Crouch End Pubs: Hidden Gems in a Lesser Known bit of London 

@@eddavis1832 Near Archway. Easy if Highgate.

Thanks Ed! Yes it's a bit off the beaten track in terms of pubs but I thought there were a few gems here, and most of these were new to me, so I'm guessing they'll be new to many people watching as well.

@@eddavis1832 Near Archway, East of Highgate.

Thanks Alistair! I don't seem to be much good at sticking to a regular schedule for publishing videos but hopefully it's a nice surprise when I do get my act together.

Glad to hear that! Apologies in advance if your very handsome local pubs get busier as a result of the video!

Don't know if you've done some of my favourites The Flask closer to Highgate, The Spaniards Inn, (would love to join if you go there) and visit the The Scarsdale Tavern near Holland Park in Kensington. Hidden little gem.

I quite agree Garry - in a way I appreciated it even more in this grim weather.

Thanks David! Dionysus would make more sense than the green man in the context of a pub. Unless of course the pub is called the Green Man, which this one isn't, and as far as I can tell never was.

I believe last year the Sunday Times declared Crouch End to be the best place to live in London! I did like some of these pubs, and it has some other nice shops and businesses but I think I'd probably go a bit mad without any tube/rail links!

@@TweedyPubs It uses to be cheaper to live there so attracted more artist and musician's making it trendy. Stock Newington was the same and speaking of it , that area has some interesting pubs , like the Coach and Horses, once owned by Charlie Kray.and was a very nice pub. Situated on the High Street ant the park end.. Always brightens my day to see you pop up on my screen. Cheers from Southen on Sea .

Ah yes, thank you, I think an earlier comment from you did give me a nudge to come to Crouch End. Would it be reasonable to call Small Beer a micropub? I had thought about doing a video on micropubs at some point, so perhaps that could be a good excuse to return.

Thanks Phil! I'd say the average price of a pint in central London is now somewhere around £6.50, but it does seem cheaper in less central areas, like here in Crouch End. £4.88 at the Robin (for something I actually enjoyed drinking) seemed like a bargain to me in 2024. That half at the Kings Head - £3.70 for something out of the keg taps - was a bit surprising. It's often the case that keg beers are actually more expensive than cask beers, which makes no sense whatsoever to me.

Thank you! I hope I did your home turf justice!

Thanks Ken! I leant heavily on CAMRA's excellent Pub Heritage list for choosing the pubs for this video. I only live 2 or 3 miles from Crouch End but I hardly ever go there, largely because it's not on the tube/rail network. That's a bit silly really as it is quite well served by buses. I think one of those bus routes connects it to Finsbury Park, or you could take a leisurely stroll along the Parkland Walk!

I have tried a couple of times but I was put off by all the cleaning involved! My Dad is quite an accomplished brewer, although he focuses more on cider these days. I would love to see a "Tweedy's QSB" on the hand pumps though!

Cheers!

Thanks Kathi! Yes I really didn't get the sense any of the other customers in these pubs were tourists! I was definitely the only person being a nuisance and taking photos of everything! I completely agree that the rate of pub closures is a worrying trend. I suppose that is part of the motivation for this channel, to hopefully encourage people to appreciate and take advantage of what we still have, but also in a slightly more pessimistic way to document these pubs before they've gone. I think I've featured over 300 pubs on this channel since I started it just over a year ago, and I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of those pubs have actually closed for good.

Really glad to hear that - I hope I have painted these pubs in a favourable light despite the miserable weather!

@@TweedyPubs yes 👍 I would never have Guessed Crouch End had such nice establishments but now I do thanks too your Glowing commentary and camera work 😁👍

Thank you! Yes it isn't the easiest part of London to get to, but on the plus side you won't be competing with tourists to find a table at any of these pubs!

Thanks Clark! I have the CAMRA Pub Heritage listing to thank for that nugget of wisdom.

Thank you, but my interest in architecture is purely amateur! Although it does run in the family a bit - one of my uncles (now retired) was an architect who worked in conservation of historic buildings, another uncle more of an art historian but also very knowledgeable about architecture, and my Dad was very involved in the early days of CAMRA, which to me has always been as much about preserving pubs as it has been about real ale. I'm learning as I go with these videos and I find it fascinating. I'm actually a vegetarian believe it or not - I know it's a bit at odds with the tweed! So I probably wouldn't be a very good candidate for reviewing pub food. In London at least I would say the bulk of pub food isn't in a particularly great state. So many pubs are owned/ran by the big chains now, so it's often the same menus over and over again, and I get the sense a lot of the food on those menus is at least partly pre-prepared off site. Not many pubs in London seem to do a good job of walking the fine line between actually serving decent food cooked from scratch on the premises without just turning into a full blown gastropub (and therefore not really being a pub any more). Country pubs have always seemed to do a better job of that in my opinion.

In the sixties it was the “bohemian” pub, the place for the art students and musicians.

I had no idea! I don't often research the recent history of the pubs I feature in these videos, I tend to focus more on 100+ years ago.

@@dirtywaterpj_dj That's more or less how I imagined Crouch End to be - for some reason I thought of it as a part of town filled with actors, writers and most of all comedians.

@@TweedyPubs no worries, i wouldn't expect you to know, only locals over a "certain age" would know this sort of thing. love your videos btw, i often use your videos in order to plan pub visits, so well done!

@@aethellstan Thank you!

ish. it's a bloody long walk between them so not that near.

@@aethellstanAt least 20 minutes…

@@dirtywaterpj_dj must be more than twenty minutes, it took me that long to get to the top of the hill! i used to pop over crouch hill to a pub that was near suicide bridge, i think it's shut down now.

Thanks - I probably should have mentioned in the video whereabouts Crouch End actually is! I can imagine even some people living in London aren't too sure...

@@dirtywaterpj_dj 20 mins walk is less than a mile.

Yes I did consider the Salisbury, and it would have been nice to include that in the same video as the Queens to compare, but it was just a bit too far out of the way and also made difficult by its opening hours in the week. Perhaps a future video!

I don't find the association between skylights and billiards entirely obvious either. Clearly like any cue sport being able to see what you're doing is quite important, and I suppose in the 1890s when most of these pubs were built they'd be relying on either natural light from the outside or gas lamps... Would the latter have been inadequate for billiards? Does that mean they only played in the daytime? I have an image from period dramas of the gentlemen in stately homes retiring to the billiards room after supper, presumably they must have somehow managed with artificial light...?

@@TweedyPubs Indeed, I also imagine billiards to have mostly been played in a cigar smoke filled room under hazy gaslight during the late evening (by well dressed gentlemen). I just found an excuse for a cheap gag. In reality, it was probably multi-functional, and often in a room used for daytime dining?...

@@AnyoneForToast They often seem to be converted into dining rooms today, so that would make sense. Perhaps while the billiards table was still in place it could be covered over to make a buffet counter or a gruel servery or whatever format made sense for Victorian era dining...?

@@TweedyPubs I think we have solved it. There was a correlation between the skylight and the billiards table. But the skylight was not "for" the billiards table... *Tweedy Sleuthing Available Online*

It is a funny old business isn't it? All this effort put into creating these grand and imposing buildings with their intricate interiors which ultimately are just there for people to get drunk in!

@@TweedyPubs the tables are turning

Other channels about pubs with different presenters are available on RU-vid.

@@TweedyPubs I had to look up that word. I got the impression you lean left, no? In which case, I wouldn't hold it against you. Regardless, you're a cracking bloke.

I'd love to at some point - just a case of finding the right time.