We had done Marylebone before but it is quite a nice area and there were still undone pubs, so Avril and I decided to meet up on Sunday 22nd September to get some of them done. Previously however I had made a bit of a start that weekend and had travelled to Durham and back on the Friday for a work meeting and although a bit of a non green thing to do, it did allow the opportunity to get copious petrol money reimbursement and also visit the rather nice bar at Durham University's Collingwood College - cheap and keg, but plush seats.

The following day my Dad appeared for a Groundhoppers' Football day and we managed to slot in a few places. The first was a beer tent at Benson Lions FC selling some local bottles at reasonable price. There was also a beer tent at Berinsfield FC which also had some local products, but the best of the lot was Long Wittenham FC which had a bar with draft local products at nice prices.

Onto the Sunday, and we got the train down to London, with the first stop being the Allsop Arms between Marylebone and Baker Street. This is quite a nice cosy pub with light furniture and a good selection of beers available, especially, as I recall, there was some sort of beer festival on and we managed to get hold of some Timothy Taylor Landlord, Abbot, Greene King IPA, Tribute and Festival Ale. The seating allows views of the bus stop and frantic people trying to catch buses and coaches to Stansted.

Not far away is the excellent Volunteer which is owned by the same people as the Royal Oak in Oxford. Although it is a bit trendy, they do not go too gastro and the food is quite simple and nice without being pretentious. We had a nice lunch which was washed down with some excellent ale - Great Heck American Classic, Doom Bar, Redemption Urban Dusk, Belhaven Black Stout, and a decent array of lagers. A gentle walk around the edge of Regent's Park followed and we soon enough arrived at the Prince Regent, a pleasing pub on a corner on (presumably) Marylebone High Street with a small amount of outside seating. Nice enough and with a reasonable array of beer which on our visit comprised Doom Bar, Wharfside Old Legover, Windsor and Eton Star and Garter, and Fair Dinkum. Had we stayed inside, we would probably have made more note of its grand interior.

Inn 1888 was a bit of a let-down because it is run by some foreign people who don't quite get the concept of a pub. They actually had some albeit unmemorable beer on but it is not really a particularly conducive atmosphere for drinking as it's too foody. We sat outside registering our disappointment, although one bright spot was the gents' which was very traditional in nature.

The King's Head was just as quiet, but somehow an altogether cosier pub with banquet seating and nostalgic fixtures and fittings. I would doubt that people go there for any other reason than to drink and the beer was good - Tribute, Greene King IPA and Abbot. I could have stayed all day, but we had agreed to meet Richard in the Marylebone and there he duly arrived. This pub is one of those trendy places where hipsters might go for a Sunday lunch at about 4pm, but it just about has enough roughness around the edges to make it very pleasant, not a bad achievement as they only had one beer on, Caledonian Autumn. We sat at a nice table in the back room, but could just as easily have sat in the light and airy main bar.

A short walk followed to the rather interesting Gunmakers down a side street in Marylebone, opposite a market. The football was on so we didn't actually stay as long as we could have done, which was a bit of a shame as the pub was good. Nice beer was available in the form of Greene King IPA Special Reserve (surely a contradiction in terms?), Tribute, London Fields, Portobello American Pale. Doors were open and a nice breeze was blowing through. The Beehive on Crawford Street was the next stop. This was also run by a foreign team, but one that has a much better grasp of what a drinker might want, and Truman Runner and Meantime ales were on offer although there was a definite air of tapas bar/trattoria about the place. Spotless inside however which was good.

The oddly named Temperance was the next port of call, and a rather average pub it was in many respects, with some red flock wall paper, a single room and some reasonable beer in the form of Doom Bar and Ringwood Best. A nice enough place for a quiet pint, which is exactly what we had when we visited. The Harcourt Arms has already been frequented by us on a few previous occasions, but it is always nice to go there again and have a look at their light, pine and vaguely Swedish inspired interior with pictures of Freddy Ljungberg on the wall. Yet again Doom Bar, but this time paired with Everard's Sunchaser which was what I obviously elected to have. No visit to this area is complete without at least a pint at the HQ of the handlebar moustache club, the Windsor Castle. Once again we were greeted with excellent service and beer (6x, Southwold, Young's Special, Bombardier) in their tat-festooned interior, making sure that the day finished on a high.