A Trip to Poshley

I'm a bit of a fan of the Tweedy Pubs channel on YouTube. If you haven't come across it, Tweedy is something of a pub historian, wandering around London (and occasionally further afield) exploring pub history, architecture and stories. His videos have introduced me to corners of London I'd barely thought about before, and I've quietly built up a mental list of places I'd like to visit.

Last Friday after breakfast we had a little bit of business to deal with at the nearby Nationwide Building Society, and then had planned to wander towards town. As we dithered, a bit undecided, E suggested something better  why not do a Tweedy Pubs area?"  Maida Vale had caught my eye in one of the videos, so that quickly became the plan. Being just opposite Aldgate station, it was easy enough to hop on the Tube. We travelled down to Baker Street and changed onto the Bakerloo Line — wonderfully rattly and gloriously old-fashioned, running the oldest trains on the network, the 1972 stock. I’ve always had a soft spot for that sort of thing, having grown up in a railway family.

Maida Vale station lies deep underground and currently has only one escalator in service. We drifted slowly upwards while watching the opposite escalator, closed for renovation, where the brave were gingerly picking their way down the steep incline to the platform. We joked about attempting the same later with a full cargo of beer aboard — though as it turned out, that particular challenge never arose. 

Emerging into the daylight on rather a posh road and with a handy roadside map giving us our bearings, we set off down Elgin Avenue, along a very grand road to the proposed first stop, the Warrington Hotel.  What a beauty!  Grade 2 listed, with a portico entrance with imposing marble columns, the word "opulent" is the right one. I suggest you to have a look at what CAMRA says. It does it more justice than I could.

The outside of the pub had given us a foretaste and inside was even more grand. A pub though, no matter how ornate or humble, is only as good as its offering and here we were not disappointed. The landlady herself greeted us. Sharon was welcoming, friendly and happy to chat. Two cask beers were available, and I chose Twickenham Naked Ladies which was well-kept in this Good Beer Guide entry. Sharon also showed us a recently published book that mentioned the pub and outlined a suggested crawl around the local area. Most importantly, she gave us a firm recommendation: whatever we did, we shouldn't miss The Prince Alfred, just five minutes away down an even grander street than Elgin Avenue.

The walk didn't disappoint and took us in no time to the Prince Alfred, a Young's pub and again, a Grade 2 listed Victorian building.  Once more I will turn to CAMRA for a full description which you can read here. The pub was fairly quiet, but we settled into one of the snugs, both of us ducking under the low "pot boys" service doors mentioned by CAMRA.  Sadly, the welcome here was less than wholehearted and the beer, Young's Special in my case - Bitter was also available - was rather flat and over-vented, though the underlying taste wasn't too bad. Nonetheless, the whole experience of such an unspoilt pub was worthwhile and it may well have appealed more on a busier session. 

Across the road was Real Drinks a off-licence selling wine on one side and beer on the other. You can have a drink here, either on four keg lines or from the bottle with a reasonable corkage fee. We were warmly welcomed from the barman/ shop assistant, and settled on Augustiner Edelstoff for me and Helles for E.  The little space soon filled up and so jolly it was we stayed for two. Despite the location, the prices were very reasonable indeed, and the barman happily took E outside to point out some of the houses occupied by the famous.  Not that the names meant much to me. All popular culture passes me by.

We decided to call it a day for the area. Our nearest tube had become Warwick Road, a few hundred yards away, thus avoiding the precipitous stairs at Maida Vale. But we weren't quite finished and it was off back to Charing Cross for some Czech beer in the highly recommended Stranded on the Strand in cental London.  If you like Czech beer, offered either in UK or Czech style, this is for you. I enjoyed a couple of glasses of dark, while E had a glass of ordinary Budvar.  The place was busy which was gratifying as some had forecasted it wouldn't do so well. Next was the 15 bus and back to ours for a well deserved curry on Leman Street. 

 So Maida Vale? We enjoyed it.  The Warrington Hotel and Real Drinks offered totally different drinking experiences, but were extremely enjoyable. We missed out on others, so we'll be back. You can't say fairer than that. Recommended.

The curry was a touch confusing, as I had thought we'd agreed on a takeaway, but E thought we were eating in. We ate in!  At least the flat didn't smell of curry, though our clothes did.

The Czech beer is way better in the actual Czech presentation. Don't make the mistake of ordering British style just to get a pint. Two thirds Czech is the way to go.