Royal Inn on the Park Review: The Park Was a Political Act
Royal Inn on the Park Review: The Park Was a Political Act | Victoria Park was built because thirty thousand people signed a petition saying the East End had nowhere to breathe
Tag: pub review
Sir John Hawkshaw Review: He Built the Severn Tunnel and It Nearly Killed Everyone
Sir John Hawkshaw Review: He Built the Severn Tunnel and It Nearly Killed Everyone | Thirteen years, a flooded workings, and a diver who walked a thousand feet underwater in the dark to close a door
Brook Green Review: 4.7, and a Green That Survived
Brook Green Review: 4.7, and a Green That Survived | Most of London’s commons were enclosed and built on. This one was not, and there is a pub on the edge of it.
Two Brewers Review: They Are Carrying a Barrel Between Them
Two Brewers Review: They Are Carrying a Barrel Between Them | The sign shows two men and a beam. It is a picture of the job, and the job broke people’s backs.
Half Moon Review: A Wetherspoon in a Former Chapel
Half Moon Review: A Wetherspoon in a Former Chapel | It was a Methodist mission hall, then a theatre, and it is now a pub with a three-pound pint under a barrel-vaulted ceiling
Windsor Review: The Family Changed Its Name in 1917
Windsor Review: The Family Changed Its Name in 1917 | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was untenable while the country was being shelled by Germans, so they picked a castle and moved on
Savoy Tap Review: The Cheapest Pint Next to the Priciest Hotel
Savoy Tap Review: The Cheapest Pint Next to the Priciest Hotel | A pound to ten pounds a head, ninety seconds from a bar where a martini costs twenty-five
Wentworth Arms Review: 4.8, and It Costs Under a Tenner
Wentworth Arms Review: 4.8, and It Costs Under a Tenner | The cheapest venue in the district holds one of the highest ratings in it, and this keeps happening
Sebright Review: A Man Bred a Chicken and Got a Pub
Sebright Review: A Man Bred a Chicken and Got a Pub | Sir John Sebright created a bantam that bears his name, wrote a pamphlet Darwin read, and influenced the theory of evolution
The Clarence Review: Whitehall’s Other Pub, Doing Fine
The Clarence Review: Whitehall’s Other Pub, Doing Fine | Three and a half thousand reviews, a 4.4, and a permanent supporting role in the drinking life of the British state
The Wellington Review: Named After the Man Who Hated Being Named After
The Wellington Review: Named After the Man Who Hated Being Named After | The Strand’s grand corner pub honours a duke who spent his life irritated by his own celebrity, and it is now full of tourists
The Lemon Tree Review: The Fruit That Won the Empire
The Lemon Tree Review: The Fruit That Won the Empire | Citrus ended scurvy, which won the Royal Navy the sea, which built the empire. There is now a pub with a 4.3.
Tokenhouse Review: Shopkeepers Minted Their Own Money
Tokenhouse Review: Shopkeepers Minted Their Own Money | The Crown would not make small change, so thousands of traders made their own – and for a few decades Britain ran on private currency
White Lion Review: The Badge of the House of Mortimer
White Lion Review: The Badge of the House of Mortimer | A white lion is Edward IV again – the third pub in this survey flying a badge from the Wars of the Roses
Crown and Anchor Review: It Is a Naval Badge and Also a Dice Game
Crown and Anchor Review: It Is a Naval Badge and Also a Dice Game | The fouled anchor is the badge of the Lord High Admiral. It is also the name of a gambling game sailors played for two centuries.
Kings Arms Review: 4.6, Under a Tenner, and It Is a Beer Bar
Kings Arms Review: 4.6, Under a Tenner, and It Is a Beer Bar | One of the best pubs in the district charges less than almost anything around it and has a serious list
Old George Review: The Sports Bar Is the Last Shared Screen
Old George Review: The Sports Bar Is the Last Shared Screen | Almost nobody watches anything at the same time any more, and sport is the only reason a room full of strangers still reacts together
The Castle Review: There Was Never a Castle
The Castle Review: There Was Never a Castle | One of the commonest pub names in England, attached to buildings that have never been anywhere near a fortification
St James Tavern Review: The Scallop Shell Is a Pilgrim’s Badge
St James Tavern Review: The Scallop Shell Is a Pilgrim’s Badge | You walked five hundred miles to Santiago and came back with a shell, and it was the first souvenir in Europe
The Surprise Review: A Pub Named After a Warship, Probably
The Surprise Review: A Pub Named After a Warship, Probably | HMS Surprise carried a king in disguise to safety. Or the name means something else entirely. Chelsea is not telling.
Biddy Mulligan’s Review: A Music Hall Song, and a Bombing
Biddy Mulligan’s Review: A Music Hall Song, and a Bombing | Biddy Mulligan is a comic song about a Dublin street trader. A pub of the same name in Kilburn was bombed in 1975.
Prince of Wales Townhouse Review: The Second One, and It Is Better
Prince of Wales Townhouse Review: The Second One, and It Is Better | Two pubs, same name, same postcode, different scores – which is the experiment this magazine has been running for three hundred articles
Mc and Sons Review: Mac and Mc Mean Exactly the Same Thing
Mc and Sons Review: Mac and Mc Mean Exactly the Same Thing | It means son of, the apostrophe is wrong, and the distinction between Irish and Scottish is entirely imaginary
Queens Larder Review: Where a Queen Hid Food for Her Mad King
Queens Larder Review: Where a Queen Hid Food for Her Mad King | Queen Charlotte rented the cellar to store delicacies for George III while he was treated for madness nearby. His special diet was worse than his normal one and did not work.
Pelican Review: The Bird on the Sign Is Stabbing Itself
Pelican Review: The Bird on the Sign Is Stabbing Itself | In heraldry the pelican wounds its own breast to feed its young. It is called the pelican in her piety, and it is on pub signs all over England.
Orchard Tavern Review: London Was Covered in Fruit Trees
Orchard Tavern Review: London Was Covered in Fruit Trees | Before the railways, the city ate from market gardens on its own edge. Notting Hill was one of them.
Old Doctor Butler’s Head Review: He Was a Quack and the King Loved Him
Old Doctor Butler’s Head Review: He Was a Quack and the King Loved Him | William Butler had no medical training, fired a pistol beside his patients, threw one into the Thames, and became physician to James I
Carpenters Arms Review: The Trade Guild That Built London’s Pubs
Carpenters Arms Review: The Trade Guild That Built London’s Pubs | Named for the guild of carpenters, one of hundreds of pubs honouring the trades that actually built the city
Starman Review: He Put His Arm Round Mick Ronson and the Country Changed
Starman Review: He Put His Arm Round Mick Ronson and the Country Changed | Top of the Pops, 6 July 1972, and a gesture that a very large number of people have described as the moment their lives began
Vintry Review: The Wine Wharf, and the Swans Belong to Them
Vintry Review: The Wine Wharf, and the Swans Belong to Them | The Vintners’ Company has owned swans on the Thames since the fifteenth century, and still counts them every July