St Albans - historic city and CAMRA's spiritual home

Last Wednesday I took the day off from work to accompany son Matthew on a trip to a town that neither of us had visited before. I perhaps ought to say city, rather than town, because the Hertfordshire settlement of St Albans is a city, on account of its 11^th century cathedral. I’m not entirely sure what prompted Matthew’s suggestion of visiting St Albans, but I have an inkling it was a desire to visit one to the other branches of the chain of hardware stores he works for.  It is a surprisingly short journey by train from Tonbridge, which for Matthew and I involved a virtually seamless transfer at London Bridge, from Southeastern trains onto a Bedford bound Thameslink service.

Despite ample legroom, Thameslink trains have hard and uncomfortable seats. The cleanliness was also way below par, particularly in the toilet area where the floors need attention. Shockingly, some delightful individual had left a soiled pair of Calvin Klein underpants on the toilet floor, expecting the cleaning staff to handle with them. Sorry about that, but standards in certain areas of our society have seriously declined! Apart from that, the journey through Hertfordshire countryside, which wasn’t looking its best in late February, proceeded swiftly. We arrived at our destination, shortly after midday and began our exploration of the former Roman town.

St Albans was initially known as Verlamion, a settlement of the Catuvellauni tribe in southeastern Britain. Around AD 50, it became the Roman settlement of Verulamium, which subsequently developed into the third largest town in Roman Britain. After the Romans' departure, the settlement transitioned into the Anglo-Saxon town of Verlamacaestir, eventually becoming known as St Albans, reflecting its connection with Saint Alban. The St Albans Cathedral, established in 1077, is located on the site where Saint Alban, one of Britain's earliest Christian martyrs, was buried.

Much of the cathedral is constructed out of bricks, many of which were sourced from the ruined city of Verulamium. Unfortunately, the interior of the cathedral was inaccessible due to a graduation ceremony taking place there. More about that later, but as you didn't come here to read about ancient cathedrals, let’s talk about pubs instead. I had prepared a shortlist of five pubs for us to visit, but in the end, we only visited only three of them. Despite this, the ones that we visited were all of high quality and certainly matched our expectations. We noted that the distance from the station to the city centre was longer than anticipated, and certain areas of the city were noticeably hilly. Nevertheless, our overall impression was that of a vibrant and prosperous town in Hertfordshire.

Before stopping for a beer, we spent a bit of time exploring some of the local shops and visited the St Albans branch of Matthew's employer, as he was interested in seeing it. There was also an opportunity to grab a flat white from the local Greggs, since I didn’t get a coffee at London Bridge station.  Then, it really was time for a beer, and where better than the Lower Red Lion, a Grade II-listed pub located in a conservation area, just a stone’s throw from the city centre, and in one of St Albans most picturesque streets. Passing the cathedral area on our left, we headed downhill, and soon came to the Lower Red Lion, in the quaintly named, Fishpool Street.

It looked like my sort of pub, and what’s more it has two bars. We entered the bar on the left to begin with, but the friendly barmaid advised that the other bar would be warmer, as the fire had been lit. Following this advice, we stepped into the right-hand bar, which not only seemed larger than the other, also had a group of 20 to 30-somethings, enjoying a spot of lunch. 

Something to eat, seemed like a good idea to us too, so after ordering a beer for me (Side Pocket of a Toad), from Tring Brewery, plus a pint of international lager for master Matthew. The strangely named Tring beer, which I have previously seen on sale in several pub, was considerably better than its name, but better still was the haddock, chips and mushy peas. Priced at £15, it was good value for the area, and good eating as well.

The party of diners departed shortly before us, and upon settling our bill, I asked the barmaid for directions to the Olde Fighting Cocks, our next destination. She informed me that the pub was nearby, although we would need to retrace our steps towards the cathedral. I expressed an interest in viewing the interior but was advised that this would not be possible due to a graduation ceremony for students at the University of Hertfordshire. This explained the numerous individuals we had observed wearing academic gowns and mortar boards, accompanied by what appeared to be proud parents and other family members.

The cathedral grounds were still open, allowing access to the area surrounding the church. Heading downhill towards the River Ver, there is a parkland area where the Olde Fighting Cocks pub is located. The pub claims to be the oldest in England, dating back to the 9th Century, although several other establishments also make this claim. The building, which is octagonal in shape, was originally a medieval pigeon house and was rebuilt after flooding in 1599, likely caused by the nearby River Ver. Over the years, the pub’s charm has been maintained and enhanced by its custodians, landlords, and customers.

Putting aside claims of antiquity for a moment, the Fighting Cocks comes through as a thoroughly decent pub that is definitely worthy of a visit. It still retains many original features such as low ceilings, exposed beams, various nooks and crannies plus a bread oven next to one of the fireplaces. There is a large garden to the rear with an enclosed garden area for children. There is also some seating to the front of the pub by the river. Internally the pub was ticking over nicely, with a healthy mix of both diners and drinkers. An interesting range of beers was available, to tempt the latter group with brews from Adnams, Mighty Oak, and local outfit, the 3 Brewers to tempt drinkers. I opted for the Old Man & the Sea, a 4.1% dry stout from Mighty Oak Brewery, which was perhaps a little ambitious after the heavy lunch I’d recently enjoyed.

It was time to move on, and after walking past the south side of the cathedral, we arrived back in the city centre. We opted for the Boot Inn, anther Grade II-listed, pub dating back to 1422, with low ceilings, an open fire, although disappointingly the former dividing walls have been removed. With the historic Clock Tower just outside the front door, and the Abbey and Verulamium Park, close by, the Boot seems an obvious choice for visitors to St Albans.

It certainly seemed popular when we called in, with a lively and quite mixed crowd of punters. All were enjoying that late afternoon, early evening beer vibe that, whilst hard to describe, is something most seasoned pub goers will instantly recognise. Amongst others, there were beers from Tring, Titanic (Plum Porter, no less), plus Brew York on sale. I chose Duality, a twin-hopped pale ale from the latter outfit, a beer that was full of citrus favours, from the Mosaic and Citra hops used.

With hindsight, we perhaps should have selected a fourth pub to finish up in, and if we had, that pub ought to have been the Farrier’s Arms. The latter is a classic back-street local, that was tied to McMullen's of Hertford for many years, before becoming a free house in 2013. 

A plaque on the wall outside marks the first meeting of the Hertfordshire branch of CAMRA, and according to legend, the Farrier’s is the only pub in the city never to have forsaken cask ale. A missed opportunity perhaps, but the pub was located in the opposite direction to the station. It would have made sense to have called in at the Farrier’s on our way to the Boot, but as I said above, hindsight is a wonderful thing. That aside, Matthew and I both enjoyed our visit to St Albans, although whether we’ll return, remains to be seen.