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Part 1 - Belgravia
The first stop on this tour is
The Star Tavern, west of Belgrave Square, at the north-western
end of
Belgrave Mews West (the German embassy is at the other end).
This is one of the select bunch of pubs which have been in all editions of the
Good Beer Guide, like our own
Queens Head
in
Newton.
On my visit, being lunchtime, and having famously good beer and food, all seats were taken,
with a mix of clientele.
They had a new Fullers seasonal on: Mr Harry (£1.55/half) - rich, malty - superb.
After a slight zigzag to the east, head northwards up
Kinnerton Street.
Toward the top end is The Nag's Head.
(Jerry Brown sampled its delights
in ALE 330, although wrongly locating it in Mayfair.)
Upon entering, one sees an odd-looking low-level bar about three feet high, with
low stools around it. When the staff appear, one sees why: the pub is on three levels.
On the staff side of the front bar, the floor is lower than the customer side,
being reached by a step up from the next-door lower bar area.
There's also an upper seating area.
On this visit the handpumps had Adnams Bitter and Broadside (£1.70/h) and Bitburger.
The walls of the front bar are covered with all sorts of nicknacks and especially
showbiz-related pictures with the likes of Robbie Williams and Bono.
There are lots of cartoons about the pub and old machines such as the peepshow
"Life like presentations from London, Paris and New York in 3D. Still pictures."
There's a no-mobile-phone policy. Fats Waller jazz was playing quietly.
Backtracking and crossing Belgrave Square leads to Chester Street.
The first right there is Wilton Street
and ahead on the corner with Little Chester Street is the
Grouse & Claret.
As the front bar was busy, I went to the spacious rear bar, with wood and glass panelling.
Very quiet music was playing - how rare these days.
King & Barnes Sussex Bitter, Badger Bitter,
Tanglefoot, and Fursty Ferret (£1.55/h) were on.
Next head northwards along Grosvenor Place
(with the back wall of Buckingham Palace across the road)
to Hyde Park Corner.
To get to the north side of Piccadilly, one has to
negotiate the pedestrian-unfriendly roads and subways.
Part 2 - Mayfair
<- Kings Arms
Ye Grapes ->
From Piccadilly turn left into White Horse Street.
This leads into historic
Shepherd Market
, on the site of the original May Fair.
In the small square are the
Kings Arms and
Ye Grapes
(not visited).
<- Shepherds Tavern
From the Kings Arms go westwards along
Shepherd Street,
which leads to the junction with Hertford Street and the
Shepherds Tavern.
Like so many pubs since the licencing changes, this doesn't advertise its hours
externally but it seems to open at 11 Mon-Sat.
The windows are of the era before plate glass.
The interior is mainly wood, giving an eighteenth-century feel to the pub overall.
Music (not too loud) was playing, with the TV on silently.
The beers here are usually Adnams Bitter, Fullers London Pride and
Wells Bombardier (with one other hand pump).
The Bombardier (£2.87) was in superb
condition (CAMRA's National Beer Scoring Scheme: 5 - top mark).
This seems to be the standard beer range hereabouts,
with some Youngs and some Greene King, so henceforth I'll only mention deviations from this.
Carry on past the pub up Hertford Street to Curzon Street.
Turn left and then right, up Chesterfield Street.
This whole area is a paradise for blue plaque spotters.
<- Running Footman
To the right along
Charles Street is the
(I Am The Only) Running Footman.
The name seems to have been shortened and there was a refurbishment recently
by the Meredith pubco. Before the refurbishment, it was the only disappointing pub
of the tour, being clearly for the youth market, with loud music and games machines prominent.
The Youngs Bitter was end-of-barrel but the barman wouldn't acknowlege the possibility.
The pub was the inspiration for P.G. Wodehouse's Junior Ganymede Club, as it used to be
the haunt of gentlemens' gentlemen.
Red Lion ->
However a much better pub is to the left along Charles Street, at the corner with
Waverton Street: the
Red Lion,
another classic old-looking pub, similar to the Shepherds Tavern. Both these were suprisingly quiet
on a Tuesday lunchtime (unlike the traditional pubs later on in this walk).
Sadly this seems to be closed at weekends.
<- Punchbowl
Further up Waverton Street at the junction with
Farm Street is
The Punchbowl.
Yet another traditional pub, moderately busy.
Follow Farm Street round into Berkeley Square
and cross it to Bruton Street.
On the right is the Coach & Horses
on a narrow triangular site (not visited -
Tim Taylor Landlord and Sharps Doom Bar were visible out of 5 or 6 hand pumps).
At the far end turn left along New Bond Street.
<- Masons Arms
Go eastwards into
Maddox Street
and past St George's Church to
The Masons Arms.
A notice refers to the Little London pubco. It's another traditional pub, with old-fashioned windows,
and busy at lunchtimes.
Windmill ->
Opposite the Masons Arms is
Mill Street
and
The Windmill - Youngs -
another bustling, traditional pub.
(
web site)
<- Roosevelt and Churchill
From Mill Street turn right into Conduit Street and left down New Bond Street.
Just past the Clifford Street junction is a famous statue of Roosevelt and Churchill
sitting on a bench.
Carrying further on leads back to Piccadilly.
(Bus 9 goes east to Trafalgar Square and on to Aldwych,
or west to the museum quarter in Kensington,
with some Routemaster buses operating.)
Ian Kitching