brewer Street, W1F 0RY

h) Old Coffee House
49 Beak Street, W1F 9SF

i) The Sun and Thirteen Cantons
21 Great Pulteney Street, W1F 9NG


26th September 2013 - Chelsea part 1

This was a tour around familar ground. Sean and I met Alex at the Zetland and were joined by Rich, Kerry and Sarah. We stayed for a couple there before Alex, Sean, Rich and I headed off to the Hoop and Toy. Rich departed there and we headed to the Anglesea Arms where we uncovered what appeared to be two suited 'gentlmen' engaging two 'prostitutes' seamingly of Easten European origin. After that, we hit the Crown, followed by the Sydney Arms where we left Sean in good company. Alex and I tried the Bricklayers (Builders?) Arms but gave up as it was rammed. We instead went to the Cadogan for a swift half followed by the Pigs Ear, Trafalgar and Chelsea Potter - again for halves.

a) Zetland Arms
2 Bute Street, SW7 3EX

b) Hoop and Toy
34 Thurloe Place, SW7 2HQ

c) The Anglesea Arms
15 Selwood Terrace, SW7 3QG

d) The Crown
153 Dovehouse Street, SW3 6LB

e) Sydney Arms (formerly Wellesley Arms)
70 Sydney Street, SW3 6NJ

f) Cadogan Arms
298 Kings Road, SW3 5UG

g) The Pigs Ear
35 Old Church Street, SW3 5BS

h) Trafalgar
200 Kings Road, SW3 5XP

i) Chelsea Potter
119 Kings Road, SW3 4PL


24th July 2013 - Round Marylebone Station

I thought I had been the first to arrive. After texting Alex, we realised that we were in different but neighboring pubs... This seems to be an old stomping ground for Alex as he had some great stories about a few of the pubs we went to (getting barred after becoming covered in paint???). My Lasting memory was that a sort-of pub we wondered into (The Phoenix - It's in fact a hostel) served the worst lager I have ever drunk. We did go into the Globe (47 Marylebone Rd) but it was way too busy to get served in time and we ended up in the Volunteer instead.

a) Sport and Grill
Marylebone Station, Melcombe Place, NW1 6JJ

b) The Globe
47 Lisson Grove, NW1 6UB

c) The Perseverance
11 Shroton Street, NW1 6UG

d) The Bell House (Formerly the Constitution)
91 Bell Street, NW1 6TL

e) The Phoenix Hostel
6 Daventry Street, London NW1 5NX

f) The Brazen Head
69 Lisson Street London, NW1 5DA

g) The Green Man
308 Edgware Road, W2 1DY

h) Allsop Arms
137 Gloucester Place, NW1 5AL

i) Volunteer
247 Baker Street, NW1 6XE


27th June 2013 - Finishing off Mayfair

Just Alex and me for this one where we polished off what we could find left in Mayfair. It looks like we missed a few that we will catch-up with later.

a) Barley Mow
82 Duke Street, W1K 6JG

b) Running Horse
50 Davies Street, W1K 5JE

c) Spread Eagle
8 Woodstock Street, London, W1C 2AD

d) The Phoenix
37 Cavendish Square, W1G 0PP

e) The Explorer
23 Great Castle Street, W1G 0HY

f) The Cock Tavern
27 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QG

g) The George
55 Great Portland Street, W1W 7LQ

h) The Kings Arms
68 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7QL

i) Crown and Sceptre
86 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 6SD

j) Yorkshire Grey
46 Langham Street, W1W 7AX


29th May 2013 - More Mayfair with Fran

Fran joined us from the Coach and Horses onwards. We ended up straying over Regents St into SoHo for the last two pubs

a) Marlborough Head
24 North Audley Street, W1K 6WB

b) Audley
41-43 Mount Street, W1K 2RP

c) Guinea
30 Bruton Place, W1J 6NR

d) Coach and Horses
5 Bruton Street, W1J 6PT

e) The Burlington Arms
21 Old Burlington Street, W1S 2JL

f) Windmill
6-8 Mill Street, W1S 2AT

g) Masons Arms
38 Maddox Street, W1S 1PY

h) Clachan
34 Kingly Street, W1B 5QH

i) The Shaston Arms
4 Ganton Street, W1F 7QN

j) White Horse
45 Rupert Street, W1D 7PJ


9th May 2013 - Mayfair with Sean

We had the pleasure of Dr Hooper's company for this devastating trip around Mayfair. We started sensibly with pints in the pubs around Hertford St. Things got a bit messy just before Ye Grapes where we met a woman dressed as a whoopie cusion and man dressed as Garth from Wayne's World. We found the Red Lion on Waverton St but it was long gone. From there on we switched to halves which explains how we managed to get around a total of 11 pubs. I don't remember much of the rest of the evening and the notes I have are totally useless.

a) Shepherds Tavern
50 Hertford Street, W1J 7ST

b) Market Tavern
7 Shepherd St, W1J 7HR

c) Kings Arms
2 Shepherd Market, W1J 7QB

d) Ye Grapes
16 Shepherd Market, W1J 7QQ

e) Punch Bowl
41 Farm Street, W1J 5RP

f) Coach and Horses
5 Hill Street, W1J 5LD

g) The Only Running Footman
5 Charles Street, W1J 5DE

h) Clarence
4 Dover Street, W1S 4LD

i) Duke of Albemarle
6 Stafford Street, W1S 4RS

j) Kings Head
10 Stafford Street, W1S 4RX

k) Goat Tavern
3 Stafford Street, W1S 4RP


26th March 2013 - NoHo part 3

We were graced with the rare appearance of Tatsuya this evening. Mostly sensible - pints for the first half and halves for the second. There was a long walk between the Devonshire and the Union. The Three Cheers (29 James St) seems to have been bulldozed...

a) Lamb and Flag
24 James Street, W1U 1EL

b) Pontefract Castle
71 Wigmore Street, W1U 1QB

c) Cock and Lion
62 Wigmore Street, W1U 2SB

d) Devonshire Arms
7 Duke Street, W1U 3EE

e) Union
88 George Street, W1U 8PA

f) The Bok Bar
56 Blandford Street, W1U 7JE

g) Tudor Rose
44 Blandford Street, W1U 7HS

h) Barley Mow
8 Dorset Street, W1U 6QW


21st February 2013 - NoHo part 2

Alex and I were joined by Darragh, Alex (Dyson) and Verena (work colleagues of Darragh) from the Dover Castle. We stayed there for 2 pints (it's a Sam Smiths) and then headed for Inn 1888. This was quite busy and done up with antique-looking wall paper and tiles. We headed for the Prince Regent where Fran caught up with us. The rest of the evening passed without too much mischief until we got to the Golden Shower Eagle. There was a gentleman who looked to be an octagenarian playing a piano with four younger gentlemen who looked to be Maries. There is a short video of me joining in singing 'Jollity Farm'. After watching this the next day I was surprised by how drunk I sounded...

a) Dover Castle
43 Weymouth Mews, W1G 7EH

b) Inn 1888
21a Devonshire St, W1G 6PG

c) Prince Regent
71 Marylebone High Street, W1U 5JN

d) Marylebone Tup
93 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QW

e) Kings Head
13 Westmoreland Street, W1G 8PJ

f) Fat of the Land (formerly Duke of York)
35 New Cavendish Street, W1G 9TR

g) Angel In The Fields
37 Thayer Street, W1U 2QU

h) Golden Eagle
59 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2NW


31st January 2013 - NoHo return

Just Alex and I for the first pub crawl of 2013 and hence we ploughed through a wide swath of pubs in Fitzrovia. The Albany had a ukelele class running downstairs which gave me the chance to strum a bit of Jolity Farm (a theme that would recur in the next pub crawl). Also of note, we couldn't find a pub called the Stags Head (102 New Cavendish Street), There is an 'XX' next to the King's Arms (possibly shut?) and Alex wrote "BAR STAFF" in big letters next to the second Green Man (letter j on the map).

a) The Masons Arms
8 Devonshire Street, W1W 5EA

b) The Albany
240 Great Portland Street, W1W 5QU

c) Green Man
383 Euston Road, NW1 3AU

d) Smugglers Tavern
28 Warren St, W1T 5NE

e) George and Dragon
151 Cleveland Street, W1T 6QF

f) Tower Tavern
21 Clipstone Street, W1W 6BA

g) Ship
134 New Cavendish Street, W1W 6YB

h) Crown and Sceptre
86 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 6SD

i) Yorkshire Grey
46 Langham Street, W1W 7AX

j) The Green Man
36 Riding House Street, W1W 7ES

k) The Cock Tavern
27 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QG