Captain's Log

London 40 Year Pub Crawl

I worked at a location on London’s southbank during the 1980s. Every week our team would head out into the Big Smoke for a ‘social.’ This would usually mean a few pints, a meal and probably seeing a film in the West End to finish the evening off. The first ‘starter-for-ten’ pint would usually be local to where I worked. This area stretched from London Bridge to Fleet Street. From there, depending on the weather, we’d either walk to the West End or catch a Tube. 

40 years later and I was plodding those very same streets again on a 5 day campaign to experience what London has to offer. I was based at the Premier Inn at Blackfriars and so decided to visit some of my old local pub haunts. The ‘pub-crawl’ lasted two days, although this wasn’t a reflection on the amount of beer consumed. On the contrary, my 40 year older brain and bladder no longer has the vast capacity of my younger self. I confess that I’ve actually visited some of these pubs again during the intervening 40 years. By a very odd quirk of fate, I occasionally worked in this very same area during the latter stages of my working life, and I sometimes dropped into one or two of these pubs. 

I’ve linked all the pubs into a walking route.  The route is exceptional for its riverside views and especially that of the City.  There's also plenty of other distractions such as the Tate Modern Gallery and the Globe along the way. My friend, Iron Man and his wife Queenie, joined me on this pleasure trail. 

Founder's Arms

The Founder’s Arms used to be my most frequented pub, back in the day. It was probably also my favourite. It is located a stone’s throw from the Bankside Power Station (aka Tate Modern Gallery) on the south bank of the River Thames. It hasn’t changed much over the 40 years. There's no doubt that it's had a refurbishment during that time, but the structure is basically the same. The pub was never about its bar or even the beer; it was all about that tremendous view across the River Thames to the jagged skyline of the City of London. In my view, it was and still is the best view in London. In fact, I think the view has improved over the years; there are certainly more skyscrapers and higher ones too, than back in the 1980s. There’s nothing better than grabbing one of the patio tables outside the pub and watching the City lightshow as the sun goes down. The barges and pleasure boats steaming up and down the river provide additional interest. There are more riverside pubs further eastwards, but I find their views more claustrophobic than the one from the Founder’s Arms; the view of the City is just too close from those pubs. The area around the Founder’s Arms is more open and the City skyline isn’t in your face. For London, the Founder's Arms is a rare oasis for relaxation. 

Unfortunately it was raining as we approached the pub. Queenie had gone off to meet up with one of her friends. A light mist scraped the tops of the highest buildings in the City. We sheltered under the canopy over one of the patio tables and took a few photos of that amazing panorama. I noted that the Millennium Bridge was an addition since my 1980s days. It was cold and so we sat inside the pub. The pub has a wall of windows on its north side and so we didn’t lose the view. As with most pubs nowadays, it was  more orientated towards eating than drinking. It was busy with younger folk and some of the groups reminded me of my 1980s excursions. The music was pitched a little too loud. The beer was nothing special. The Founder’s Arms was never about the beer though. 

The Anchor

We followed the riverside path eastwards, past the towering Bankside Power Station (aka Tate Modern Gallery) and then the Globe Theatre. Bankside Power Station was a derelict shell when I worked around here in the 1980s and they’d just started clearing the site for the Globe Theatre, when I left the city. It took them another 10 years to build the Globe. A little further along the riverside is The Anchor pub. This was the closest pub to where I used to work and so was more frequented at lunchtime. I had my work’s leaving-do in the upstairs area of the pub. The pub also has an outside seating area. The high buildings of the city of London are directly across the river. The view of the City is too close though and the location feels a little claustrophobic to me. 

Clive James used to frequent this pub. I guess that name may not mean anything to people younger than a certain age. For some reason his name and talent has been lost in time.  In the 1980s he always seemed to be on TV, whether that was commenting on bizarre Japanese game shows (‘Endurance’) or joining the gravy train of travel shows. He was always worth watching though with his slow, dry Australian delivery and a sarcastic wit that would have made him perfect for Have I Got News For You. His memoirs are well worth reading. In ‘The Complete Unreliable Memoirs’ he says:
“Dining out meant shepherd’s pie and bitter at the Anchor, Bankside. The Anchor was a little sooty brick Georgian pub on the Embankment.”
Although I can’t find the quote I remember him reminiscing about an occasion when he was in the pub with the beautiful Lillian (I think that was her name?). I remember him saying that he’d been trying to sweet talk her into bed, but had the problem that he didn’t have a bed at the time. He was late paying rent and so his landlord had transferred his bed to somebody who was prepared to pay and Clive had to make do with the landlord’s living room floor. 

Inside, the Anchor was much brighter than in the 1980s. Gone was the atmosphere of a dark, quiet, historic pub, to be replaced by the brightness of the generic meal tables and music. It was full of workers enjoying their social evening as I had done 40 years ago. Iron Man and myself found a free table and sat down to drink our unremarkable pints. I felt a little sad that the Anchor appeared to have lost some of its history. 

The Rake

Borough Market is a little  further eastwards along the riverbank from the Anchor. The market is a bustling place with many stalls and is well worth a visit in itself. It is a semi-enclosed area since the railway bridges to Cannon Street and London Bridge run above the stalls. There's an intermittent rumble from the trains that pass overhead. The place is fragrant from the wide variety of food stalls and it is an ideal place to drool around if you’re hungry. The Iron Man is a CAMRA member (that’s CAMpaign For Real Ale, rather than anything to do with photography). He’d pinpointed a real ale bar in the market called The Rake. I’d never been there before and so I was interested to see what it was like. It turned out to be a small room on the corner of a building on the edge of the market. There was an acrow prop supporting the ceiling next to the tiny bar that left me feeling a bit worried. An LCD TV screen on the wall listed all the beers that were on offer. The Iron Man wandered over to the TV to peruse the selection. The small wall area in the bar was covered with whiteboards and punters had scribbled their monikers and doodles on it. This made the place feel a little bit like a gent’s toilet, although the writing on the boards weren’t abusive at all. There were only a couple of tables inside and these were taken, and so we sat outside where there were a few picnic tables. There was a canopy over the area and so we were protected from the light rain. A sign outside asked you to hang on to your phones and wallets since thieves were active in the area. Iron Man had chosen a light and cloudy looking brew. He likes a sour ale and so I wasn’t surprised when my top lip automatically curled back when I sipped it. The beer was certainly distinctive, but not probably one I’d return to. Pretty much like my view of The Rake to be honest. 

George Inn

Borough High Street is on the east side of Borough Market. Following the high street away from the river, the George Inn can be found a short distance down a little side street. It opened its doors in 1540 and is famous for William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens propping up its bar. Dickens mentions the pub in Our Mutual Friend and its coffee house (no longer existing) in Little Dorrit. The George Inn is London’s last galleried inn. There was a cobbled courtyard area outside. There was a decorated Christmas tree at the far end and its trunk pointed upwards to the Shard that was next door and towered over everything. Stepping inside I found that it hadn’t really changed at all in the last 40 years and still had the same small,  simple bar. I felt quite at home here and the beer was pretty good  too. In the 1980s, our team would sometimes arrange a meal in the upstairs room. Hopefully, the pub won’t change much in the future. It is Grade I listed and leased by the National Trust, and so I guess the chances of change are small. The George Inn was as far eastwards as we’d go on this pub crawl; we now retraced our steps westwards, back along the river, and crossed Blackfriar’s Bridge to the north side of the Thames.

The Blackfriar

Back in the 1980s, following a pint at The Flounders, we’d make our way across Blackfriars Bridge to The Blackfriar pub on the other side. The pub reminds me of the Flatiron building in New York in that its the shape of a narrow wedge of cheese plonked on a street corner. The one in New York has a dozen or stories whereas The Blackfriar just has the four. It was built in around 1875 on the site of a former medieval Dominican friary. The building was nearly demolished during a phase of development in the 1960s but was saved by a campaign spearheaded by poet Sir John Betjeman. It is wonderfully decorated inside with a frieze above the bar showing the friars at work. Every so often you could hear the rumble of the trains rolling across Blackfriar's railway bridge. It hadn’t changed much in 40 years and the beer was reasonable too. 

Ludgate Cellars (RIP)

Another pub I used to like going to after The Blackfriar was a nearby sub-terranean establishment called the Ludgate Cellars. Anybody who has watched the excellent 1979 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy BBC drama with Alec Guinness may recognise that one of its pub scenes was filmed in the atmospheric Ludgate Cellars. Unfortunately, the flagstones and arches no longer exists after it was closed for redevelopment in 1991. 

My 40 year old memory was fuzzy about the other pubs we used to visit around Fleet Street. I left the last two pubs on this particular pub crawl to The Iron Man. 

Old Bell Tavern

The Old Bell Tavern was located on Fleet Street, a little westwards from St Pauls. A sign on the outside said that it was built by Sir Christopher Wren in the 17th Century. Queenie had earlier taken a tour around the perimeter of the cathedral and had concluded that she wasn’t much impressed with Wren’s masterpiece. I must admit I was a little taken aback by such a sweeping statement. Anybody who could design the gravity defying Dean’s staircase in the cathedral, without the aid of a calculator, is a bit of a genius in my book. Despite that, I would have to admit that Wren’s Old Bell Tavern didn’t really look too inspiring from the outside. We ordered beers and sat in the small front room of the pub. The floor looked like the outside pavement and I wondered whether the building had originally had a balcony and they’d just extended a wall down to the pavement to make an additional room. The place was comfy enough, but it felt pretty chilly. When I went to the bar to get a second round a lad stumbled into me. He then stumbled out of the front entrance with a couple of his mates. They only looked about 15. I was feeling a bit hypothermic after the 2nd pint and so we set off to the last pub on our London 40 year pub crawl. 

Crown And Sugar Loaf

We only had to walk about 20 yards to Bride Lane to find the Crown And Sugar Loaf. 21:30 on a Friday night and there were only two other people in this Sam Smith’s pub…well, three if you counted the barman. They obviously must make their money from the workplace lunchtime drinkers.
"We're closing at 10 o’clock” the barman warned us.
We quickly ordered the round and then sat in the silent room while the pub clock ticked towards 10 o’clock. The two other people in the pub got up and left. Obviously the place had got a bit too busy for them. As with all Sam Smith’s pubs, there was no music. As we sipped our pints we listened to the barman making himself busy, polishing the tables and re-arranging the chairs. Much to his annoyance we extended our drinking session right up until the minute hand on the pub clock hit 12. The décor of the pub was really nice and I’m a big fan of Sam Smiths, but the atmosphere of the Crown And Sugar Loaf left a little to be desired.  

This concluded my London 40 year pub crawl. It was great to visit some of these old places again. It was a shame that the Ludgate Cellars had suffered extinction. I won’t leave it another 40 years before doing the pub crawl again…well, not unless somebody is prepared to wheel me around in a wheelchair.