A pleasant day in March provided an opportunity for some beer in London, and some outside seating. Avril and I ventured up by train from Cheam in a very civilised manner and started proceedings off in the Wellington on the Strand. This is a typical, but pleasant, Nicholson's pub with a good range of beer and some well-placed seats where one can watch the world go by. Choice was good - Huna Red, London Pride, Nicholson's Pale, DBC Frosted Jack, Brains SA Gold, Wild Harvest, Top of the Hops - as was the seating, and so we stayed for a second, or perhaps even third...

Richard met us at the Nell Gwyn, and the plan was to put some money into the jukebox, but it was so busy in there that we instead decided to stand in the alleyway to have our beer which was actually not a bad place to linger at all, though only for one. Well-kept beers in the form of Tribute, Landlord and two others were available. The walk to the toilet was particularly hazardous.

The Lyceum is another pub within seconds of the previous two. For those of you wanting to manipulate your rounds, this is a Sam Smith's establishment although the cheap prices are only found for the pissy drinks, which we didn't have. Typical Sam's boozer with wooden panels and upstairs doing a more limited array. Not a bad place for a cheap few though if you stick on the Old Brewery Bitter.

Finally stretching our legs, we ventured into the backstreets and to the Porterhouse which is an enormous cavern of a place that I have never been to before. By now it had got later and the pub had filled up. It was rather a strange place, a heaving kind of warehouse with a sort of upstairs mezzanine/gallery. We stood on a bridge kind of structure that afforded views onto the masses below, above the noise below. Service was not really with a smile, but the beer was quite interesting. Moorehouses, TSB and Pride of Pendle, none of which I'd seen before.

We had however been to the Marquis before, which is quite a trendy pub at the Trafalgar Square end of the Strand area. It is small and has traditional fittings and a good range of beer from pumps considering its size. On our visit they had Marquis Brunette, Otter, Doom Bar and Dragon's Breath, but by this time I was starting to hit capacity problems although managed to finish nevertheless. Such difficulties became more apparent in the Harp a few steps along the alleyway which is a great pub that we have been to on a few occasions before. As usual they had too many beers to mention and it was very busy in there with a difficult trek to the toilets upstairs but still worth a visit. As we did, it is often best to stand in the alleyway outside if you want any space.

It was now time to head back and after a toilet stop in the Wetherspoons at Victoria Station, where we have never actually had a beer, we got a fast train back to Sutton and a final ale at the Old Bank next to the station. By this time we were feeling tired so barely managed to finish our drinks, then headed home by cab.

Still, this had the bonus of leaving us fresh for the following day and a beer or two with Richard at the Nightingale (where there was a bad on so loud that we had to sit outside), and a couple more at the Little Windsor. Or rather just one half more for me as I was driving and restricted to weak Fullers products (Seafarers) in this cosy pub.