Sunday 27 October 2013

Oranges and Lemons say St Clement's, Eastcheap

So here we go with round two of the Oranges and Lemons tour, a mere two weeks since our initial foray into the world of citrus fruit based pub crawls. This week though we were actually in a way retreading old ground, as we were visiting another St Clements church as there are no less than two churches in London who claim the honour of being the one mentioned in the Nursery Rhyme.

Last week it was St Clement Danes and this week it's St Clements Eastcheap which as luck would have it is a mere bagatelle in terms of distance from our office location.
Firstly though, before we dive into the pubs and happenings of the night a quick word on the lead up to the night which was based around the very welcome visit of Munchkin Steve, down once again to dip his toes in southern culture from the cave-like existence of the northern wilderness. It also turned out to be the night that our illustrious national football team were due to play their final World Cup qualification match against Poland, needing a win to guarantee entry into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

By the time that I’d realised it was a footie night though I'd already researched the pubs I wanted to visit so the last minute requests to ensure that at least one of the pubs had a big screen were left entirely in the lap of the footballing gods. That said, I did try to encourage some casual betting by seeing who would be willing to lay a couple of pound out on predicting the first scorer and final score of the match. In the end 5 of us girded our loins with stubby biros and placed the following wagers:
Munchkin Steve – Baines - 3-0 to England
Aussie Pete - Lewandowski - 2-1 to England
Big J - Gerard - 3-1 to England

No-Nickname Michael - Lampard – 3-1 to England
BGC - Sturridge - 1-0 to England

None of our fairer sex tourists seemed interested in laying out some money although we did hear later that George loves a flutter and can often be found down her local bookies with a flat cap and rollie.
Anyway onto the tour……..

Our exit from the office was somewhat delayed by the cosmetic application of the ladies meaning that Spikey Haired Ed, Pete and Steve actually left early to get a quick one in on the way. The rest of us were left stood around waiting for various touching up procedures, especially by Lucie who seemed to be going for the full war-paint look. Finally on our way, we could this week forgo the tube journey and take a leisurely stroll down Eastcheap itself, picking the three early doors drinkers up on the way to the first pub.

....a small place tucked up an alley way......
 
The Ship in Talbot Court is a small place tucked up an alley way but which never the less opens out into a sizable courtyard. It's a Nicholson’s place which meant that the scanners amongst the tour were back on track with a potential scan although this was scuppered when the certificate couldn't be located for love nor money. What could be located was beer and we once again did that trick where everyone says "we'll have what Rich is having" (in this case a beautiful pint of Gathering Storm from the Leeds Brewery) and then they all moan that it's not what they really like. Well I say all, it did meet with some approval from some quarters but the general opinion was that they'd sooner be drinking Peroni, which in the case of Pete, Steve & Ed was exactly what they were doing.

If you push this button, it operates the heaters.

Because the pub was so small and crowded, we had to split ourselves up, with 4 or 5 of us drinking outside in the courtyard and the rest huddled round a table on the inside. But maybe the external drinkers got the best of the deal as the owners of the Ship had not only fitted patio heaters but a switch that allowed you to turn them on again once the timer had run down.
A fantastic photo showing the tour both inside and outside the Ship.
 
The next place I'd selected was just a few hundred metres further on along Eastcheap by the junction of Gracechurch Street and is the sort of place I would normally avoid like the plague. Called the Folly it's a vast cavernous modern drinking hole designed for the young and trendy but from their website it seems you can also buy fruit and veg there? Thinking there might be an orange or lemon or two on offer I'd put this pub into the schedule but probably could have saved myself the trouble.

The Folly - Photo not taken on the night.

It wasn't all bad and I should be fair as there was a choice of two beers which places like this don't normally have at all. Plumping for pints of Woodfords Wherry it was far too cold but at least it wasn't bottles of Becks or Stella. (Joke for the murder mystery people there.)
So with two pubs down and two to go it was now time to move on to the Church for the evening and it was just a quick pop around the corner to the very aptly named Clement’s Lane and the aforementioned St Clement’s Eastcheap. Unfortunately the history and interesting facts about this place were fewer than the other St Clement’s and as the church is a) crammed up a narrow side street and b) undergoing restorations it was also hardly the scenic beauty that the first St Clements was - and it's only got one bell.

Amazing blue sky for an evening this time of year.

Anyway interesting facts such as they were are that it's another Sir Christopher Wren designed place which he did after the original church burnt down in the Great Fire of London. For this job he received the princely sum of a third of a Hogshead of wine which works out, I reckon, to about 420 bottles of the stuff so you'll have to make your own judgement as to whether he got a good deal or not.
SamuelPepys came and listened to a sermon here once and Edward Purcell, son of the great English baroque composer Henry, was once organist here and that folks, as Mr Buggs Bunny might say, is all.

Brenda and Steve face the camera. Ed hides in his Super Dry jacket.

The next watering hole was another Cask Marque venue called the Vintry, a Fullers pub but quite different from their normal shiny brass and traditional looking places around the corner in Abchurch Yard (but nearer St Mary Abchurch than St Clements). This was more a restaurant than a pub and although there was a good compliment of Fullers ales the focus seemed to be on the food and wine rather than the beer.
People having a good time - honestly.
 
I went for Red Fox which I think both Charlie, Jayson and Gemma followed suit on. Brenda was still on the ale mission but went for Gales Seafarers instead. Lucie and Isabelle had switched to cider, such are the vagaries of French taste buds and George was on the Vodka Fun Drinks. The rest were on lager and as such don't get a mention.

To be perfect honest the Red Fox wasn't the best it can be. I usually really like this autumnal offering from Fullers but I don't know whether this was too cold or just out of condition, but I've certainly had better, much much better.
 
BGC gets all arty.
 
It was that time of night when the lightweights left and so it was au revoir to Lucie and Isabelle and sod off to Ed (he had ironing to do or something) but the rest of us made our way down Cannon Street, pausing only to photograph St Pauls, before turning into Bush Lane and the final pub of the evening, the Bell.

There seems to be some history to the Bell as it claims to be the oldest small pub in the City of London (I guess that might depend on your definition of “small”) and also can trace the various landladies and landlords back to 1673.
The Licensees of The Bell - Exactly what it says on the tin.
 
It's certainly a charming little place that was just the right side of crowded and atmospheric and to the relief of all followers of the round ball it came complete with three of the smallest big screen you're ever likely to see in a pub nowadays.

The beer range wasn't huge, but there was Cornish Coast from Sharpes alongside their better known Doombar. I think there was another ale on as well but I'm struggling to recall the name of it.
Anyway, just about making out the footballing action though the subtitles which were taking up almost a third of the big screen’s small screen, we settled down (standing) to watch the match.

Football never makes for good reported commentary but the highlights were when the bar manageress stood on a stool to raise the volume of the telly and instantly England scored (a Rooney header) and halftime when almost everyone dashed out for a halftime McDonalds.
A tricky second half and a tricky second pint were negotiated and we were all satisfied with a 2-0 victory which will see Roy’s men safely on the plane to Rio for next year. What was less satisfying was hearing that the Bell closes at 22:00 for some reason and that none of us had won any money on the bets.

Still thems the breaks!