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Andy Ven
15-02-2012, 21:14
London calling. I am doing a crawl of the Circle Line in May. It will involve rolling a die to see how many stops we advance from one pub to the next. I'm not sure whether we will include the branch out to Hammersmith so I have included them for completeness. If we don't I'm happy that we will just go around in a circle - the world is your Oyster .... card.

For each tube station I have listed (below) at least two decent real ale pubs (according to PG reviews - excluding the 10/10 rated ones from once only reviewers) within reasonably close proximity (GBG pubs are a bonus). I have tried to put them in order of preference against each tube station.

If anyone is familiar with the Circle Line and has any suggestions for pubs fitting the above criteria, that I may have missed out or placed in the wrong order I would be grateful for your comments.

Cheers :cheers:

Hammersmith W6 Swan, 46 Hammersmith Broadway (Nchlsns); Hop Poles, King Street
Goldhawk Road W12 Stinging Nettle, 55 Goldhawk Road; The Goldhawk, 122 Goldhawk Road
Shepherds Bush Market W12 The Green, Uxbridge Road, Crown and Sceptre, 57 Melina Road (GBG)
Wood Lane W12 No pubs here
Latimer Road W10 No real ale pubs here
Ladbroke Grove W10 The Elgin, 96 Ladbroke Grove
Westbourne Park W11 Angie’s Freehouse II, 33 Woodfield Place
Royal Oak W2 Porchester, 88 Bishops Bridge Road
Paddington W2 Mad Bishop and Bear, The Lawn, Paddington Station (GBG); Cleveland Arms, 28 Chilworth Street (GBG); Victoria, 10A Strathearn Place (GBG)
Edgware Road W2 Royal Exchange, 26 Sale Place; Windsor Castle, 27 Crawford Place
Baker Street NW1 Metropolitan Bar, Station Approach (JDW); Globe, 43 Marylebone Road
Great Portland Street W1W The Albany, 240 Great Portland Street; Masons Arms, 58 Devonshire Street
Euston Square NW1 Bree Louise, 69 Cobourg Street (GBG); Euston Tap, 190 Euston Road; Doric Arch, 1 Eversholt Street (GBG)
Kings Cross St Pancras NW1 King Charles I, 55 Northdown Street (GBG); Skinners Arms, 114 Judd Street; Euston Flyer, 83 Euston Road (GBG)
Farringdon EC1M The Castle, 35 Cowcross Street; Sir John Oldcastle, 29 Farringdon Road (JDW)
Barbican EC1M Hand and Shears, 1 Middle Street; Rising Sun, 38 Cloth Fair
Moorgate EC2M The Globe, 83 Moorgate (Nchlsns); Red Lion, 1 Eldon Street
Liverpool Street EC2M Lord Aberconway, 73 Old Broad Street (Nichlsns); Kings Arms, 27 Wormwood Street
Aldgate EC3N Still and Star, 15 Little Somerset Street (Fllrs); East India Arms, 67 Fenchurch St (GBG)
Tower Hill EC3N Liberty Bounds, 15 Trinity Square (JDW); Hung Drawn and Quartered, 27 Great Tower Street (Fllrs); Peacock, 41 Minories (GBG);
Monument EC3V The Ship, 11 Talbot Court (Nichlsns); The Monument, 18 Fish Street Hill
Cannon Street EC4N The Bell, 29 Bush Lane, The Vintry, Abchurch Yd, Abchurch Lane (Fllrs)
Mansion House EC4V The Hatchet, 28 Garlick Hill; Ye Olde Watling, 29 Watling St;
Blackfriars SE1 Black Friar, 174 Queen Victoria St, The Cockpit, 7 St Andrews Hill
Temple WC2R Edgar Wallace, 40 Essex St (GBG); Cheshire Cheese, 5 Little Essex St; Devereux, 20 Devereux Court, Essex St (GBG)
Embankment WC2N Tattershall Castle (boat), Victoria Embankment; Ship and Shovel, 1- 3 Craven Passage
Westminster SW1A St Stephen’s Tavern, 10 Bridge Street (GBG); Red Lion, 48 Parliament St; Westminster Arms, 9 Storeys Gate
St James’s Park SW1H Buckingham Arms, 62 Petty France (GBG); Old Star, 66 Broadway; Feathers, 230 Broadway; Adam and Eve, 81 Petty France; Sanctuary House Hotel, 33 Tothill Street (GBG)
Victoria SW1V Duke of York, 134 Victoria St; Willow Walk (JDW), 25 Wilton Road
Sloane Square SW1W Duke of Wellington, 63 Eaton Terrace; Fox & Hounds, 29 Passmore Street
South Kensington SW7 Hoop & Troy, 34 Thurloe Place; Zetland Arms, 2 Bute Street
Gloucester Road SW7 Hereford Arms, Gloucester Road; Stanhope Arms, Gloucester Road
High Street Kensington W8 Goat Tavern, 3A Kensington High St
Notting Hill Gate W11 Old Swan, 206 Kensington Church St; Uxbridge Arms, 13 Uxbridge St (GBG); Churchill Arms, 119 Kensington Church St (GBG)
Bayswater W2 Kings Head, Moscow Road; Price Alfred 112 Queensway
Paddington W2 See above
Edgware Road W2 See above

PaulOfHorsham
15-02-2012, 21:39
Don't know what day of the week you're circulating, but bear in mind that most City pubs (say Farringdon - Temple) are closed on weekends and Bank Holidays.

Anyway, here's a few more to consider:
Faringdon: Craft Beer Co; Jerusalem Tavern (St. Peter's)
Victoria: Cask & Glass (Shepherd Neame)

Enjoy your day out! :nishelypished:

Strongers
15-02-2012, 21:46
I'm very jealous as this sounds like a great day out. I'm not sure if you are doing this at the weekend, but if you are you should note that Cannon Street Station is closed Saturdays and Sundays until mid 2012.

Quinno
16-02-2012, 00:05
I would be grateful for your comments.


I personally think the Bree Louise isn't the best and you'd be much better served by the Euston Tap.

hondo
16-02-2012, 08:58
at least you've missed The Waitangi Day Pub Crawl

RogerB
16-02-2012, 09:59
My suggestions would be...

Euston - as per Quinno's recommendation, the Tap ahead of the Bree Louise
Liverpool Street - the Magpie is worth a look - a Nicholsons with a good range of ales.
Embankment - Ship & Shovell every time!
Victoria - Could try the Plumbers Arms - a better than average Taylor Walker - it's where Lady Lucan ran in after being attacked in "that" incident!
Sloane Square - Fox & Hounds over the Duke of Boots - closer and more character.
South Kensington - Try the Anglesea Arms - not that much further to walk than some of your other stops.
High Street Kensington - the Elephant & Castle - was my local when I worked there - good back street pub. The Prince of Wales is also decent enough. Both are nearer than the Goat which is rubbish!

trainman
16-02-2012, 12:59
Bear in mind that the circle line has not run at weekends for ages. Probably 2 years or more. Pathetic!

hondo
16-02-2012, 13:21
Bear in mind that the circle line has not run at weekends for ages. Probably 2 years or more. Pathetic!
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/livetravelnews/planned-works/calendar/default.aspx

Andy Ven
16-02-2012, 21:06
Thanks for the comments so far (and especially Roger B's and Paul's suggestions).

Just to confirm that it will be a Friday daytime/evening crawl so no real concerns about weekend closing around the City and government offices near St James's. The kitty for the day out is derived from a football betting competition that my current/former colleagues and I participate in and pool the winnings (and fines imposed) to spend on beer on a day out every summer. We're up to nearly £300 between 6 of us (£1.30 outlay each per week during the football season), to date, so it may yet cover beer and rail travel if we continue our good form.

I recognise what Quinno and Roger B say about the Bree Louise and Euston Tap. Coming from Euston Square the Bree Louise is closer and the Euston Tap can get more crowded than a rush hour tube so we'll probably have to play it by ear and see how busy it is when we arrive at some random time.

Oggwyn Trench
16-02-2012, 23:47
£300 between six of you , in London , what you going to do after the third pub :evilgrin::eek::D

rpadam
18-02-2012, 09:48
Goldhawk Road W12 Stinging Nettle, 55 Goldhawk RoadWent past last night and this one is boarded up and for sale (as a shop... which seems rather extraodinary, given its location).

Pangolin
19-02-2012, 20:22
Sorry to sound trainspotterish but, although you appear to have realised that the Circle line is no longer circular by your station list, have you contemplated that the majority of trains on the route are not Circle line trains but Metropolitan on the northern side and District on the south. So are you going to take the next available train, unless it is turning off the route of course? Important to get these things straight, so not having to decide when half cut! On a more helpful note, if you have a smartphone, download the LT app from Routemaster (free) which gives you live Next Train indicators.

Now I remember when the Circle line boasted some bars on the station platforms, not that they were much to boast about...

Andy Ven
19-02-2012, 21:13
£300 between six of you , in London , what you going to do after the third pub :evilgrin::eek::D We've had more money that that on one occasion and it's just accepted that by the time we've covered the train fare and Travelodge as well we'll end up chipping in some extra.


Went past last night and this one is boarded up and for sale (as a shop... which seems rather extraodinary, given its location). Thanks. I'll scrub that one. The main PG site needs updating then.....


Sorry to sound trainspotterish but, although you appear to have realised that the Circle line is no longer circular by your station list, have you contemplated that the majority of trains on the route are not Circle line trains but Metropolitan on the northern side and District on the south. So are you going to take the next available train, unless it is turning off the route of course? Thanks. I think if we try to stick to Circle Line only trains we'll be wasting drinking time so, for example, if it's a District Line train that gets us to the next chosen station we'll go with that.

rpadam
19-02-2012, 21:23
Thanks. I'll scrub that one. The main PG site needs updating then.....I submitted a closure request for the Stinging Nettle just after posting my comment on the forum yesterday so I'm sure the admins will update the entry shortly.

Andy Ven
20-02-2012, 20:59
I submitted a closure request for the Stinging Nettle just after posting my comment on the forum yesterday so I'm sure the admins will update the entry shortly. Top man.

Andy Ven
16-05-2012, 22:02
Well this is how the day went. We met up at the JDW Metropolitan Bar at Baker Street and spent a while arguing over how complicated our rules should be, eventually settling on rolling a single dice to determine how many stops we should travel in an anti-clockwise direction on the Circle Line, ignoring the spur off to Hammersmith. The first roll of the dice was a 4 taking us to the Old Swan (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/22719/)near to Notting Hill (it could have been worse, I suppose) followed by a 1 so we walked down the road to the Churchill Arms (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/22697/)(which we decided could have been Notting Hill or High Street Kensington) – possibly the most interesting pub of the day.

We threw a 5 from there which was a bit disappointing because, as it was an outing between former colleagues, we were only too familiar with the offerings around the London office next to St James’s Park tube station. We weren’t too bothered about whether we jumped on the Cicle or District Line as long as we got to where we needed to be but after a slight mis-hap with the District Line taking us off in the wrong direction we turned around at Earl’s Court and went back to High Street Ken and started that leg of the journey again. We opted for the Buckingham Arms (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/22883/)in Petty France – unspectacular was the word that sprang to mind.

We threw a 6 next which took us to the Bell (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/23512/)at Cannon Street. Another pub that was OK but it didn’t stand out.

By late afternoon we started to lose our discipline a bit and next ended up at the popular Jerusalem Tavern (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/23332/)near Farringdon.

Yet another 6 took us to Paddington which meant we completed the circle – surprising how long it can take. From there we seemed to walk a bit aimlessly and ended up at the Mitre (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/22545/) near to Lancaster Gate (on the Central Line). That was my last pub as I was on an advance train ticket.

Overall a fairly average bunch of pubs, partly because of the way the dice fell and partly because we couldn’t agree between us which were the best pubs at each tube station. It could have been a good crawl on a different day and maybe if my list had given the group a bit less choice at each stop, offering only the best pub near to each station

sheffield hatter
16-05-2012, 22:09
Overall a fairly average bunch of pubs, partly because of the way the dice fell and partly because we couldn’t agree between us which were the best pubs at each tube station. It could have been a good crawl on a different day and maybe if my list had given the group a bit less choice at each stop, offering only the best pub near to each station

Sounds like an interesting day out. Randomising the pubs like that is a new idea to me, but it certainly seems to work for the Circle line. I might try it myself some time, and would definitely benefit from your experience regarding planning and discipline!

hondo
17-05-2012, 12:23
I always enjoy a random pub crawl bad pubs just make you appreciate the good pubs all the more
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