The Knights Templar - London

Visited 26th October 2011.

July 2010 was the last time I visited this place and it was closed. Hence the revisit! Fortunately this time it's open and as it's still raining I step quite smartly inside. It's quite a grand place indoors and I find out later that that the loos are a slightly unusual design as well. I like the high ornate ceilings but while I'm sitting perched on my stool drinking my large latte I was thinking how much more comfortable I had been tucked away in my booth in the previous pub. I'm definitely starting to get the impression that I'm not a 'grand' kind of person. I didn't stay long, I kept feeling I was about to fall off my stool and I'd only had a coffee. Time to get wet again and head for home, but there is still a lot of London to visit so I know I'll be back.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Goldengrove - London, Stratford

Visited 26th October 2011.

Day two of my mini-break. Today I thought I would go and visit the new Westfield centre in Stratford. It has been all over the news and my old company had done some work there so I want to go and take a look. As it turned out I very quickly got bored looking round a shopping centre (no surprise there) and turned my attention to looking for the nearest unvisited Wetherspoons. Which turned out to be well within walking distance, it could almost have been planned... It was raining so I was a little damp by the time I arrived. First impressions of the pub were quite favourable. I ordered a breakfast bloomer and a large latte, not quite ready for a beer as I was still recovering from to many Buffalo's yesterday. It was nice and quiet in my booth and by the time I had finished breakfast, read my book a little and finished steaming myself dry I felt ready to take on anything. This turned out to be a little optimistic as I got soaked again walking back to the tube station. I was only planning on visiting two pubs today and I was quite looking forward to visiting the next one as the last time I tried to check it out it was closed!

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The Pommelers Rest - London

Visited 25th October 2011.

From 'The Liberty Bounds' we walked along the river bank, past 'The Tower of London' and over 'Tower Bridge'. It was starting to get a little cold near to the river but our destination wasn't to far over the bridge and we were soon inside getting warm. Getting warm with the help of several double Buffalo and Pepsi'. We stayed a while and would have probably stayed a while longer but tomorrow was a work day (for my companions at least) and we still had to get a tube home. My friends were kind enough to allow me to stay overnight with them which is very handy as it will let me get an early start. I have planned to go and see the newly opened Westfields in Stratford.

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The Liberty Bounds - London

Visited 25th October 2011.

Following a slight detour, OK, a longish detour via 'The White Horse' somewhere near Liverpool Street station we finally made it to 'The Liberty Bounds' with its pleasant view of 'The Tower of London'. We found a table, got our number and a placed our orders. As it was steak club night I had the 8oz sirloin with a portion of scampi on the side and a pint of IPA. The other two did not have my passion for steak club and ordered from the normal menu. The food was pretty good and we lingered a while, long enough for coffees and a chance to rest our feet at any rate. The pub had a very relaxed atmosphere and as it turned out definitely had my vote as 'spoons of the day.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Masque Haunt - London

Visited 25th October 2011.

We ended up taking the tube from Angel to Old Street, it was only one stop but we weren't sure how far it was to walk, or what direction to take. I did have a copy of the 'J D Wetherspoon London Pub Guide' with me but although 'The Masque Haunt' was on it, 'The Angel' wasn't. We were starting to get a little peckish but decided to wait for the next pub before ordering food, instead we settled for double Buffalo and Pepsi for the guys and a pint of Carlsberg for the lady (no "Glass of white wine/fruit-based drink" for this lady). The pub was dark, with lots of wood paneling and was surprisingly large, it went back a long way which we hadn't realised when we first entered. Our fourth pub of the day was to be 'The Liberty Bounds' but you know how it is, best laid plans and all that. A slight detour made its way on to the agenda...

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The Glass Works - London, Islington

Visited 25th October 2011.

As it turned out it was only a short walk to 'The Glass Works' and we even got to see a little entertainment en route. Our second pub of the day turned out to be a very modern affair and was very busy with quite a few people eating. We settled for a pint of Abbot and a Heineken while waiting for the third member of our little group to arrive (we had already  warned him about the Angel escalator). By the time he arrived we were ready to set off for our third pub so he decided to start with a double Buffalo and Pepsi so as not to delay us...


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The Angel - London, Islington

Visited 25th October 2011.

As I am currently between jobs it seemed like an ideal opportunity to spend a couple of days visiting a few 'spoons. A couple of friends had a little spare time and also enjoy a beer so once again I'm off to London. It was quite frustrating that I had knowingly passed two 'spoons on the way to the 'Waggy Walk' a couple of weeks ago without being able to stop. Time to rectify that. I met up with one of my friends at Paddington and from there we set off to Angel tube station. When we arrived we found that one of the up escalators wasn't working and the the second was very congested. "Let's walk up the broken one", said my friend. I set off after her and was already about twenty steps up it before I happened to look up and see an escalator that seemed to go on forever. I had recently watched 'A Matter of Life and Death' and was immediately reminded of the escalator to the other world, which coincidentally is where I thought I might end up if I carried on climbing. Of course it would be far to embarrassing to turn round and go down again... I've just looked it up on Wikipedia, "Angel has the third longest escalators in Western Europe". Fortunately 'The Angel' is almost right outside the tube entrance and so it with burning knees and a heart beating like a humming bird that I entered and immediately collapsed into a very inviting looking chair. It was several minutes before I felt able to approach the bar where a very attractive lady with a great sense of fashion complemented me on my T-shirt before serving me with a pint of 'Naked Gold' and a pint of Heineken for my friend. It took a while but eventually we had recovered enough to set off for the next pub, which our friendly barmaid had promised was only a very short walk away.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Bridge House - Chippenham

Visited 16th October 2011.

Something different today. We are going clothes shopping (was that a groan), not for Mrs S. this time but for me. I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks and probably won't get away with T-shirt, shorts and slippers. Neither of us have been to Swindon Designer Outlets and it is fairly near to a 'spoons we haven't visited before so in the interest of efficiency... It turns out to be a pretty straight forward place to get to and SatNav lady has no problems. I manage to purchase a suit without to much hassle and negotiate a good rate for two shirts as well. All this shopping makes me thirsty and Mrs S. wants her lunch so we, once again, employ the services of SatNav lady who inexplicably directs us into a car park. Amazing, it turns out she is spot on and we can see the pub from our parking bay. She is in excellent form today. The pub is set in a very attractive location and turns out to be equally nice inside. There is seating upstairs but it turns out there is no bar so we head back downstairs again and take a table overlooking the river, all very nice. Mrs S. opts for a chicken burger and a Pepsi (and a large latte). I order a gourmet beef burger and double up on the burger, along with festival ales 26, 43 and 45. I do like the third pint idea. I got a bit short changed on the bacon in the burger and although I mentioned it to the manager the promised bacon sadly did not materialise. I know mistakes happen but complaints should not be forgotten about! The trip home was uneventful and we were both happy with our shopping, me as I had found something that fitted and Mrs S. because it hadn't turned into the usual traumatic experience that she normally has to suffer while clothes hunting for me.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The White Swan - London, Islington

 

Visited 2nd October 2011.

It's that time of year again. Time for a Waggy Walk. The venue has changed to Highbury Fields, North London this year so we have a completely different choice of pubs to visit. Our friend with the dog lives in Hammersmith, us with the car, don't. So we are up early, SatNav lady is geared up to do her job and we set off with plenty of time in hand. As usual, things don't quite go to plan and by the time we have collected our passengers we make it to the walk site with only a few minutes to spare. As it turns out the walk doesn't start on time so our breathless march from the wrong end of the north field to the right end of the south field was completely unnecessary! Unlike last year, this year we had hot, sunny weather so it was with some relief when we completed the walk and were able to tack on the final few hundred metres to the pub. The pub was very busy but I was served quickly and took the drinks outside (assistance dogs only). It was a bit to hot to stand outside so we quickly finished our drinks and after I had made a quick visit to the loo (nice goldfish bowl style sinks) we were on our way back through the park to the car. After dropping our guests back in Hammersmith we head for home. Hmm, Mrs S. wants a dog... Whatever will our cats say?

One again, for anyone interested you can find out more information regarding Waggy Walks at http://www.waggywalks.org.uk/ 

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.