Monday 5 March 2012



CUTTY SARK for maritime Greenwich – Part 1 (17/02/12)

Friday evening saw us get our teeth into one of the larger stations on the DLR.  We invited a couple of friends in the form of Chambers and Clam to join us for a pub crawl of sorts around Cutty Sark.  Having lived in the area before, I was aware of some of the drinking establishments to be found and knew that we’d probably quite comfortably be nudging double figures in terms of places to visit.  For this reason we knew we’d have to return once, maybe even twice more in order to wrap the area up. 
We ended up visiting 5 pubs that evening, a number that probably should have been higher but by the time we staggered over to the Admiral Hardy, a mixture of all the alcohol already consumed and the fact they had a fantastic live band playing, caused us to skew our judgement and fail to move on. 

A true photographer would have waited for a London Black
 Cab to get in shot first
First up though was the Spanish Gallion.  At the start of the evening we agreed to just do a whip in which Chambers took control of.  Due to this our ‘Cost’ rating was difficult to ascertain, although Chambers insists that to the best of his memory the prices were always reasonable, and no more than you’d pay in the City itself.  The main problem with our first destination was perhaps self-imposed.  We simply went there too early meaning the place was unsurprisingly almost empty and very quiet.  Strangely too they had an indoor fish and chip counter that although we agreed was a novel idea, made the pub smell… well, of fish and chips.  Add this to the fact that the owners seemed oblivious to the notion that it’s no longer -5c outside, therefore failing to adjust the heating accordingly, it was all a little too warm and uncomfortable.  Entertainment too was thin on the ground, unless one is able to find cheap thrills in reading leaflets regarding the local attractions to be found in and around Greenwich.  We weren’t, so quickly drank up and eagerly moved on to target our next pub.
Spanish Gallion Ratings

Facilities – 3.5
Atmosphere – 3
Cost – 3
Entertainment – 1
Selection – 4

OVERALL AVERAGE – 2.9/5

‘The Coach’ was situated just around the corner, backing onto the courtyard that hosts the market of a weekend.  The main positive of this pub was the fact it had a roaring fire in one corner, as everyone knows that fires in pubs (roaring or otherwise) always tend to add to the atmosphere.  It was just as well really because aside from this feature there was very little worth writing about.  Despite the best efforts of friendly bar-staff, the pub was rather dowdy and a lack of entertainment here only heightened our desire to move on quickly.

The Coach, complete with indoor outdoor beer garden
The Coach Ratings

Facilities – 3.5
Atmosphere – 2.5
Cost – 3
Entertainment – 1
Selection – 2.5

OVERALL AVERAGE – 2.5/5

Which we did, and getting into our stride now we headed for The Kings Arms.  This was more like it.  The facilities instantly impressed, the bar-staff were more than happy to recommend different beers to us, and successfully passed the challenge of being able to name a beer that they stock with an animal in its title (this new game was devised after Clam stated that when it came to drinking ales he felt you could walk into any old fashioned pub in England and order something such as ‘a pint of Badgers Bumhole please’ and more often than not, actually get what you ask for).














We could quite easily have stayed here for the rest of the evening and put the world to rights, but the focus was on conquering as many pubs as possible.  So before long it was onto our fourth pub of the evening, just a few feet further up the same road – The Greenwich Tavern.  By this point I was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol and so my ability to judge a pub on our FACES system was beginning to become a challenge in itself.  I remember the pub was large, that’s pretty much all I have written down for ‘Facilities’, and the atmosphere – although not unfriendly – was a little on the strange side.  To cement this view, you only had to glance at the guy drinking at the bar who appeared to be wearing his own curtains from home, such was the flowery nature of what I’m still convinced was actually a dress.  Feeling slightly out of place amongst these more eccentric types, we headed back towards the DLR station and into the Admiral Hardy.  The Hardy has previously always been one of my favourite pubs, purely because of the live bands they have on.  What’s refreshing also is that the bands are always young students, not journeymen guitar players who have a set list of about 5 songs, one of which is always ‘Sultans of Swing’.  Not here, tonight we had a young band, playing cover versions of modern Indie tracks.  Such was the quality of the music, and the uncanny nature in which the drummer (who was celebrating his birthday no less) looked like our friend PJ, we couldn’t resist but stay here for the rest of the evening.  We even met a few Eastern Europeans to chat to (during which time I learnt that Slovakians don’t like to be mistaken for Polish – but trust me, their accents are almost exactly the same).  As is often the case on evenings like this I came out with three friends, and yet somehow ended up returning home alone to find Tindall repeatedly burning bread in his drunken efforts to make a cheese toastie.  I rejected any offer of food, preferring instead to sleep by the toilet seat, waking on occasion to vomit briefly.  Part 1 of Cutty Sark was over, but I don’t think we’re even halfway finished yet. 
The Greenwich Tavern

The Kings Arms Ratings
Facilities – 4
Admiral Hardy
Atmosphere – 4
Cost – 3
Entertainment – 3
Selection – 4.5

OVERALL AVERAGE – 3.7/5

The Greenwich Tavern Ratings
Facilities – 4
Atmosphere – 3
Cost – 3
Entertainment – 1
Selection – 3.5

OVERALL AVERAGE – 2.9/5

Admiral Hardy Ratings
Facilities – 3.5
Atmosphere – 4.5
Cost – 3
Entertainment – 5
Selection – 3
OVERALL AVERAGE – 3.8/5

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