{"id":2679,"date":"2022-05-25T09:56:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T09:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=2679"},"modified":"2022-05-25T09:56:11","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T09:56:11","slug":"aunties-boozers-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2022\/05\/25\/aunties-boozers-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Auntie\u2019s boozers revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 13 April, the London Pubs Group held an evening tour of Fitzrovia, W1, which, in part, followed in the footsteps of a previous event in December 2008 visiting pubs that had associations with the BBC (hence \u2018Auntie\u2019) and artists and writers who once worked or resided in the area. The name Fitzrovia, believed to have been coined in the 20th century, derives from the name of the man who became Lord Southampton, the Hon Charles Fitzroy. He developed the area, centered on Fitzroy Square, in the 18th century and by the 1930s and 1940s it had become known as the haunt of artists and writers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mirror in the Flying Horse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Proceedings commenced in the Flying Horse <\/strong>(formerly the Tottenham) at 6 Oxford Street. This famous pub is not only Grade II*-listed but is also on CAMRA\u2019s National Inventory of Pub Interiors of Outstanding Historic Interest. This is the last-remaining pub on Oxford Street and was built in 1892-93 in a florid Flemish Renaissance style to the designs of architects Saville & Martin. The pub now consists of a long single space, arising from the amalgamation of two rooms in the original Victorian pub. The rear section has some of the most exceptional and rare Victorian pub fittings seen anywhere, including mahogany panelling, back-painted mirrors, embossed tiling and plain mirrors. A remarkable series of paintings features women representing three of the four seasons. The fourth painting \u2018Winter\u2019 has disappeared, although it\u2019s just possible it might survive beneath the modern  panelling beside the entrance. After more than a century as the Tottenham, the pub reverted to its earlier name in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once part of Ind Coope (Allied Breweries) estate, by 2005 it was being operated by Mitchells & Butlers, who, as a brewery, had merged with Bass in 1961. The pub is now part <\/em>of the Nicholson\u2019s chain; such is the topsy-turvy pub world that emerged from the 1989 Beer Orders. The current beer offering includes Adnams Ghost Ship, Fuller\u2019s London Pride, Sharp\u2019s Doom Bar, Weston\u2019s Old Rosie and Rosie\u2019s Pig Ciders and one guest ale, usually from a microbrewery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A short walk west along Oxford Street led to the Wheatsheaf <\/strong>at 25 Rathbone Place. The pub was frequented by the writer, Julian Maclaren-Ross who immortalised it in his book Memoirs of the Forties<\/em>. It was also the place where the poet, Dylan Thomas met his future wife, Caitlin Macnamara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inside the Wheatsheaf<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was built in 1931 by Younger\u2019s Brewery to a design by J S Quilter & Son in their familiar London \u2018Scotch House\u2019 half- timbered style (see also the Coach & Horses, Bruton Street W1, and the former Pillars of Hercules in Greek Street – now called Jim Loves Gloria). In Memoirs of the Forties, <\/em>Julian Maclaren-Ross described it thus: \u201cIt had mock-Tudor panelling and, inset around the walls, squares of tartan <\/em>belonging to various Scottish clans.\u201d <\/em>Some of the latter, the \u201cwindows of armourial glass\u201d <\/em>and other features have survived opening-out and modernisation. Over the entrance door is a particularly pleasing stained-glass depiction of the eponymous wheatsheaf. Sharp\u2019s Doom Bar is the usual real ale sold here.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Screen in the
Fitzroy Tavern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After continuing north along Rathbone Place to the junction with Percy Street, turning right and crossing over to Charlotte Street, we reached the Fitzroy Tavern<\/strong>, 16 Charlotte Street. The pub originally opened as the Hundred Marks but gained its present name in 1919, no doubt in part due to teutonophobia after WW1. Later owned by Hoare & Co and then Charrington, it was one of Sam Smith\u2019s first London acquisitions in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the notables who once frequented it were Jacob Epstein, Dylan Thomas (of course!), Augustus John and George Orwell. It is not a listed building nor is it on any CAMRA Inventory but it is included on CAMRA\u2019s list of Outstanding Conversions and Restorations. The description is as follows, \u201cThe building started life as a coffee house in 1883 and became a pub in 1887. A <\/em>fantastic transformation by Sam <\/em>Smith\u2019s<\/em> in which a large island bar <\/em>serves six separate drinking areas <\/em>with screens, some connectedinternally. There is a profusion of etched glass, mirrors, tiles and wood panelling. The pub has a distinctly bohemian history from the 1920s, frequented by eminent literary figures, artists, musicians, politicians and many other notables. More than just a London public house, it won the CAMRA Pub Design Award for refurbishment in 2017.\u201d <\/em>Prior to this, the pub had operated with one continuous bar counter serving a single space, until the individual bar divisions, as featured in the original floorplan and design, were reinstated in 2015. It is said to be the only pub with its own written biography. Sadly, for our visit, part of the pub was hired out for a private party and the service was disappointing. No doubt this was just a temporary problem.
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Following this disappointing experience, we made our way across Charlotte Street and through Percy Passage to the little Newman Arms<\/strong>, 23 Rathbone Street. This former beer house, dating from 1863, later a Charrington pub, is now Truman\u2019s central London eyrie. No original fittings remain alas. It has a rather plain, modern bar on the ground floor with additional seating in the cellar. The pub was another favourite of Orwell, and was known to Julian Maclaren-Ross as the Beerhouse because it did not have a spirits licence. Newman Passage to its left was known to Maclaren-Ross as \u201cJekyll and Hyde Alley because it was the sort of place <\/em>through which Mr Hyde flourishing his stick rushes low-angle <\/em>on the screen\u201d. <\/em>It later featured in the opening scene of the notorious film Peeping Tom<\/em>, made by Michael Powell in 1960. Two Truman\u2019s ales plus one changing guest are usually available. The pub\u2019s side door leads into the eponymous passage and then to Newman Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A route via Mortimer Street and Great Portland Street brought us to the George<\/strong>, 55 Great Portland Street. First established on this site in 1677, it was rebuilt to the designs of Board & Walters in 1878 (although other sources say 1860s). The 1989 Real Beer in West London <\/em>guide lists the George as a Clifton Inns free house which indicates a former ownership by Watney. The Grade II-listed building is also on the CAMRA\u2019s London Regional Inventory of Pub Interiors of Special Historic Interest and the description includes, \u201cA<\/em> popular pub in the heart of Fitzrovia\u2026 It has now been<\/em> turned into a single drinking space, yet it is still well worth a<\/em> visit for its collection of surviving, excellent late-Victorian<\/em> fixtures and fittings. The panelled bar counter seems original<\/em> and behind it is a magnificent five-bay back-fitting with<\/em> etched and gilded mirrors with the sprays of flowers and<\/em> foliage that were so popular with pub fitters of the day\u2026 The<\/em> most appealing part of the pub is the left-hand side with its<\/em> wood-paneled walls, more etched and gilded mirrors and<\/em> delightful ceramic panels. The rear area has the air of a<\/em> gentleman\u2019s<\/em> club, fully panelled to the ceiling and decorated<\/em> with mirrors and tiles\u2026 A sympathetic refurbishment prior to<\/em> the pub\u2019s reopening in 2022 has left the heritage features<\/em> unaffected.\u201d <\/em>The pub was nicknamed the Gluepot by the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham as he claimed his musicians were always getting stuck in there. The modern vogue for dimly-lit bars with tea-lights on the tables meant however that the splendid d\u00e9cor could not really be properly appreciated during our visit. Purity Mad Goose, St Austell Tribute and Thornbridge Jaipur are normally available here. We reached our final venue by turning left into Great Portland Street and continuing north to New Cavendish Street to the Stag\u2019s Head <\/strong>at 102 New Cavendish Street.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Like the Wheatsheaf, this is a former Younger\u2019s pub but in contrast is a rare survival of late-1930s streamlined moderne<\/em>. It occupies the ground floor of an office block built in 1939- 40 by Marshall & Tweedy for Cranleigh Estates. Naturally, the pub was yet another favourite of Dylan Thomas and also of the actress Ellis Powell. She played the title role in the BBC radio drama series Mrs Dale\u2019s Diary <\/em>which ran from 1948 to 1969. In 1963 she was sacked in favour of Jessie Matthews, allegedly in part due to her drinking habits. This event was said to have inspired the 1964 play and 1968 film The Killing of Sister George. <\/em>The pub is on CAMRA\u2019s London Regional Inventory with this description, \u201cIn complete <\/em>contrast to late-Victorian ornateness, this corner-site pub is <\/em>a rare example of late 1930s sleek streamlining. The builders <\/em>were the Scottish brewers William Younger who had <\/em>previously gone for a nostalgic, half-timbered style for their <\/em>pubs dotted over central London. Now no more fancy <\/em>foliage or gritty materials, just a smooth brick building with a rounded corner and metal windows. Note the metal door and curving glass to the right-hand entrance. The interior is (and no doubt always was) a single space with a servery with a panelled bar counter along the rear wall. In contrast to the exterior, there is little sense of modernity here because the extensive wall panelling does hark back to the ever-popular Tudor revival. Youngers seem to have been setting out their <\/em>stall to cater for stand-up drinking by workers from the <\/em>surrounding offices, hence the peninsula-style projections to <\/em>prop up customers and their drinks. All in all, a rather special survivor.\u201d <\/em>Julian Maclaren-Ross used to drink here to meet BBC contacts but later switched to the George. One night, after being refused service in the Stag\u2019s Head, he called the police but was himself arrested for being drunk and disorderly. The Stag\u2019s Head is in CAMRA\u2019s Good Beer Guide 2022<\/em>. Tring Side Pocket for a Toad and one other changing Tring ale are usually on offer. One unusual feature was that, as the pub quietened towards closing time, it was noticeable that, depending on where you were, trains on either the northbound or southbound Victoria Line could be heard passing underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The London Pubs Group (LPG) tours are conducted in a relaxed manner and no formal membership or registration is required. Although the suggested itinerary and approximate pub stop times are always published on the LPG website, participants are free to vary the route, take in extra pubs or omit others as they please. You travel at their own pace and newcomers are always welcome. There is no \u2018guide\u2019s umbrella\u2019 to follow here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jane Jephcote and Kim Rennie<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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