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.
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.
....a small place tucked up an alley way......
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 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.
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.
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.
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!