The annual pub crawl with Richard Bradshaw and the boys (Adam Sharr, Matthew Oliver, Andrew Pidgley, Andy Wright, David Brown on this occasion) this time came around in mid July. Our preparations in Oxford a few weeks before had come in useful. I had actually double booked myself slightly this weekend, but had still managed to circumvent a direct clash by driving up to Birmingham on the Friday to see Ed 'Smiley' Lewis and Dave Wacey, who happened to be in town. By coincidence the theme was kicked off early, as we took in one pub, the Wagon and Horses in Halesowen. And what a fine pub it is too, with a superb range of around a dozen extremely well kept beers and some most interesting bar snack. Being in the West Midlands, pork scratchings were obligatory. By having a round of halves each, we could sample extensively and still leave me safe to drive home. Further drink was taken in the comfort of Smiley's house, a mixture of bottled ales and homebrew which I have to say was extremely good, and I stayed up too late leaving me tired rather than hungover for the festivities the following day.

Fortunately, adrenaline kicked in quickly and Avril and I were off to London. As is typical with these things, we were late, especially as we had to navigate to Docklands to drop the car off at the hotel, but we finally managed to meet up with the troops at the Dolphin, King's Cross, through a small alleyway near the station. This is not a particularly nice pub, as I have discovered before. The welcome is not that warm, and they have no proper beer, so we had to make do with John Smiths or Fosters. The side road is, at least, quiet, which is good as the cleanest place to sit is outside on the picnic tables. Fortunately I had no need to venture into the toilets.

A walk of approximately 10 minutes followed, northwards to Somers Town, and the Cock in some backstreets, which was a larger version of the Dolphin. The bar staff were at least a little more welcoming, but the clientele were not overly friendly, being largely middle aged Irishmen looking at outsiders in a very territorial manner whilst getting tanked up. Needless to say there was again no proper beer, so we had to make do with lager again as it was fairly quick to pour. A bus ride followed, during which time we discussed the more than passing similarity between Alexandra Burke and John Fashanu. Eventually arriving in Camden, we made our way via a particularly dodgy passageway next to Sainsbury's to a more interesting and trendy pub, with our sorts of people, the Elephant's Head. This pub was really busy, especially as it was quite long and thin, and the toilets left a lot to be desired. The bar staff and some of the customers did however have quite a Gothic thing going on, which was pleasant enough, and there was also finally some proper beer available in the form of London Pride and Courage I think.

After taking some very nice fish and chips, the Spread Eagle was the next port of call. This was a very pleasant and quite extensive Young's pub (and perhaps expensive too), which did a very large range of ales, so as Avril and I were playing catch up we decided to have a few extras, such as Double chocolate Stout, which may not have been the most sensible seeing as we'd just had a big dinner. Apart from this, it was not that noteworthy, but was the best pub visited thus far on the day. The more backstreet Crown and Goose which was nearby, was almost as good. It was pretty quiet and a little tatty inside but somehow welcoming too, and the landlord was a particularly helpful chap. They only had a couple real beers on and unfortunately the Adnam's Gunhill was off (by quite a long way). However it was replaced without question for another, albeit less interesting, but nice tasting pint.

It was time to leave Camden and head into the centre of town. we got a tube to Leicester Square and happened upon a really splendid pub that I'd not seen before. Nestled down an alleyway was the Lamb and Flag, a very busy pub on two levels. There was a good array of interesting ales, which were pretty well kept. I had an offering from the Dark Star brewery which I had not seen before and which was really rather excellent. Because the pub was so busy, we had to stand in the road drinking, but as it was not a major thoroughfare, that was not a problem. The toilets were also a job to reach. Not far away we reached the Porcupine, this time on a main thoroughfare, but boasting another impressive selection of ales. I had the Timothy Taylor Landlord which was above average, but nothing remarkable. Whilst the pub was nice, it didn't quite have the conviviality of the Lamb and Flag. Further range was provided by the Bear and Staff, which was not far away at all. They had Straw Dog beer supplied by the Wolf brewery in Norfolk, and this was another that I had not seen before. It was a wheat style beer and pretty good. The pub though was largely average, although the toilets were pretty decent, and we moved on after not too much longer.

It turned out that Avril and I had already had our last beer with Rich, because after we had taken an air/comfort break, he had to go off to some musical event or other. Still, undeterred, a number of us soldiered on to Victoria via the underground, and the Jugged Hare pub. This was a Fullers establishment, but was pretty quiet, allowing some less rushed beers to be drunk. As one might expect, an extensive range was present and we sampled more than one before heading off. After, letting the others go on ahead, and some mobile 'phone conversations and trips to nearby pubs where they hadn't gone to, we finally made it to the Marquis of Westminster for a final pint. True, it was not technically an animal name, but then there was little alternative. This was a rather good pub and very cosy and welcoming, and they had well kept Timothy Taylor Landlord, and Sambrook's Wandle too, a particular treat. After that it was back to the hotel in Docklands.

The weekend's festivities had one more pub left to go and fortunately this was in the guise of the Cat and Canary at Canary Wharf, which kept the theme going too. A Fuller's pub, and slightly unremarkable, it was at least a nice place to have a burger and a pint in on a Sunny afternoon before heading back to Banbury by car. It is in a modern building, but made up to look old, and has a good range of beer which is well kept and the whole thing is quite professional as you might expect with a docklands pub. Fortunately it was quiet at the time of our visit, but I would not want to be there on a Friday afternoon after corporate types in suits had clocked off work!