155. Primrose Hill, Sunday 19th January 2014

Primrose Hill and Camden are often associated with the Amy Winehouse bohemian crowd on one hand, modern parents who read the Guardian and refuse to chastise their children on another and hipsters with beards, ipads and glasses from Bo Selecta on a third. Despite all of these challenges, Richard, Avril and I decided that a trip to this area was in order because we had not been there before.

We arrived at Marylebone and walked the short distance to Baker Street to catch a bus a few stops up the road to St John's Wood. It was quite a surreal ride as the bus was one of these electric hybrid ones which gives you the impression that it is continuously stalling as it switches in and out of electric mode. We alighted and walked a short way up to the Duke of York where we were to meet Rich, and even though it was only January it was quite a bright day and we elected to sit outside, which was probably a good idea as the pub was not quite a pub but a bit more of a bistro with many people enjoying the obligatory Sunday lunch and, in some cases, coffee. There didn't seem to be any beers on, but the lager selection was quite good, and they also have quite a wine range. A bit expensive though for those ordering JD and Coke. Not a bad place to sit and watch the world go by if outside, and the toilets, all the way down in the basement, are worth a look.

Before going to the next pub we took a detour to the famous zebra crossing outside the Abbey Road studios where groups of Asian tourists were pretending to be the Beatles much to the annoyance of various motorists. We took our turn at this then headed to the Ordnance which is a strange Sam Smiths pub on a residential yet busy street. It was in the usual Sam Smiths mould of dark wood interior and selected very cheap beers. We sat outside to enjoy ours, even though it was empty inside.

The Star at St John's Wood is a pleasing and decent boozer in a very traditional style, although this does extend also to some of the plasterer/plumber types that one sees in there on a Sunday afternoon, but probably preferable to some of the middle class specimens that one sees in some of the other nearby pubs. Good quality London Pride was available on handpull, which could then be urinated out in an excellent L shaped trough in the gents, and repeat.

Much better middle class specimens could be observed at the amusingly pretentious New Inn, the last stop before crossing Primrose Hill. This was quite a comedic pub and not actually unpleasant at all, but in absolutely no way our sort of place with jazz musicians occupying one corner and diners having lunch via waitress service scattered around the place. As drinkers we were confined to standing at the bar, largely in the way of the food service. They did at least have some good beer in the form of Greene King IPA, Abbot and Young's London Glory. They also had a fine selection of jarred sweets and, if memory serves correctly, some quite interesting toilets too.

It was now time to have a walk across Primrose Hill, where countless others were doing the same thing, and head to the Queen's Arms, which apparently is frequented by one of the Oasis brothers if you look at Google street view. We decided to sit outside again at the very spot that he had sat at which was probably the best choice as it was pretty heaving inside and with one particularly large table of note having around 12 people on it, and some unfortunates being completely hemmed in on either direction. That would be but one reason why I would not have enjoyed sitting at that table. They did however have some good beer - Merry Majesty, Young's Bitter, Special, Winter Warmer, Bombardier - which is why we stayed for a while as it was beginning to get dark. The outside heaters were also useful.

A short walk across some suburban streets led us to the Princess which was a crowded pub where food service seemed to be the main consideration even on a Sunday evening, so much so that we stood at the u-shaped bar for our beers, although they were at least quite interesting: Horn's Mayor of Garrett and Stiff Upper Lip, although not quite at their prime. They also had a good array of interesting bottles. There is also a dining room upstairs which I discovered on the way to the toilets. Not bad at all despite the people.

A pub in a very similar mould but quite different layout, with a much longer bar was the Engineer, just up the road. They also had an upstairs dining room but preferential to us was that one could occupy a nice leather booth by the bar. Beer was also a little different and as is customary I opted for Firkin Saddle Black although Doom Bar and Windsor and Eton Garter were also available.

Final pub in this little set was the Albert, which was a much more conventional drinkers' pub with little emphasis on food and a great trough in the Gents', and it was obviously my favourite of the set. Doom Bar, Landlord, Greene King IPA. Traditional fixtures and fittings too including some very thick curtains.

Another little walk followed to the middle of Camden and it was decided that the first of these should be the Spread Eagle. This is a Young's pub that we had been to before and we knew that it wouldn't disappoint which it didn't. It has quite an interesting interior layout but more important than this is the beer which is easily accessible from the bar and there is a good selection: Young's Bitter, Special, Winter Warmer, Bombardier, Twickenham Winter Cheer, Twickenham Summer Down Under.

A much more sprawling pub, which is almost a 'venue' is the Edinboro Castle. It is cavernous and has the space to perform a variety of functions, such as TV sports, beer garden, large pub to get pissed up in with a group of lads, place to stuff oneself with Sunday roast. It does however blend all of these functions well and has a reasonable selection of beer: Doom Bar, Ubu, Adnam's Explorer plus many interesting lagers such as Fruli, Veltins and Kozel. The World's End is also a cavernous venue, but one that is far rougher around the edges, though interesting nevertheless. There seem to be all sorts of levels and rooms though strangely not much in the way of seating. Cider and black seems to be the order or the day, but Green King IPA and Old Speckled Hen are available on draft from both of their completely separate bars and are not bad.

By the time we reached the Brew Dog pub, Richard had left to go home, and we were a little worse for wear so I didn't write down what was on sale though as I recall it was hard to get anything that was not industrial strength. Still, whatever we had was quite nice and we enjoyed it in their chilled out basement before a rapid bus ride and to Marylebone plus purposeful walk to the train. Maybe the Brew Dog was one too many.


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Dan Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com

Last updated 2nd September 2014.