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Local Guide & News
by Christine Cryne
New Local Guide
Over the last few months the North London Branch of CAMRA has been surveying
the postal districts of NW1 and NW5 to produce their third local real ale guide.
For those of you not familiar with London post codes, NW1 covers north Marylebone
and Baker Street to the west, through Euston to Kings Cross in the east, which
makes it a great guide for commuters. To the north, it covers Camden across to
the edge of Chalk Farm. NW5 is probably better known as Kentish Town (not a bad
stop on the way home for those using the train to line Bedford) but it also extends
to Gospel Oak and a bit of Primrose Park. Ideal for a Sunday morning walk and the
excuse for a pint.
So what about the pubs? We have probably one of the smallest pubs in London
with the Feathers in Linhope Street (round the back of Baker Street). We have the
historic pubs (try the Victoria and Albert in Marylebone Station), pubs sitting
on history (Somers Town Coffee House in Chalton Street, the site of a coffee
house dating from the 18th century), pubs with ghosts (Camden Arms, Randolph
Street, which was the site of the last fatal duel in England) and a few pubs with
outside drinking areas (try the Princess of Wales in Chalcot Road). There is also
an amazing variety of different foods including Thai and Tapas along with some
good traditional British fayre and needless to say lots of good beer!
The guide is being supported by Wells and Young's Brewing Co. of Bedford and
will be on sale for the first time at the forthcoming London Drinker Beer and Cider
Festival. Look out for it!
Fuller's link with the Flora London Marathon
Fuller, Smith and Turner has signed a three year agreement
for London Pride to be the official beer of the Flora
London Marathon starting from this year. The comment
from David Bedford, the race director was "While we
wouldn’t necessarily recommend a beer as part of the
Marathon runner's training regime, London Pride is certainly
the best thing with which to celebrate your achievement."
Community Pub Week
With around 26 pubs closing in Britain each month,
CAMRA is running Community Pubs Week from 17th to
24th February. The week will celebrate and promote all
community pubs - not just village locals, but urban gems
too. It will also promote the Community Pubs Foundation,
launched in 2005 to support campaigns to save local
public houses by offering assistance to community
groups, as well as a whole range of local campaigns by
CAMRA to save and promote community pubs. Do your
bit and visit a pub a two during the week.
Beer Academy merges with the Institute of Brewing and Distilling
At the Beer Academy's AGM in December, it was agreed
that the organisation will merge with the Institute of Brewing
and Distilling. The motion, at its AGM on the 13th
December, was carried unanimously. The Beer Academy
was set up in 2003 with a view to educate and train people
about beer and improving their appreciation of its variety
and complexity. Cask Marque administer and sell
the Beer Academy training courses.
Stable up for a pint
Smithys is probably one of the more unusual pubs in WC1. Tucked away in
Leeke Street, amongst a maze of small streets off Grays Inn Road, this pub
was originally stabling for horses that pulled London trams. In the front
bar, with booths, bricks and candles, look up to the left bar to see an
unusual slope. This is the ramp where the horses were taken at night. Last
May, Smithys had new owners and they proceeded to smarten up the larger
room to the right. Here are unusual large open wooden booths, some on a
raised platform, which break up the area nicely. On the walls, there are
large photos of smiths at work. The pub is one of only a handful of real
free houses in the area and it had London Pride and Sharp’s Doombar (from
Cornwall) on sale at the time of the visit. The food is bistro style but
snacks are also available and there is an extensive wine list. The website
can be found at www.smithyslondon.com
and worth a visit to ensure that you don't get lost getting there!
Christine Cryne
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 39.
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