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.
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...
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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