Fans of Minder will remember the famous bent lamp post from the closing credits of the superior earlier episodes. This particular landmark has been removed some time ago by some health and safety fascists, but the alleyway remains and it is urinating distance from the side entrance of the Newman Arms pub. It was decided that we should take a Friday off of work to be able to do this establishment, as well as a number of others which do not open at weekends. Avril, Richard and I made use of our holiday and arrived at the Newman at lunchtime. The pub itself is rather good and had four ales on when we visited - London Pride, Harvest Pale, Seafarers and Fullers Summer ale. There is not a great deal of room in the pub, so many others were content to stand outside drinking and as far as I could tell, it's a pub where you would probably end up having to stand with a drink anyway.

Richard knew of the Jerusalem, which was not one on our radar, but an excellent find nonetheless. This bar is in a basement and was very quiet when we found it just after lunchtime on a Summer Friday. What it lacked on the real ale front was made up for by fine surroundings. Rich, Avril and I had a splendid 20 minutes or so discussing various lists of banned words, which was made easier because there was nobody in earshot to be offended. Of especial note in the pub was the bar, made out of concrete.

A bit of a walk to the Museum Tavern in Bloomsbury followed. This was a rather busy pub, full of tourists, but it did have a pretty decent selection of ales, around six of them and not your usual fillers that one might expect. Delights on offer on handpump across the one very long bar included: Portobello Pale, Theakstone's Old Peculier, Old Golden Hen, Cottage SB, Cottage Duchess and some industrial ciders. It has that brassy, quasi-traditional, yet welcoming feel of a Nicholson's house. Can't remember whether it was, but it should have been.

A bit of a journey by bus then took us to the Bunch of Grapes at Fenchurch Street. This pub is rather nice, albeit spartan inside, on the edge of Leadenhall market, and was less filled with the braying types that congregate in the Lamb nearby. A small, single bar, with a few handpumps on dispensing good quality beer of the varieties Doom Bar, London Pride and Pedigree. Some quite well placed barrels allow drinkers to smoke outside should they choose to do so. Not much seating available though, which was no great problem as we were only interested in staying for one and instead moving onto the Ship, which is a tiny but friendly pub on the other side of Fenchurch Street station with a huge collection of ties hanging from the ceiling. It was beginning to fill up with City types, but remained tolerable, and the beer was good: Golden XPA, Theakstones Shot in the Dark, (both kept in fantastic condition), Deuchar's IPA, Moore Beer and Old Golden Hen. Mark and Andy P joined us here so we had time for another.

I didn't realise that Orpheus even existed, but it does, as an upstairs wine bar which you can find in a small doorway by one of the arches under Fenchurch Street station. Needless to say, I had never been there before and, catering for city types, it wasn't particularly nice and had no cask beer, but yet had some sort of basic charm to it. I am sure the flash harries would have enjoyed the solids on offer. It was however empty and we managed to sit at one of the large booths and enjoy our beer. Also of note is the gents' toilet - this looks like it was installed in the late 1970s and is completely avocado in colour. Note also that the doorway harks back to a bygone era of 0171 phone numbers.

Much better options were available at the newly opened Draft House at Tower Hill, which was also busier too although we did manage to find a seat. In addition to continental beers on draft such as Delirium Tremens and Chouffe, some good local drafts were available from cask: Diamond Geezer, Stiff Upper Lip, Twickenham Naked Ladies, Sambrook's Lavender Hill and Wandle. It is quite a well-designed pub because the bar frontage is very long and there are consequently few problems with those people who will insist on drinking at the bar and blocking anyone who wants to be served. Mark and Andy P had to go at this stage, so the three of us went round the corner to the Liberty Bounds, a Wetherspoon's pub, for some more beer and some solids. Our budget meals arrived, and we consumed them, and I have no idea what the guest beers were. Typical Wetherspoon's really.

A short walk across London Bridge to get a bit of air took us to the Barrowboy and Banker, a rather large Fullers pub with a curved bar and a few beers as my blurry photo seems to indicate. The usual suspects of ESB, London Pride, Chiswick and probably Discovery were available, plus some cricket themed offering and perhaps another too. I don't think we stayed that long, partly because we had to make do with a small round exposed table in the centre of the bar. By the banks of the Thames is the Mudlark, a pub that we liked when we came here before, and liked again, although not as much, and had a fine time sitting outside. Apparently we stayed for a second pint, although I could only manage one. Coach House Gunpowder Mild appears to be the only recognisable beer in the photo but apparently five of six others were available.

Richard went home at that point and Avril and I made for the underground, but then realised that one final toilet stop might be in order. This was arranged at the Old Ling's Head at London Bridge, a salt of the earth local, and to make the visit valid, I had swift half of Harvey's Sussex which slipped down very pleasingly in the time it took Avril to use the ladies'.