The Drum - Leyton, Greater London

Visited 13th October 2013.

Our third pub of the day was a little further afield and seemed to take an age to get to but wasn't really. We found a useful car park behind the pub but it needed a pound for the hour, even on a Sunday. We paid, walked round to the front of the pub, took the photos and went in. It seemed smaller, darker and a lot busier than the previous two pubs but apart from the bar lady Mrs S. was the only women in there. I ordered a small Pepsi for her and a Buffalo Trace and Pepsi for myself and then went looking for her. She had found a nice pair of comfortable armchairs where I was able to sit and write my notes while she went back to Wally. And out the window it even looked as tough it has stopped raining!

© 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 Hudson Bay - Forest Gate, Greater London

Visited 13th October 2013.

It didn't take long to get to the second pub of the day but we ended up parking further away than we needed to so had a bit of a walk, it was still raining but we weren't singing! Still, I'm sure the walk in the rain did us good. The pub looked small from the outside but the entrance opened up to a spacious area in front of a curving bar that looked very welcoming. I went and ordered a large Pepsi for myself and a large latte for Mrs S. who had disappeared in search of a table. I eventually found her hidden in one of the many booths hunched over Where's Wally on her phone. Again the pub was "standard London" which although traditional doesn't have those little twists that I always love to find. We finished up and having just dried out went and got soaked again as we walked back to the car. What we suffer for our hobbies...

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The London Hatter - Luton

Visited 7th June 2012.

It stopped raining while I drove to Luton but started again as I parked the car and continued while I walked to pub. Luckily I had my trusty umbrella with me so didn't get to wet. Inside it was small and busy and I sat and drank an Orange and Passion fruit J2O while quietly waiting for my trouser bottoms to steam dry. After drying out I nipped outside and took some photos, never easy when I'm on my own and then set off looking for 'The White House' before it started raining again.

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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 Thomas Ingoldsby - Canterbury

Visited 27th February 2010.

Sadly we have to go home today. Happily we have decided to stop at Canterbury and visit two 'spoons. Surprise, surprise, it's raining and not just raining but absolutely pouring down. We get into the pub and the news is on. “The South East and East is experiencing bad weather with a risk of flooding”. Thanks. Mr and Mrs Sinner both opt for coffee and we sit huddling around our cups quietly steaming (both us and the coffee). We finish our coffee and venture back out into the rain and by the time we get back to the car we are soaked again. Still, never mind we have another pub to visit where we can get dry again.

© 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 Tyburn - London, Marble Arch

Visited 2nd December 2009.

Work sends me to London once again, so where to this time? I decide to do a little more sight seeing and visit Marble Arch and what do you know, there's a Wetherspoon just around the corner. By the time I get there I am drenched! It's raining... a lot. I discover that it is difficult to persuade total strangers to stand in the rain and take my photo so after some contortion work I manage to photograph myself and the pub. And did I mention it's still raining...
Inside it's bright and warm and dry - just what I need. The food I order arrives quickly and surprisingly looks like the menu photograph. I say surprisingly because in my experience the food on the plate rarely looks like the food in the photo. I'm including all restaurants and pubs here and not just Wetherspoons. So all in all a very pleasant visit. Did I mention the rain?

© 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.