FREEDOM PASS WETHERSPOONS 10 (APPENDIX)
FREEDOM PASS WETHERSPOONS 10 (APPENDIX)
I've finished. Including those I'd previously patronised, some now closed, the total number of London Wetherspoons visited is 108.
By design, the whole exercise encompassed some of my favourite pastimes - seeing friends, walking, photography, museums, music, stand-up comedy, writing, and, of course, going to the pub. I also got to discover parts of London I'd never been to before, despite having lived in the capital for over fifty years.
So now I know where the Krays are buried, and the site of the world's first ATM.
I thought this would take longer; but a mild winter helped. The most pubs I visited in one day was six. But that included starting in The George, my Wanstead local, and only briefly visiting the sixth for the gents and a photo of the carpet.
The red dots show all the places I've been since starting my Freedom Pass Wetherspoons quest in January 2024 ....
The big cluster of dots is central London, some of which are Wetherspoons. The blob just north of Ilford is where I live. The rest plot pretty much all the Wetherspoons pubs within the Transport for London area. The only place I paid a train fare to reach is Woking, where my friend Bob lives. We met up in The Herbert Wells. Yes, it's also Spoons - and it was Bob's round.
The cheapest beer I found was £1.69 for Ruddles in The Beehive, Brixton - quite likely the cheapest pint in the whole of the capital. And the cheapest bottomless coffee cost just £1.04 in The Great Spoon of Ilford.
It has been suggested I rate them all. But, apart from being a bit boring, it wouldn't be particularly objective or useful as a pub that is an oasis of calm for breakfast might be awash with tiresome drunks by the evening. Also, comparing food and drink is pointless as, for every Spoons, quality and price (apart from the airport terminals) is pretty much identical.
So, I'll just flag a few favourites:
Well worth a visit:
The Fox on the Hill - Denmark Hill. Spacious country pub with plenty of outside seating, great views and next door to a nice park.
The Coronation Hall - Surbiton. Elegant former cinema with many original features .....
The Eva Hart - Chadwell Heath.Former police station named after Titanic survivor. Airy interior but with lots of alcoves, wood panelling and a gallery.
The Crosse Keys - City of London (Bank Station). My favourite central London Spoons. Nice toilets - and the most appropriate carpet. But busy at lunchtimes.
For tourists:
The Moon Under Water in Leicester Square and Montagu Pyke in Soho are good places to meet before sampling the delights of the West End.
The Ice Wharf is in the middle of Camden Market .....
The Rocket in Putney is the only London Spoons pub actually on the banks of the River Thames .....
However, there is another riverside Spoons on my list - the Back of Beyond in Reading, which is on the River Kennet.
There are 55 Wetherspoons in the UK which are also hotels. But just one of these is in Greater London - The Greenwood Hotel in Northolt. It's nice enough, but not close to any points of interest and almost a mile from the nearest Underground station. So, unless you have friends in west London, not for tourists. I've stayed in Spoons hotels before - in Hull, Ripon and Tewksbury. The best thing about them is, unlike most hotels, the breakfast is optional as you can just go down to the bar and order off the regular menu.
Fundamentally, Wetherspoons pubs are like the YMCA where ....
𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮 You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal, you can do whatever you feel.𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮
𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮 And you can hang out with the (old) boys.𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮
𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮 And you can hang out with the (old) boys.𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮
So what next? Suggestions include:
Blue plaques: They tend to be clustered together in central London, many of which I've already covered with my Monopoly Challenge. So, no.
Museums and galleries: According to Wikipedia there are around 250 of these in London. It sounds a lot but over the years I've already been to around half of them. So this is certainly an option, maybe using this Flow chart of London Museums.
World Cuisines: I started this during covid, but quickly stalled on Andorra. The few I sought out were fun, especially the Albanian restaurant in Barking where they thought I was from the Michelin Guide and showered me with free drinks and desserts. Disappointingly my Deliveroo Afghan meal wasn't delivered by camel. A downside of resuming this quest is I might end up looking like the Michelin Man, spare tyre and all.
Street art: This has great appeal, but is a constantly changing dynamic. Some councils have zero tolerance for street art and will paint over all graffiti, even a Banksy potentially worth a fortune. So there would never be a feeling of completeness. But I will sign up to some of the street art walking tours, of which there are plenty. Also, the London Mural Festival returns in September with around 100 new artworks to find.
UPDATE: This just appeared in nearby Forest Gate. It's by French street artist Zabou who is based in London. And it turns out she has similar works scattered around London.
The Super Loop: This is a new bus service that girdles London. Whilst I love riding around town on top of a double-decker bus, I've already been to most of the stops.
Great Trees of London:
And I already walked The Thames Path, not the whole 185 miles, but the part through Greater London, between Thamesmead and Hampton Court.
There's the option of plundering someone else's idea:
Apart from the many pub guides, there are other possibilities .....
But, unless someone comes up with a better idea, I think maybe combining unseen museums/galleries with uneaten national dishes might work. And if there's a great tree or Zebou mural nearby, all the better. But there's no rush and it could be a good thing to save for the winter months. This time around, unless I book a break in Andorra, the gastronomy won't be alphabetical. Meantime, sitting in a Wetherspoons beer garden with the crossword and a pint of Doombar seems like a perfectly good option.
BREAKING:
In September 2024 a new Wetherspoons, The Lion & The Unicorn, opened at Waterloo station, bringing my total up to 109 ....
The pub's name recalls The Lion and The Unicorn Pavilion which was part of the 1951 Festival of Britain, centred here on the South Bank. It was hugely popular and significant coming soon after WWII. The Royal Festival Hall is the only building that remains from then. As I've previously mentioned, many Spoons pubs reference George Orwell. But not here, despite the fact he wrote The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius.
The £2.8 million development will likely prove to be a popular place to wait for a train or meet your well-heeled friends from Surrey. But it's relatively quiet right now as it's adjacent to the relatively remote Platforms 20 to 24.
If your train is delayed, you can either order another pint or check out the street art in Leake Street tunnel .......
..... take the side exit from the station, on the floor below The Lion and The Unicorn. Otherwise it's a bit of a hike.
The Full London Wetherspoons List:
(Entries in 2025 Good Beer Guide in bold)
Alfred Herring - Palmers Green Freedom Pass Wetherspoons 1
Asparagus - Battersea 1
London and South Western - Battersea 1
Back of Beyond - Reading 1
Hope Tap - Reading 1
Barrel Vault - St Pancras International 1
Baxter's Court - Hackney 1
Beaten Docket - Cricklewood 5
Bear - Maidenhead 1
Beehive - Brixton 2
Botwell Inn - Hayes (Hillingdon) 1
Brockley Barge - Brockley 3
Captain Flinders - Euston 1
Central Bar - Shepherd's Bush 1
Colley Rowe Inn - Collier Row 1
Coronation Hall - Surbiton 5
Crosse Keys - City of London
Eva Hart - Chadwell Heath 1
Furze Wren - Bexleyheath 7
Wrong 'Un - Bexleyheath 7
Gate Clock - Greenwich 1
George - Croydon 6
Goldenglove - Stratford 1
Goodman's Field - Whitechapel 4
Good Yarn - Uxbridge 8
Greenwood Hotel - Northolt 7
Great Harry - Woolwich 4
Great Spoon of Ilford - Ilford 1
Greyhound - Bromley 7
Richmal Crompton - Bromley 7
Half Moon - Mile End 6
Hamilton Hall - Liverpool Street Station 1
Hart and Spool - Borehamwood 5
Holland Tringham - Steatham (now refurbished - I checked!) 7
Ice Wharf - Camden 2
J.J. Moon's - Hornchurch 2
J.J. Moons - Tooting 2
J.J. Moon's - Wembley 9
Kentish Drovers - Peckham 5
Liberty Bounds - Tower of London (north) 1
Pommelers Rest - Tower Bridge (south) 1
The Lion and The Unicorn (Waterloo Station) 10
Metropolitan Bar - Marylebone 3
Montagu Pyke - Soho 1
Moon and Spoon - Slough 1
Moon and Stars - Romford 1
Moon and Stars - Penge 9
Moon on the Hill - Harrow-on-the-Hill (scheduled for closure) 1
Moon Under Water - Colindale 2
Moon Under Water - Enfield 2
Moon Under Water - Hounslow 6
Moon Under Water - Leicester Square 1
Moon Under Water - Norbury 7
Moon Under Water - Watford 9
Moon and Sixpence - Hatch End 5
Moon on the Hill - Sutton 5
Moon on the Square - Feltham 4
Mossy Well - Muswell Hill 2
Pennsylvanian - Rickmansworth 1
Plough and Harrow - Hammersmith 4
William Morris - Hammersmith 4
Railway Bell - Barnet 2
Rocket - Putney 4
Rockingham Arms - Elephant and Castle 2
Shakespeare's Head - Holborn 1
Sir John Hawkshaw - Cannon Street Station 1
Sir John Oldcastle - Farringdon 1
Sir Julian Huxley - Selsdon 6
Sir Michael Balcon - Ealing 1
Sovereign of the Seas - Petts Wood 4
Spouter's Corner - Wood Green 3
Stargazer - O2 Arena, Greenwich 1
Surrey Docks - Rotherhithe 3
Tailor's Chalk - Sidcup 9
Village Inn - Rayners Lane 8
Walnut Tree - Leytonstone 1
Watch House - Lewisham 3
Watchman - New Malden 8
Wetherspoons - Victoria Station 6
Whispering Moon - Wallington 9
White Swan - Islington 1
Wibbas Down Inn - Wimbledon 8
William Webb Ellis - Twickenham 5
Willow Walk - Victoria 6
Closed:
Knight's Templar - Chancery Lane 1
Angel - Islington 1Lord Moon of the Mall - Trafalgar Square 1
Tichenham Inn - Ickenham 7
Outside the Freedom Pass area:
Herbert Wells - Woking 7
Comments
Post a Comment