This crawl takes in half a dozen hostelries of character
in the area bounded by Gray's Inn Road to the east and Southampton
Row to the west. The first few are north of Theobald's Road,
then we head south, finishing reasonably close to Holborn and
Chancery Lane tube stations. None of the pubs is more than five
minutes' gentle stroll from the next.
Most of the pubs are on back streets with room to congregate
outside, which is pleasant on a balmy summer's evening. Should
the evening be other than balmy we may have to shelter indoors,
but if the weather is rotten it will put non-Mensans off going
for an after-work drink! Either way we win.
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#1
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6.00pm - 6.45pm
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The Kings Arms
11a Northington Street, WC1N 2JF (nearest tube: Chancery
Lane).
- This unpretentious little pub on the corner of John Street
is across the street from my place of work. It serves "Thai"
food. NB I have not tried the food in any of the listed pubs
so can offer no recommendations.
Turn right up John Street, take the next left into Roger Street:
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#2
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6.50pm - 7.45pm
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The Duke (of York)
7 Roger Street, WC1N 2PB
- A delightful little pub. This was featured in Chris + Ginny's
"A Few of our Favourite Pubs" crawl (before I rejoined)
but I make no apology for including it tonight. You can't get
much more tucked away than this. Promising-looking food available.
Walk south down John's Mews, turn right into Northington Street
and at the end on the right is:
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#3
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7.50pm - 8.35pm
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The Rugby Tavern
19 Great James Street, WC1N 3ES
- This pub gets very busy but there is a large traffic-free
area outside where one can loiter beneath the plane trees. Dorothy
L Sayers, writer of amusing and ingenious whodunits, used to
live a couple of doors down at no 24, and several of her novels
are set in Bloomsbury.
Either walk down Great James Street and turn right at Theobald's
Road, or walk a few yards along Rugby Street and turn down the
dingy alley on the left which debouches into Emerald Street,
and walk to the end:
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#4
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8.40pm - 9.25pm
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The Queen's Head
64 Theobald's Road, WC1X 8SF
- On the corner of Emerald Street, this medium-sized pub doesn't
really have an outside drinking area, but by now the after-work
crowd should have gone home. Food served until 9:30.
Turn right, walk up to the lights, cross the road and proceed
down Red Lion Street, passing some splendid pubs which did not
quite make the grade required for you discerning drinkers. The
Dolphin is lovely but it is tiny; the Enterprise is an excellent
pub in many ways but has been known to play very loud "music"
on Friday nights. At the end of the street on the right is:
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#5
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9.30pm - 10.15pm
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The Old Red Lion
72 High Holborn, WC1V 6LS
- This pub is not quite so minute as it appears; there is
another bar upstairs (get served downstairs). Pleasantly cool
with fine views down Holborn from the open windows.
Walk back up Red Lion Street and take the first right:
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#6
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10.20pm - closing
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The Old Nick
21-22 Sandland Street, WC1R 4PZ
- This pub is in the style of a bijou gin palace, with engraved
mirrors and rather more chandeliers than necessary. On warm summer
nights they throw open all the French windows.
The Old Nick closes at 11pm and they don't encourage hanging
about, but if you want to make a night of it you could do worse
than the Shakespeare's Head in Kingsway, a few doors down from
Holborn tube. This cavernous Wetherspoon's (aren't they all)
stays open until 1am.
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