The Coronation Hall - Surbiton

Visited 8th August 2010.

As it turns out The Coronation Hall just down the road from Kingston is also in an old theatre. I spent several minutes chatting with a chap in a blue shirt who was more than happy to tell me some of its history including the fact that Phyllis Dixey, 'The Girl from Surbiton' had performed there as had many famous acts such as Laurel and Hardy. With a pint of spitfire in my hand I spent a few minutes chatting with a couple of other people about the place, everybody had something to say. Whilst taking a photo of the 'Peek-a-Boo' picture a young lady was kind enough to show me how to turn the flash off on my camera (and back on again afterwards) and her friends were kind enough to lean back out of camera shot while also quizzing me on what I wanted the photo for. An interesting pub with more than a few characters.

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The Kings Tun - Kingston upon Thames

Visited 8th August 2010.

A little planning on Google Earth and a little typing into the TomTom and we have a plan. A trip out and three pubs close to each other, no problem. First, The Cap in Hand, followed by The Coronation Hall and finally The Kings Tun, what can go wrong? As it turns out neither I or Mr Tom had a clue as to where we were going and as we end up driving through Kingston trying to get Surbiton the plan, smoothly (cough!) changes and we're going in reverse order. No actual problem in that but it just emphasises how the A-team we are not. Anyway, we find a pub in what used to be The Empire. Not sure if this was an old cinema or theatre - maybe I should start reading more of the plaques and pictures in these 'spoons. We venture in and upstairs where we obtain a table number and place our orders. We opt for traditional faire with Mrs S going for the chicken burger and Pepsi and myself opting for the gourmet burger and Strongbow. It's not the best we've eaten, but not the worst either. How can there be so much variety in a standard menu? We decided not to stay to long as we had plans and wanted a quick look round Kingston as well. (Also not to sure about the yellow paint). And we're off...

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The Pennsylvanian - Rickmansworth

Visited 1st August 2010.

It's Sunday afternoon, we're bored and it's not raining. Only one thing to do and that's get the bike out. A quick check of the map and Rickmansworth is our destination of choice. A bit of a boring journey around the M25 but it doesn't take long and being a Sunday it is pretty easy to park up almost right outside. The pub is very busy and at first we thought we might not be able to find a seat but Mrs. S. leads the way, heading into the very depths of the pub which goes back a lot further than we first thought. Unfortunately the downside of going on the bike is that it is Mrs. S. and not myself who gets to have a drink. We like the pub and stay long enough for it to start to empty a little but as I'm not having a drink myself I start to get a little fidgety. Time to be back on the bike and on the road again. All in all a pleasant pub and a decent afternoon out, and no, we didn't go home on the M25.

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The Metropolitan Bar - London, Marylebone

Visited 17th July 2010.

We find ourselves with some unexpected time on our hands so a quick look at the Wetherspoon directory informs us that there is a 'spoons directly between us and Paddington next to the Baker Street tube station. It turns out to be very easy to find and we are soon sat at a table drinking pints of Green Jackets and admiring the fancy lights and ceiling. For me, surprisingly, this was the Wetherspoons of the day (and the beer was fine too). One thing about this hobby is that you are never quite sure when you are going to find a little gem.
We eventually made it back to Paddington and guiltily stood eating yet another burger whilst waiting for our train. Note to self... Stop eating so many burgers... Ha! Like that's going to happen. An hour and a half later, foot sore and weary, we made it indoors and to bed. Great day!

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The Sir John Oldcastle - London, Farringdon

Visited 17th July 2010.

As is usual when I visit London I don't always stick exclusively to Wetherspoons pubs so the next pub on our my list was somewhere slightly different. Well, different for Mrs S. who had never visited a pole dancing establishment before today. The walk to 'The Griffin' produced a small drama as we thought we were about to view an accident as a man who was a little way off from us was almost knocked down by a police car with its blue light flashing. As we got closer we realised that the man was actually on the pavement and that the police car had mounted the path and that two officers had rapidly emerged from the car and were attempted to detain the very bewildered looking man. We stood and watched for a few seconds but then thought we would get out of the way as there suddenly seemed to be a plethora of police vehicles arriving. I wonder what that was all about!

Shank's pony eventually took us passed 'The Sir John Oldcastle' and eventually on to the surprised tones of a doorman informing Mrs S. that there were fully nude ladies inside. And he was quite right, there were. Not sure why but after a pint and four dances Mrs S. announced that she was ready for pudding so it was time to make our exit and walk back to Sir John's. I liked the place, the staff were attentive, our puddings arrived quickly and were not overcooked and we ended up staying slightly longer then planned. This was unfortunate as by the time we left and had walked to our next destination, 'The Knights Templar', it was closed!


Oh dear, we will have to make a return visit to the Holborn area...

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Penderel's Oak - London, Holborn

Visited 17th July 2010.

We know there will be a lot of walking today, but fortunately it's not to far to our next planned watering hole. Again it's big and airy inside, so big in fact that it takes us several minutes to find where Mrs S. has found for us to sit and so my friend and I spend several myopic moments wandering around, drinks in hand, looking for her. Wonder of wonders they have Buffalo Trace and I have my customary double and happily sit drinking it watching a "blues and two" fire engine trying to perform a five point turn outside. It finishes its maneuver and disappears from sight (but not sound) and is swiftly followed by a second. We finish our drinks and upon exiting the pub see that the two fire engines are parked up no more than a couple of doors away attending to some smoke wafting from a small shop. In true English tradition we totally ignore what's going on and set off for our third pub of the day.

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The Shakespear's Head - London, Holborn

Visited 17th July 2010.

It's Saturday and we have arranged to meet up with a friend and take a trip into the Smoke. We arranged to meet at 11am. At 11.50 he still hadn't appeared so a quick phone call to make sure that he was OK and hadn't overslept revealed that he had a slight headache from the previous night and had indeed overslept. We were slightly later than expected setting off. By the time we arrived at our first 'spoons of the day we were more than a touch peckish and immediately placed our orders for our beer and burgers. I also tried a pint of Bearskillfull - nice. Mrs S. was disappointed her burger took much longer to arrive than ours but at least a waitress did come and apologise and let us know (although not why). The pub itself we liked, dark panelling and plenty of space. A proper, "traditional" Wetherspoons. We have a sort of loosely formed plan involving several more drinks in the area and feel the need to move on... So we do!

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