After weeks of planning and inter-branch negotiation, the pub crawl of the newly extended East London Line began at 9.00 am on Saturday 21st August 2010 at the George in East Croydon. As the Southernmost station on the East London Line Overground route is West Croydon, you might wonder why a pub in East Croydon was chosen for the start. This is because a 9.00 am start time more or less requires a Wetherspoon’s pub and when it comes to the chain’s Croydon branches, the George in East Croydon does a greater range of beers from independent breweries than ‘The Ship of Fools’ which is the pub closest to West Croydon Station. The George is also the Croydon and Sutton CAMRA Branch Pub of the Season for Summer 2010.
Arriving at the George at 8.50, I meet up with my fellow South East London Branch Committee Members Julian and Jill. Julian is wearing a baseball cap, customised with the British Rail logo of arrows going in opposite directions. Just in case the crawl attracted scores of CAMRA Members Julian and Jill have also made some green and red flags and I’ve brought my authentic Acme Thunderer railway whistle of c1960 to assist in marshaling the expected throng of real ale enthusiasts/railway buffs between pubs and stations. Of course, BR logos, whistles and flags have only a very tenuous connection to the present day London Overground with its computer controlled fleet of sleek air-conditioned carriages, but that’s not going to stop us playing chuff-chuffs!. At around 9.30 and half way through breakfast we are joined by Tony of CAMRA East London and City Branch. Tony, it soon becomes apparent, has travelled the world since retirement and ticks off countries in the same way as many members tick off half pints at beer festivals! Oh, he also does that as well.
At around 10.10 the three of us set off for West Croydon. Although the tram line to West Croydon outside the George would normally take you to West Croydon in a few minutes we found it closed that day for ‘improvements’. We therefore followed the tram line into West Croydon. Subsequently we found that cutting through the pedestrianised area of Croydon, which the tram doesn’t pass through, would have got us to West Croydon Station more quickly. However, we arrived at the station just in time to see our train pull away from the platform. About 15 minutes later, we boarded our new London Overground train and after a few minutes alighted at Penge West. From the station, it’s about a 15 minute walk along the High Street to The Moon and Stars. Another Wetherspoons Pub, but remember it’s still before 11.00 am and most pubs, even if they sold real ale, would not yet be open! At the Moon and Stars we meet up with Peter and John from Croydon Branch and Mick from South East London. There was a good range of beers and all the ones tasted scored highly.
After leaving the pub, Mick had to leave us while Julian reached the station slightly ahead of the rest of us and managed to catch the train the rest of us missed. We caught up with him about 20 minutes later at the Capitol, which is a few minutes walk from Forest Hill Station. Although there are a number of good real ale pubs near the station, The Capitol, another Wetherspoons pub, was selected for the greater range of beers on offer and the fact that it was the only one which was a Grade II listed building, being an old cinema of the same name. At the Capitol we were joined by Ian of South East London Branch and Dave and Andrew of Croydon and Sutton. Due to the need to make up time, our stay at the Capitol is shorter than we would like. I use up one of my CAMRA Weatherspon vouchers on a pint of Ginger Tom then It’s back to the station, saying goodbye to Ian who has ‘kiddie duties’.
The next stop is the Brockley Barge, which is a few minutes walk from Brockley Station and another Wetherspoon’s Pub, the smallest of the ones visited so far and the last of the day. At the Barge we are joined by Lawrence and Sue of North London Branch and George, a Scot who likes to float between London Branches. Although an alternative lunchtime venue, the Orchard Cafe in nearby Cranfield Road, was also on the itinerary, this had unfortunately stopped doing real ale. The manger of the Orchard stated that this was due to the fact that the real ale was dispensed from the bar by gravity and the recent prolonged spell of hot weather had made the beer difficult to keep. However, he assured us it would be coming back. I feel that at a time when so many long established pubs are closing and being redeveloped, a cafe in a new building prepared to stock real ale needs all the support it can get. So good luck to the Orchard, be back when the real ale returns. On arriving at Brockley Station we noticed that there were two chaps who appeared to be calling at all the same pubs as ourselves had followed us to the station. Yes, they were doing the crawl as well and we welcomed them to our fold, sadly I never found out their names.
Call me Ishmael if our next stop isn’t the The Moby Dick, a modern Fullers Pub overlooking Greenland Dock, just 10 minutes walk from Surrey Quays Station. You could probably do the walk more quickly but you would miss out on the wonderful views, the cormorants, the dinghy’s gliding through the water and the hidden remnants of the areas industrial past, such as the rails for the travelling cranes which run along side the dock. The pub name is an allusion to the importance of the dock in the great days of whaling in the 1800s when no one ever thought these great leviathons would be hunted to the brink of extinction. By this time I am on half pints and try a competently kept ESB.
A short walk from Rotherhithe station is our next pub – The Mayflower, an historic riverside Inn with jetty overhanging the Thames. We get to the pub at about the scheduled time of 4.00 pm. Green King ales of reasonable quality served. We are joined by Rob, his partner Agnes and Andrew of South East London Branch. We watch a Thames barge, and a canal narrow boat using their engines to struggle up river against the tide. We then set off back to Rotherhithe to catch the train to Wapping and our next pub. Look out for the remarkable remains at Wapping of the first tunnel under the Thames built by Marc Brunel, with some help from his son, Isambard. The tunnel was finally opened 1843 some twenty years after construction commenced.
Owing to some confusion among our party as to when we were due at the next pub, the Town of Ramsgate, we thought we had sufficient time to visit the Captain Kidd, which is actually closer to the Wapping station. The Captain Kidd is a Sam Smiths Pub in a picturesque Georgian building with Riverside Terrace. Both handpumps were serving Sam Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter at the remarkable price of 1.90 a pint. We gave the beer a good score and drank it as we watched the river traffic go by. Remembering the river craft at the last pub struggling against the tide, this time we were treated to a barge being rowed downstream at a great pace. With six more pubs to go and a realisation that we didn’t have that much time to do the next two pubs on the list,Julian, Jill and myself decided to break away from the rest of the party. It was than a short walk down the road to the Town of Ramsgate. However, we made the mistake of walking in the wrong direction and therefore took longer to reach the pub than we should have done. The Town of Ramsgate is a traditional Victorian riverside pub, with long narrow plan and a terrace overlooking the Thames. The narrow lane beside the Pub leads down to the river’s edge and there are stairs which you can use to access the foreshore at low tide. The real ale choice in the pub was rather standard and I had a half of Sharpe’s Doombar which was OK.
Our next stop is Shadwell Station for the Old Rose, 128 The Highway. This stop is a bit of a disappointment. Firstly, while not actually getting lost, we take the bus to the pub, before realising that this takes a great deal longer than walking through the church yard of St George in the East. This early 18th Century Church with spire by Nicholas Hawkesmoore dominates the local area and is visible from both the station and the Old Rose. To add to our woe, the Young’s Bitter served at the pub is off that night due to some inexplicable problem. However, we meet up with Matt from south East London Branch and several other stalwarts enjoying a bottled beer,soft drink or coffee which are all available at the pub.
It’s then back to Shadwell Station and on to the Urban Bar in Whitechapel, within easy walk of the station, you can’t miss it, it’s the Victorian boozer painted with tiger stripes! Sadly, the choice of real ale that night is limited to Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. They did not obviously read their London Drinker to prepare themselves for a massed CAMRA descent on their establishment! Still this allowed us time to regroup. In between halves of timothy Taylor Landlord, I checked out the local area to find that we were only a stones throw from the Blind Beggar. Due to the pressures of the Crawl, I did not check it out for real ale but for anyone with an interest in criminology of the 1960s (Kray and Richardson Gangs) this pub would be worth a visit.
It was then a walk southwards to the Good Samaritan, Turner Street. Nice traditional pub with limited selection of real ales, Tried the Courage Directors. As with the current Courage Best it strikes me as not the same quality as the beer once widely available in London in the 1980s. However, the Directors wasn’t too bad and after finishing my half it was back to Whitechapel Station and on to the The Owl and the Pussycat at Shoreditch. Now for the first real shock of the evening. They’ve put Shoreditch station in Zone 1, so I could not exit the ticket barrier with my Zone 2 to 6 Travelcard! 
Fortunately, a ticket inspector came to my rescue and let me through. This is apparently a common problem on the line for people getting off at Shorditch as it’s the only zone 1 station on the line. However, we could have avoided it as the Owl and the Pussy Cat was closed for refurbishment. Our substitute pub, the Spitalfields, was quite some distance from the station, requiring us to force our way through the ranks of Brick Lane curry touts, with their seductive offers of free lager with your meal! However, we managed to resist the temptation and found ourselves walking past the old Trumans Brewery. The Spitalfields did not disappoint with an excellent Crouchvale Brewers Gold. Unfortunately, the pub was so busy and glasses in such short supply that my ale was served in a Stella Artois Glass, which caused me some embarrassment! Julian and Jill, decide to call it a day at this pub and I bade them farewell.
After the long walk back to Shoreditch Station it was on to Haggeston and the nearest chippy. At the direction of our North London Branch Guide, Lawrence, who had joined us at the Brockley Barge, we took our greasy parcels to the Duke of Wellington, 260 Haggerston Road, Hackney and consumed them on the picnic tables outside. this pub was substituted for our official stop, the Stags Head, 55 Orsman Road, where we were advised that there was unlikely to be any real ale to be had there these days. At the Duke of Wellington we met up with an advance party who did not require food and enjoyed the only real ale on offer, a Fuller’s London Pride in good condition. Real ale has only recently been reintroduced back into this pub so congratulations to the landlord for deciding to take a chance with this most temperamental of beverages!
A ten minute walk from the Duke of Wellington is the Scolt Head. Here we meet up once again with Ian of South East London Branch, relieved of those kiddie duties and free to enjoy a pint of Truman’s Runner. The choice of real ale was limited to two that evening but judging by the crowds packed into this back street Victorian boozer, the management appear to have hit on a successful formula which will hopefully avoid them falling into the hands of property developers.
And so after a 10 minute walk from the Scolt Head we arrive at our last pub the Duke of Wellington, Balls pond Road, Dalston. Here our numbers have reduced to 10 from the early evening peak of 14. However, allowing for people leaving and joining throughout the day, about 20 people have now experienced the pub opportunities offered by the Capital’s new piece of transport infrastructure. As this is an informal event, we can’t publish a list of all those who participated but I’ve tried to mention the names of every one I can remember meeting during the course of the day. If you remember speaking to me and I omitted to mention you, please accept my apologies. Only myself and East London and City Branch Member Tony started in Croydon in Croydon and finished in Dalston. As for the pub, the Duke of Wellington is CAMRA North London Branch “Pub Of The Season” Spring 2010. The award is in recognition of the pub’s support for real ale, real ciders, independent breweries, the Locale scheme and their own regular real ale festivals. There were two real ales on offer when we arrived with a third added towards last orders. They were all from independent breweries. Memory a little hazy as to precisely which ones they were but I do remember that I had a rather nice pint of O’Hanlon’s Stormstay. As we approach last orders, people begin to depart for buses and trains. I take my leave of Tony who informs me that he off on a 14 pub crawl of Brighton tomorrow! Lawrence who has been a invaluable guide to us south Londoners during the course of the evening asks us if we would like to join him and a few others in a visit to another north London pub. However, this would mean missing our last train and probably getting home at dawn. Ian, myself and the remainder of the Croydon and Sutton contingent therefore decline this very tempting offer and set off for Dalston Junction Station and home.
When I reflect on what I gained from the, apart from enjoying a variety of ales in good company, there was the realislation that those places in London you only pass through on the train or only know as a name on a map often support a good pub or two selling real ale. The crawl also encompassed areas as diverse architecturally as they were socially from the 1980s post modern architecture of Greenland Dock at Surrey Quays to the upmarket warehouse conversions of Wapping and the council estates of The Highway, Shadwell. However, every location had its reminders of the past, even The Highway at Shadwell, with Hawkesmoor’s St Georges in the East and the Old Rose (even if real ale was off that evening) standing out as survivors of the Blitz. I’ve always felt that many of London’s most interesting places lie outside the City and West End and, as a result seldom get visited. The newly extended East London Line provides you with an opportunity to put together a good day out combining, pubs, historic buildings. So why not buy a travel card this weekend and give it a try?
Jan Mondrzejewski
