In the comments section of my post about the Beer Drinkers Guild Awards Dinner, I mentioned briefly that I called in at a couple of National Inventory Heritage pubs. This was on my way to the event, which took place in the sumptuous surroundings of One Great George Street, just along from Parliament Square.
Having looked online, I discovered there were two Heritage pubs in close proximity to the venue. With this in mind, I took the decision to take an earlier train up to London, to allow time for a brief visit to both. What I hadn’t bargained for was both pubs being full to the gunwales but, as the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The first of
these two pubs was the Red Lion, a Fuller’s tied house, situated at the far end
of Whitehall, where the road merges into Parliament Street. It is a tall building occupying a
corner site and was rebuilt in its current style at the end of the 19th
Century. As might be expected from a building of this age, the Red Lion has
plenty of etched and polished glass, along with equal amounts of carved and
molded mahogany.
I wasn’t really able to see much of these ornate surroundings, given the amount of people present, as it really was a case of standing room only. I also thought should I have even been there, given the crowded nature of the pub, and a new variant of Covid-19 on the loose. Having received my booster vaccination shot, three weeks’ previously, I dismissed these concerns, as on the plus side it was good to see a pub so busy, once again, but if I’m honest the crowded situation didn’t make for a pleasant drinking experience.
I managed to wedge myself in next to the bar counter and right in front of the pumps, but I was disappointed to see no ESB on sale. Instead, I tried a half of Jack Frost, which is one of Fuller’s seasonal offerings, but has never ranked as one of my favourites. Brewed to a strength of 4.5%, using dark malts, plus a dash of blackberries, the beer was pleasant enough, but wasn’t really what I was expecting.The barmaid was
friendly and quite chatty, despite being busy, but annoyingly payment was card
only. It was time to move on, and the second pub was only a short hop away. The St
Stephen’s Tavern turned out to be another cashless pub, as well as another
corner one. It was also equally crowded. Situated directly opposite the Houses of
Parliament, St Stephen’s Tavern is reported to have a Division Bell, which can
be used to summon MP’s back to the House, if an important vote is due to take
place.
The time was getting on, and I had an engagement just the other side of Parliament Square so, as they used to say in the News of the World, "I made my excuses and left." After all, there were plenty of other beery delights to look forward to that evening, and on the plus side, I had scooped a couple more National Inventory Heritage pubs.
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