D ON ON L Oct Vol 33 Nov No 5 2011 The Wenlock Arms, N1 (see page 8) Tel: 020 7281 2786 Steak & Ale House SET MENU SALE u 3 course meals for just £16! - or u 3 courses for just just £21 including a 10oz sirloin or rib- eye steak - or u A two course meal (starter and main or main and dessert) for just £11.50 So much choice there is something for ...Six Cask Marque everyone... oh, and Cask Marque accredited real ales accredited ales! always on tap and You can follow us on Facebook for all events and updates and on 40+ malt and blended Twitter@north_nineteen whiskies also now on. Membership discounts on ale available, All proper, fresh sign up at www.northnineteen.co.uk Steakhouse food. In the main bar: Food is served: Tuesday - Live music and open mic 8pm start Wednesday - Poker Tournament 7.30pm start Tuesday-Friday 5-10pm Dart board and board games always available Saturday 12-10pm Prefer a quiet pint? Sunday 12-8pm Our Ale and Whisky Bar is open daily for food, drinks and conversation. We always have six well Cask Marque Please book your Sunday Roast kept real ales and 40+ top quality whiskies. accredited There are no strangers here, just friends you haven’t met yet Editorial London Drinker is published by Mike Hammersley on behalf of the London NDO Branches of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real O N Ale Limited, and edited jointly by L Sarah Bleksley and Mark Davies. Tel: 07747 494840. Material for publication should preferably be sent by e-mail to [email protected]. Correspondents unable to send letters to the editors electronically may post them to Brian Sheridan at 4, Arundel House, Heathfield Road, Croydon CR0 1EZ. Press releases should be sent by email to [email protected] Changes to pubs or beers should be reported to Capital Pubcheck, 2 Sandtoft Road, London SE7 7LR A warm welcome from your new editors or by e-mail to [email protected]. For publication in December 2011, please send electronic documents to the editors no later than any readers will have spend hours creating fiendish Wednesday 16th November. Mreservations about changes at cryptic crossword clues for each SUBSCRIPTIONS: £4.00 for mailing of 6 editions or £8.00 for 12 should be sent to Stan the helm of our esteemed organ other, often full of jokes at our own Tompkins, 52 Rabbs Mill House, Chiltern View and wonder what sort of people lie expense. Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 2PD (cheques Sarah takes over at this point . payable to CAMRA London). behind the decisions we have ADVERTISING: John Galpin taken. To increase those fears we Having been something of a Tel: 020 3287 2966. have decided to use our first fan of London Drinker for rather a Printed by Cliffe Enterprise, editorial to say something about long time, I felt very much Eastbourne, BN22 8TR ourselves and, having drawn the honoured, not to mention excited, Views expressed in this publication are those short straw, I (Mark) shall go first. when Geoff Strawbridge of their individual authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Editor or the I moved to London for work a approached me with the challenge Campaign for Real Ale Limited. little less than a year ago. In of stepping into his shoes in the Advertise in the next Chester and South Clwyd role of Editor. These are not easy LONDON DRINKER CAMRA I had been bundled into shoes to fill, even with such a Our advertising rates are as follows: Whole page £300 (colour) the dormant ‘young members’ capable co-editor as I have in Mark, £240 (mono) representative’ position and, when and regular readers will surely have Half page £180 (colour), £135 (mono) I attended a South West London recognised what an outstanding job Quarter page £95 (colour), £70 (mono) Phone John Galpin now on branch meeting, I was again co- Geoff has done over the years in 020 3287 2966, Mobile 07508 036835 opted into the analogous vacant this role. [email protected] office. Since my election I have My two main passions in the tried to provide interesting, active world of real ale are, quite simply, In this issue events for local young members. good pubs and good beer. A When I expressed an interest in straightforward wish list, but one Birthday party 6 editing, Geoff was looking for that as we know requires a good The Wenlock Arms 8 successors and teamed me up with deal of work from a huge number Sarah, another young member who of people to get both these things Price lists 10 shared my passion for CAMRA and right. This publication, as News round-up 12 beer as well as correct use of London’s CAMRA voice, has a CAMRA festivals 38 English. history of promoting and I like light, hoppy beers in the recognising excellence in both the Bromley activity 44 summer, particularly IPAs, and I product and the environment. I Breweriana auction 44 tend to drink darker ales in the am determined to continue this winter. I love mild and stout. This proud tradition, perhaps from a The Southampton Arms 50 is not a hard and fast rule and I slightly different perspective as a The Bar, Gants Hill 54 drink bitters all year round. young female member. Geoff has Branch diaries 56 Handle or straight glass? Handle set the bar very high (pun almost not for the ‘look’ but because it intended!); Mark and I have no Capital Pubcheck 58 stops my hand warming up the intention of altering anything in Membership form 61 beer. I will freely admit to having London Drinker that is obviously working well, but at the same time Obituary 63 asked a barmaid of a particularly poorly pulled pint if it came with a hope to avoid that old ‘we do it Idle Moments 65 flake. that way because we’ve always Crossword 66 What do the editorial team do done it that way’ chestnut. together when not editing? We There are few things I love 3 Editorial more than a good pint of mild, although I will rarely turn down something a little more light and fruity on a warm summer’s evening. My favourite of all ales is Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild, although at 6% abv, it is hardly what you would call a session beer; it is, however, a great one for a beer festival. I enjoy sampling new beers at festivals, but beer festivals cannot come close to discovering a traditionally run, friendly boozer tucked away in a quiet corner and offering a variety of beautifully kept real ales and a comfortable atmosphere. We enjoy constructive criticism and are happy to make changes based on someone else’s ideas, so long as those ideas are grounded in practical measures. It is rather hard for us to make changes based on “I don’t like the article on the Red Lion”, but ‘‘It would look better if you did X to article layout” or the like can, and hopefully will, lead to improvements in the magazine. London Drinker can only get better with your help. If you want to know how to bribe us you haven’t been reading closely enough! Mark Davies, Sarah Bleksley LD [email protected] Check the Beer Festival Calendar and visit the Travel Pages at www.londondrinker.org.uk 4 T WO V ERY E NGLISH R OSES Image is for illustrative purposes only and does not necessarily represent the finished pub. The Duchess of Cambridge offers a choice of 16 hand-pumped and gravity-poured real ales and 11 cask ciders, changing daily. Also, don’t forget to visit our sister pub The Bree Louise www.thebreelouise.com 320 Goldhawk Road, Stamford Brook, London W6 0XF Tel: 020 8834 7336 Email: [email protected] Website: www.theduchessofcambridgepub.com Celebrations TWO BIRTHDAYS, A FREE PINT AND A PUB QUIZ alling all CAMRA members to Extra. Its success quickly led to it Ccome and celebrate CAMRA’s becoming a permanent brew. At that 40 th birthday on Saturday 5 time, it was one of the strongest November. To be held in the regularly brewed draught beers in Counting House, 50 Cornhill, this the country (at 5.5% abv). A promises to be the best all-London complex strong bitter with CAMRA shindig this year. To help distinctive orange marmalade notes, everyone get in the mood, thanks to the beer has deservedly won Brodies, Fuller’s, Redemption, CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain Sambrook’s, Twickenham and on a number of occasions. To Windsor & Eton, anyone celebrate the birthday, ESB will be preregistering will get a get a free one of the beers available to pint. And to add to the fun, there attendees to choose from for their will be a beery pub quiz with some free pint. great beery prizes. The event starts at noon and But CAMRA is not the only continues until 5pm. Register at thing celebrating a 40 th birthday www.eventsbot.com/events/eb373042066 this year. Fuller’s famous ESB is also This event is exclusively for 40 years old this year. It was CAMRA members. To join, visit launched as a winter brew in 1971 www.camra.org.uk or complete the to replace a beer named Old Burton membership form on page 61. Letters and articles for publication in London Drinker may be submitted online at www.londondrinker.org.uk 6 Landmark pub under threat n iconic North London customers from far and Apub and three-time wide but also those from its winner of the local Branch’s own doorstep and, through Pub of the Year award faces supporting darts and closure and subsequent cricket teams, it was a part demolition.