Petts Wood to the Aldgate Tap

In which I make the journey from the SE corner of Greater London to the City, via a few pubs and a short stop to enjoy some rather splendid views of the Thames.
At the end of the last post I was hopping aboard a train at Chislehurst station, making the short one-stop trip to Petts Wood.

The Pett family gave their name to this little corner of London.  They were prominent shipbuilders between the 15th and 17th centuries who leased the woods in this region as a source of timber.  One of the warships which they built, the Sovereign of the Seas, provided a name to the local Wetherspoon's pub where I'd shortly find myself.
Petts Wood was a largely rural area until the 20th century, with the railway station, shops, cinema and housing estates arriving in the 1920s and 30s.  The local pub was the Charrington Brewery Daylight Inn. 

Named in honour of local resident William Willett, who devised the idea of daylight saving, a one-time legal restriction stated that no other pub could be built within 1-mile of the Inn.  Hence this was the sole pub in the area until Wetherspoon's set up shop.  And now they also have a micropub...  

One Inn the Wood (209 Petts Wood Rd, Petts Wood, Orpington BR5 1LA)
The Onn in the Wood, on the eastern side of the railway, opened in May 2014 in premises that previously housed Bradley's Wine Bar.
You get hops on the ceiling, high benches and stools, and beers served on gravity from a chilled room behind the counter.  But it veers away from the trad Kent micro model by having keg beers, a dormant TV, music, and pot plants on each table.
A great beer list included local favourites alongside brews sourced from further afield - just £4 for your pint of Gadds No5.

It was the pricier Two By Two hazy IPA that I opted for - murk from up north with a 6% ABV which was quite superb.

Despite how it may appear from this blog, I do sometimes make notes when visiting pubs.  For the One Inn the Wood, I have written down "Bamboo in my garden".  What does it mean? No idea.
Possibly a typo and they were playing early 00s ambient music or 1920s American jazz.  Unlikely I was thinking of horticultural designs for home.  Possible I'd misidentified those plants on the tables.

I finished the cracking pale ale and returned my glass to the bar, then headed over the railway footbridge onto Queensway, which provides a run of shops for the folks of Petts Wood.
And the Spoons.
Good hanging baskets (good beer?)...

The Sovereign of the Seas (109-111 Queensway, Petts Wood, BR5 1DG)
This JD Wetherspoon's opened in March 1995 in what was formerly a Co-Op supermarket.  No surprises about what it looks like within - a large open-plan room with the usual range of high seats, booths and rather squeezed-in tables.
The carpet was busy enough to disguise any spillages, the statue a little out of place.

 

Beer-wise, the Spoons Fest flags were up but this visit came before the Autumn ale selection arrived on the bar.  My choice of guest beers was from Adnams, Goffs, Nethergate and Reedly Hallows.  The latter for me - a light 3.8% bitter called 'Beer o' Clock' from the Burnley brewery.

It was pretty busy for mid-afternoon.  I failed to find a free table that I really liked in a circumnavigation of the pub and ended up on a high stool by the pillar at the front.
A fella drinking Stowford Press cider, whose baggy trousers were hanging so low it was incredible they hadn't fallen down, was educating anyone who'd listen about Zionism and Middle East history.  I'm glad he steered clear of my spot. 
Ending his diatribe with "Free Narnia!" was a pretty good deterrent for anyone thinking of challenging his point of view.

The early evening opening time of the Liberal Club prevented me from popping one stop further to Orpington for a Beer Guide tick.
Instead, I headed northbound, alighting at Lewisham and switching onto the Docklands light railway.  I don't think there is an age restriction for giddy excitement at getting the front seat on the driverless trains.

What a great journey, past the multiple new builds of Deptford, under the Thames, then weaving amongst the shiny towers of Canary Wharf.
I hopped off at Limehouse, where you'll find the Good Beer Guide-listed Clement Atlee just under the railway bridge.

The Clement Attlee (576 Commercial Rd, London E14 7JD)
This was opened as the eighth branch of the Craft Beer Co. chain in 2017.  The set-up is the same as you'll find in their other locations: a smart modern reinvention of a traditional pub (this used to be a scruffy local corner pub called the Railway) and a long bar counter with overwhelming choice.
As well as the six cask ales there was a run of 22 kegs, probably with lots I would have fancied, but I didn't want to make this my last stop of the day.

I picked the always reliable Burning Sky Brewery, whose 'Field Trip' was an excellent NZ pale ale.

There was a nice relaxed atmosphere in the pub - a mix of customers from board game players to folks tapping away on laptops.  I failed to visit the secret (in as much as there's a big neon sign saying 'secret') rooftop garden, content in my little corner in this superb pub.

Leaving the Clement Attlee, I headed through the streets southwards to the river.

Walking along Narrow Street, it was a pleasure to reach the Grapes and some buildings that weren't 21st century apartments on the site of old warehouses.
How have I not been here before?  I always seem to have got as far as the Prospect of Whitby and turned back when exploring the north side of the Thames.

The Grapes (76 Narrow St, London E14 8BP)
This narrow building dates back to 1720, although a previous tavern called the Bunch of Grapes existed on the site for almost 200 years prior.
It's now quite famously owned by actor Ian McKellen, film director Sean Matthias and Evening Standard publisher Evgeny Lebedev.
So at least I know that my £6.25 for a pint of Black Sheep 'Best' went to a trio who really needed the money.

It is a lovely riverside pub with a timeless traditional feel.
It's also a tourist attraction with a procession of people poking their heads in and groups taking pictures of one another standing on the balconies to the rear.
There may be a couple of levels of those balconies overlooking the river but they can fit very few drinkers on them so you'd be lucky to score a spot to watch the sun set over the towers of the City.  I managed to get the prime table in the window alcove in the front room though, so I was happy.

Moving on, I returned to Limehouse and caught the next train westbound.
Next stop, the Princess of Prussia, listed under Goodman's Field in the 2027 Good Beer Guide, which still manages to find places in the heart of the City that cause me to ask "where's that?" 

Princess of Prussia (15 Prescot St, London E1 8AZ)
Haven't they done a great job of lighting up the splendid lettering on the front of the pub? 
The original Princess of Prussia became a public house in 1859 when it would have initially received much of its custom from the neighbouring Whitechapel County Court.
Truman's took over in 1913 and commissioned architect William Sewell to rebuild the inn, providing us with the design we see today.  It has had several brewery owners since, with Shepherd Neame arriving in 2005.

Three Sheps real ales on offer from which I picked the 'Whitstable Bay'.
I settled in the back room, keeping the seat warm for Rachel, who'd reserved the whole room for 7:30,
There's a random Borussia Dortmund scarf.
Kim Wilde 'You Keep Me Hanging On' playing in the background.
The 'Whitstable Bay' okay, but not blowing me away.

For such a central pub at 7pm on a Thursday the Princess of Prussia was much quieter than I'd expect.  I do hope Rachel turned up.

My final port of call - a short stroll away - was certainly not short of a post-work office crowd.

Aldgate Tap (Pavillion, 1 Portsoken St, Aldgate, London EC3N 1AF)
Although they'd all elected to crowd outside the Portsoken Pavillion, leaving an ample choice of indoor seating for me.
Added to the Tap empire in 2022, this is a stunning building which was previously a café and events space when it first opened in 2018.  The modern structure was part of a redevelopment of an old gyratory system into a traffic-free space.  The toilets in the basement are actually in a section of the old pedestrian subway that ran beneath the roundabouts.

Just the one cask ale available: Coley's Bitter at a remarkable central London price of £4.40 a pint.
The focus is more on keg beer, with German and Austrian Pils, Bavarian helles, and Czech dark lager on offer, alongside several red ales and IPAs of indeterminate origin.  Everything priced between £6.40 and £7.00 a pint, which - again - seems pretty reasonable for the location.

I'd be happier with a visit early in the day.  I did feel very scruffy and out-of-place amongst the City crowd, but I'm glad I visited.
Last beer of the day for me.
A descent into the depths of the subway and a train home beckoned.

London's Pub of the Year 2026

On the first day of October the sun was still shining and London was calling (to the faraway towns).
My main aim was to visit the 2026 CAMRA Greater London pub of the year.  The Cockpit in Chislehurst claims that accolade, one of the 16 winners throughout the country which get the chance to be beaten to overall winner by the Tamworth Tap.

A direct train from central London would whisk me to Chislehurst too early for the pub, so I instead caught the non-stop service from Victoria to Bromley, from where I could catch a bus later.

Bromley has two stations either side of the pedestrianised shopping centre.  Arriving in the southern one placed me straight across the road from Wetherspoons.
Back to business as usual and starting the day in Spoons (of which there were no shortage on this day out).

The Richmal Crompton (23 Westmoreland Place, Bromley, BR1 1DS)
Opened in 1999 as a Lloyds No.1, this is named after the Just William author who was born just up the road in Chislehurst.
It's a cavernous place, stretching back a long way into a L-shape with ample outdoor seating to the side.

Perusing the hand-pumps I asked for the Lymestone Cowboy only to be told it was off, followed by no attempt being made to turn the pump-clip round.  Why-oh-why keep advertising something I can't have?
So I ended up with the Nethergate 'White Stout' - the £3.40 guest ale price suggesting Bromley doesn't qualify for the bargain end of the Spoons pricing matrix.

White Stout?!  It was a beer packed full of vanilla and white chocolate and was fine for about half a pint until the novelty wore off.

My breakfast wrap was a let-down - haphazardly wrapped, all the best bits at one end, with an egg that looked like it had been cooked several hours earlier.
Hmmm... unavailable beer; substandard wrap; dubious carpet design; a pub too vast to find a cosy corner; this wasn't winning me over.
But on the plus side you get some lovely loos on ground floor level and the lesser-seen Wetherspoon's feature of darts boards in the Richmal Crompton.

Moving on, I wandered through the centre of Bromley, making my way to current Beer Guide entry, the Partridge.

The Partridge (194 High Street, Bromley, BR1 1HE)
This impressive building was opened as the National Provincial Bank in 1927, during a post-war period where residential properties were being demolished to make way for a more commercial High Street.  It was designed by architects Gunton & Gunton in a Neo-Georgian style with lots of elaborate decorative features which would later secure it Grade II listed status.
The entrance lobby is an instant delight...

The Provincial became Nat West, then closed in the early nineties, providing Fuller's the opportunity to convert this into one of their Ale & Pie pubs in 1995.
The Partridge still offers 'signature pies', but the Ale & Pie brand disappeared when the marketing moguls decided they needed to make it clear to customers that a wider choice of food and drink were on offer.
Apparently not everyone wants a calorific pie and pint of ESB, although I've no idea why not.

I plumped for the guest Bristol Beer Factory 'Independence' - CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain 2026.  Tiny Rebel provided the second Fullers alternative in the form of 'Dunk', which seems to be getting everywhere at the moment.
My 'Independence' was on very good form.
The surroundings weren't too shabby either.

The Partridge's main bar is spectacular, with reserved tables in the neat little snug area next to the entrance, plus an additional dining area to the rear.
The soundtrack was lesser-heard Wings track 'Let Me Roll It', followed by 'Wayward Son', 'Friday I'm in Love', 'Hungry like Wolf', and 'Rocket Man'. 
That's a playlist steadily heading into poppier territory, so time to move on to (not another!) JDW... 
The second of Bromley's Spoons is close to the Partridge, north of the pedestrian main drag.

The Greyhound (205 High St, Bromley BR1 1NY)
And it is vastly different from the big open space of the earlier one.  The Greyhound is a pokey place with lots of wood panelled pillars dividing a deceptively big room and making it slightly awkward to maneuver through.
This was added to the Wetherspoon's estate in 2011, converting a building which had most recently been an Italian restaurant, although spent most of it's existence as a former pub of the same name.

It was doing a roaring Thursday lunchtime trade.
There were a mixture of folks standing at the bar and a couple awkwardly trying to form a queue.  The local - the type of fella who's having his Carling poured without having to ask - pointed at me and shouting "Him!" when the staff asked who's next, which was handy, even though I wasn't.

A Mad Cat 'Platinum Blonde' for me, brewed in Faversham.
A chewy, hoppy beer, in respectable condition.

Drinking up, I scooted through the streets to Bromley North where I could catch bus 269 to Chislehurst.

Chislehurst is home to just over 15,000 folks, has 'affluent' added to every description of it, has caves which some real rock legends have played gigs in, and was the birthplace of one-time land speed record holder Malcolm Campbell.
It can now also add 'home of the 2026 CAMRA Greater London pub of the year' to the list of achievements.

The Cockpit ( 4 Royal Parade, Chislehurst BR7 6NR)
Royal Parade isn't your average suburban row of retail outlets.  Instead of vape shops and fried chicken you get an art gallery, Paws pet care centre, a dry cleaners and Walnuts cafe.  Affluent.
No florists though, as that made way for the micro pub in 2020.

There is still a flower counter to the left of the front door incorporated into the Cockpit which must be a bit of a unique feature.
Head to the rear under the hops adorning the ceiling and you'll find the bar with beer board and an extensive range of crisps and nibbles.

The house beer is a 3.8% bitter brewed in collaboration with Tonbridge and priced under a fiver.  Other options on my visit were three ales from Kent Brewery, a session pale from Howling Hops, a strong IPA from Pig & Porter, and another bitter from Lakedown. 
I started with the Kent 'Dubai' - a delicious chocolate and pistachio stout.

The pub consists low tables to the front, high feet-danglers to the back.  No music or distractions.  Bespoke beer mats.  Posh snacking.
Two smartly dressed ladies made multiple visits to the bar to order a bottle of wine, iced water, charcuterie and cheese sharing board, then back again to add a pot of paté.
Yep, not food accompaniments found in the original Kent micros.

A smart comfortable pub with a fine choice of ale and cider.
I enjoyed it enough to stay for another, picking the 'Pit' house beer this time, served in excellent condition, as was the stout.

Deaprting from the Cockpit, I hopped aboard a bus back toward Chislehurst train station.
The signage on the bus doors is very friendly, ensuring you don't need to actually have that interaction with the driver.

I hopped off near the Ramblers Rest, a weatherboarded pub at the bottom of a grassy slope that I'd spotted when travelling past earlier.
Great pub sign...

The Rambers Rest (Mill Pl, Chislehurst BR7 5ND)
The pub claims to date back to 1684 when it was known as the Miller's Arms.  By the 18th century the railway had arrived in Chislehurst bringing additional custom who came to visit the fairs on the heath and take in the sights of Chislehurst.  Post war it had spells as an antiques store and restaurant, until Whitbread purchased the building in 1993.

It looks great from outside.
Does the interior live up to the exterior?  Nope.

A very dull modernisation - the dreary 'Drugs Don't Work' in the background - golf on TV - zero afternoon punters.
I ordered a half of the sole cask, Timothy Taylor 'Landlord'.
"There's a nice garden out back.  Or sit out front.  Sit anywhere you like m'love," the lady behind the bar told me  You don't get many 'm'loves' in London. 
Not a bad Tim Taylors, even if the Ramblers didn't give me the nice rustic pub room I was hoping for.

Down the hill to the station, I pondered which train to catch and where to head to next.
I guess the bear would go to the woods.

So Petts Wood it was.
There will be another Spoons there.

London's Most Treacherous Pub Staircase?

A second post recounting a Central London pub ramble research trip made by our intrepid Oxfordshire trio.
We were making fine progress.  We'd marvelled at heritage interiors, drunk OBB from the wood, chortled childishly at old cock jokes, and pondered why there is a route-master bus in the back yard of the Old Bank of England.
Here's the route for the day...

Our next point of call was the Seven Stars, a wonderful backstreet pub close to Lincoln's Inn.

The Seven Stars (51-54 Carey Street, Aldwych, London, WC2A 2JB)
There are stories that the Seven Stars dates back to 1602 and is a contender to be the oldest pub in London, although historic maps rather kybosh this, showing the site as unbuilt upon until at least 1892. The actual history of the pub is vague. It's suggested that the Seven Stars refer to the seven provinces of the Netherlands, a connection to the sea-faring folk who may have been customers before this was transformed into a legal district.
Never mind the history...it's a gem of a pub. 

 

Spread across three small rooms (the latest being added in 2004 when the neighbouring wig shop was acquired), tables are covered with green plastic gingham tablecloths, giving the feeling you've stepped straight into a different era. On the menu there was dill cured herring, panzanella, 'Marvelous' meatloaf, and goats cheese pear and beetroot salad.
Beer-wise, there were two cask ales from Adnams on offer: 'Southwold Bitter' or 'Broadside'. The Broadside was on great form - best beer of the day so far.

A quick visit to the facilities on the first floor provided a nice law profession sub-genre of my 'Mild Smut in the Gents' series...  

Whilst the route to the loos clearly wins the prize for the day's most precarious pub staircase.

I remember some real corkers of pub staircases around Westminster and Soho which I must revisit and compile pictures of. Preferably without tumbling down any of them.

Just a couple of minutes along the road from the Seven Stars is a ghost 'Spoons.

The Last Judgement (95 Chancery Lane, Holborn, London, WC2A 1DT)
A second bank conversion of the day. From 1865 this used to the Union Bank of London, built with Portland stone in a renaissance style by F. W. Porter.
It was converted by Wetherspoon's into The Knight's Templar in 1999 and operated until March 2023. I drew a blank on this when looking at our route on the map, then instantly remembered my Spoons visit here in the 00s when I caught a glimpse of the exterior and elaborate large single room inside.
I suspect this would have been MUCH busier when it was the Knight's Templar...

"Since its time as a Spoons the number of handpumps are reduced to 6. All mainstream breweries", says the CAMRA website description. Turn your nose up at Spoons as much as you like, but look what the alternative is...mainstream breweries!
Wainwright Amber, London Pride and a couple of pump clips turned around on our visit.
The Pride for us.  "Drinking well".

We navigated the streets for five minutes making our way to a pub which is much newer than those we started the day in.
The Wild Swan (99 Fetter Lane, Holborn, London, EC4A 1ES)
This is Thornbridge and Pivovar's first foray into London. After visits to their venues in Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham, it comes as no surprise that it's smart, stylish and very good.
The site historically housed the Vintners Arms, later to become The Printers Devil, although that building was demolished some years ago. With startling blue brickwork and neat symmetry, Thornbridge have named this with a nod to local one-time journalists watering hole the White Swan and their own beer of the same name.

The line-up of beers offered a fine choice, both on cask and keg.
Look at the concentration that goes into Gareth's picking - he's not a "pint of the last one poured" kinda guy.

I'd been so disciplined with half pints and sensible strength beers, bearing in mind how many pubs we were aiming to get around on this day.
That was derailed a bit at the Wild Swan.
A 'Ravenna' fruity pale ale, single-hopped with Mosaic, for starters.
Followed by two German-style draught beers, Thornbridge's own delicious 'Zehn' 6% festbier, then Elvington 'Mittel Export Dunkel'. All superb.
Fair to say we liked the Wild Swan.
It only opened in April of 2026, but I reckon this will appear in the Good Beer Guide in the not so distant future.

Moving on, we headed into the alleyways to the side of the jewellery quarter to another much-heralded classic London pub.

Ye Olde Mitre (1 Ely Court, Ely Place, Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 6SJ)
A tavern was first built here in 1546 on land belonging to Ely Palace, the London residence of the Bishops of Ely. The current structure is dated to a 1773 reconstruction when the area surrounding the Mitre was transforming.

Five cask ales were available on our visit, two from Windsor & Eton, London Pride, Dark Star 'Hophead' and Sambrook's 'Pumphouse' pale ale. The Pumphouse for me - a lovely London beer served in good condition.
It's lovely inside, so I'm not sure why we ended up propping up a barrel in the alley.

Just one more quick pub visit for me before I headed off to catch the Oxford Tube home.
A short stroll along High Holborn took us to the magnificent-looking Cittie of York...

Cittie of Yorke (22 High Holborn, London WC1V 6BN)
This is another London plot that has housed some sort of inn for hundreds of years.  It survived the Great Fire, became the Queens Head, was re-built a few times, and was eventually purchased by Samuel Smiths in 1975.
There are loads of features within, but to appreciate them I'd need to start here, rather than making it pub number eleven, just after the office crowds had descended.

The stand-out room is Henekey's Bar at the back, designed in the style of a medieval hall as part of the 1920s reconstruction.

We grabbed another OBB from the wood, the sole Sam Smith's cask, plus a dark mild, taking these down into the vaulted cellars.

For me, that was the lot.  Time to head homebound whilst my companions managed to extend the evening a little bit longer.

A great day out.  Thanks to John for planning the route and not getting too carried away adding extra pubs.
More London explorations coming up in the next post, where I'm heading into the SE suburbs.