ARSENAL ONE PUB ONLY? Compton Arms                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 CRAWLING FROM RAILWAY STATION TO THE GROUND?  Island Queen, then the Barnsbury, and lastly the Compton Arms SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT? Wenlock Arms                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               TOTTENHAM ONE PUB ONLY? The Oakdale Arms CRAWLING FROM RAILWAY STATION TO THE GROUND? Drink in central London and be prepared for the half hour walk from Seven Sisters Station SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT? Wenlock Arms                                                                                           Barnsbury NO FOOTBALL STRIPS! 209 Liverpool St,  Islington,  N1 1LX  T 020 7607 5519   W www.theBarnsbury.co.uk   G Jeremy Gough F Restaurant-standard gastro-pub food 12 to 3, 6.30 to 10 Mon - Fri, 12 to 4, 6.30 to 10 w/e  (9.30 sun) V MP   BM   P   D O 12 to 11, 12 to 10.30 Su           Equidistant from three tube stations and a 25 minute walk from the new stadium is the Barnsbury. Walking past the choice of large pubs, you find yourself in more typical Islington of the movie sets and popular news. The Barnsbury offers a good mix of food-pub and quality local. It creates an atmosphere for those who wish to sit and contemplate, as well as the more hurried who grab a bite to eat before, and often during, a meeting. It is not, however, a pure gastro-pub. The professional couples and articulate singles return in the evening to enjoy a proper locals’ pub.           The bar itself is tastefully laid out with wooden floors and minimalist modern decoration. The regularly changing art exhibitions add a touch of interest for those who like to stare at the walls between reading the paper or doing the now trendy Suduko. This pub was recommended by some Manchester City fans who enjoyed a relaxing pint or two before and after a game. For me it was a chance to amuse myself at the artist’s choice of location for his portrait of Thatcher with its Italian slogan. The pub has a Mediterranean feel, light and airy, yet retains the values of a great English hostelry. BWV 1.11.05:  Fuller’s London Pride,  St. Austell Tribune,  Timothy Taylor Landlord  BWV 1.11.05:  Caledonian 80/-,  Greene King Abbot, IPA Compton Arms 4 ComptonAve,  Islington,  N1 2XD   T 020 7359 6883  G Eileen Shelock   F Fresh, home-made food, sausage and mash a speciality 12.30 to 2.30, 6 to 8 Mon - Fri, 12 to 4 w/e     MP   SK O 12 to 11, 12 to 10.30 Sun           The Compton Arms is my idea of pre-footie match heaven. Small enough for you to be recognised as a non - regular, yet friendly enough to guarantee that you can enjoy the pub without any hassle.  The pub is geared up for the sports fan with a TV in every corner. However, it is a proper community local, very popular and keeping its “village” identity. Come on a non Arsenal home day and the locals will make you welcome with tales of glories present. If fact it is best to check out if Arsenal are away because it is likely to be too busy if they are at home. My choice would be to find this pub on an early evening after a game or as part of a weekend real ale ticking jaunt. Perhaps a beer and some food in the courtyard, or a read of the Sunday papers before heading back home the next day. Whenever you get here, make sure that you do. It would be a crime to miss sampling such a friendly back - street ale house. UPDATE:  The ground is now a little closer (20 min walk) and with it comes even more car parking restrictions. The guests continue to be seasonal selections from Greene King and another from their choice list. BWV 6.12.04:  Brains Rev James  Greene King Abbot, IPA, Morland Original The Crown 116 Cloudesley Rd,  Islington,  N1 0EB   T 020 7837 7107  G Glyn Morgan F Fresh, home-made modern British cuisine 12 to 3, 6 to 10  MP   BM   P   D O 12 to 11, 12 to 10.30 Sun           This beautiful Georgian pub is a favourite location for film and TV shoots and it’s easy to see why. The Crown is located off the beaten track in a leafy residential street, grade II listed with original, extremely well worn, wooden floors, snob screens and houses one of the last “barrel” bars in London.           I loved the relaxed atmosphere and mix of regulars that made the Crown feel like a pub you have been in before. It is a cosy place and the drink of choice for the locals is quality Fuller’s ales rather than lager. The bar is the central feature of the pub with the main room separated into sections by wooden and etched glass screens. The pub has high ceilings and interestingly the non - smoking area is to the rear where one can sit on big sofas watching the fervent activity in the open kitchen. There is also a small beer garden, which is a sun trap in the afternoon, but personally I imagine enjoying a pint here as summer fades to autumn and real fires blaze; just perfect. The pub also offers wireless internet access for those who wish to bring their laptop to lunch. This area of Islington is certainly one where an excellent local is to be expected. The Crown is very very good and is well worth taking the detour from nearby Liverpool Road to discover. Angel is the more convenient tube station to use. BWV 1.11.05:  Fuller’s Discovery, Honey Dew, London Pride Island Queen       87 Noel Road, Islington, London N1 8HD T 020 7704 7631 F Comprehensive menu includes “Lights”, “Big Ones”, “Home Made Specials” and “Fish & Chip Fridays.” Noon – 10.30 MP BM D O Noon – 11.30 (Midnight Friday & Saturday)           The Island Queen is situated in a well-heeled area of Georgian terraces and canal walks, yet only half a mile from the bustle and grime of King’s Cross. It’s a smart, confident, pub; whose Victorian origins reveal themselves with lots of wood panelling, etched glass, fancy mirrors, and dark patterned ceilings: a pub of great character and comfort.  An island bar serves one large and one small room.  There’s also a pleasant lounge upstairs, and a small outdoor area.  The front tables are bathed in light from the large windows, while the feel is more moody elsewhere.  There are seating areas to suit everybody’s taste, including a comfy chill out zone of cushions that you might expect in an Amsterdam coffee shop.            There were no obvious football supporters in evidence on my pre-match visit, but it would suit any visitor preferring to avoid the more crowded places on Islington High Street and Upper Street.  Though half full on Saturday lunchtime, the pub is well known in North London and on summer evenings you may have to join the others spilling out onto the outdoor area and pavement. Apart from the draught beers, there are bottled ciders there are European beers, and lots of wine. BWV 16.12.06: Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Fuller’s London Pride Chris Ackrill BWV 16.01.10 Adnams Wheat Beer, Sharp's Doombar, Timothy Taylor Landlord (Stedders) Lamb       94 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1N 3LZ T 0207 405 0713 G F “Good home cooked food.”  Bar food menu & specials board.  “Gourmet Burger” selection on menu.  “Wine and olives” on separate wall notice (very Central London!) Noon – 9pm MP BM D O 11 – 11  Mon – Sat, Noon – 4pm & 7 – 10.30 Sundays           In a less frenetic quarter of Central London sits the Lamb.  This homely and attractive hostelry dispenses Young’s ales to medical professionals, academics, students; and a modest contingent of local residents.  The Lamb is well known across London, and drinkers flock in from the suburbs on weekend evenings.  Adventurous tourists may stumble upon the pub, but many will have only found it with the help of guides such as this one.           An island bar serves three rooms - the saloon has just one table.  There’s a red wooden ceiling, etched windows and snob screens; and other looked-for features of an upmarket London pub of the finest quality.  Walls are decorated with sketches of old London, and photos of society ladies from an earlier era.  An overhead sign points you to “the ladies powder room.”  Most genteel.   No music unless you count the polython (if you don’t know what a polython is, look it up.  There isn’t space to explain it here).           The Lamb is within easy walking distance to several underground stations, as well as Euston, King’s Cross, and St Pancras main line stations.  The Lamb isn’t by any means a football pub.  No one club holds the balance of power in WC1 - though Arsenal is nearest.  The Lamb is a superbly traditional and comfortable pub, and one that offers an alternative to the places you’ll find near football grounds.  If you prefer flowers around the door to bouncers, the Lamb offers something a cut above. BWV:  19.8.06:  Young’s Bitter, Golden Zest, Special, Waggledance Oakdale Arms  283 Hermitage Rd, N4 1NP   T 020 8800 2013   W www.individualpubs.co.uk   G Tom Beran   F Bar food in week and Sunday lunches, 25 different curries a speciality on Friday evenings   CP   SK   JB   P O 12 to 11, 12 to 10.30 Sun           The Oakdale is a big friendly pub in a striking-looking building. Guest ales rotate around Milton's regular beers, meaning there is always a reward for the real ale hunter, especially fans of micro-brewery ales. Once a lager dive, Tom has created a loyal and discerning drinkers’ haven in the traditional style with lounge and public bars. Due to its size it is often busy but rarely crowded. As a real pub it serves locals as much as those who travel distances armed with ale guides. One bar has pool tables and darts, plus large screens for footie. The slightly larger and grander lounge has space enough for perfectly-discrete conversations or sociable chats at the bar. Now it is CAMRA North London Pub of the Year. I vow to return to sample its real ale festival offerings in the summer. The Oakdale appears to be the centre of planner / developers interests, and as such is an ongoing topic of conversation in the local area. UPDATE:  A sister pub, the Pembury, is now open in Hackney Downs.  BWV 6.12.04:  Grand Union Autumn Ale,  Milton Nero, Mammon, Troy,  Nelson Trafalgar, Vale Best Bitter, Wychert,  Wadworth Henry's IPA,  Weston's Old Rosie Cider BWV 1.11.05:  Milton Jupiter, Pegasus, Mammon,  Vale Black Swan Dark Mild, Notley, Wychert,  Biddenden Cider The Pembury Tavern 90 Amhurst Rd,  Hackney,  E8 1JH  Telephone020 8986 8597   www.individualpubs.co.ukG Stephen Early  MP   P   D              O 12 to 11           The Pembury is the third of the “individual” pubs in the guides and its opening has been anticipated ever since it was announced that this renovation would open again and serve a range of Milton ales, supplemented by micro - brew guests. It certainly meets my idea of what to do with a building that was facing apartment oblivion. The new flats surround the pub but the ale still flows and for once the community now has an improved facility. The pub was opened in Jan 2006 as a non - smoking modern - style pub with all the features of a traditional street local. This includes a bar billiards table, space that can be converted for local groups to meet, comfortable seating and room for the larger groups to congregate around the bar. It is essentially a wooden – floored, open – plan bar with that attractive echo of constant chatter that increases to a rumble of conversation as the day moves on. There is no music to distract the drinker, no obvious reasons for the real ale fan to look elsewhere in a hurry. I liked the simplicity, the Milton ales and the fact that there are two mainline stations within easy walking distance.           Any new pub deserves you custom, especially when it is bucking the nitro keg trend. Having survived a fire, being a biker’s pub, trees growing through the roof and being a boxing venue, the building has lived a fantastically diverse life. It has now been given a great rebirth.  BWV 12.4.06:  Butcombe Bitter,  Milton Daedalus, Minotaur, Pegasus, Sparta, Uluru,  Woodforde’s Great Eastern Ale,  Ben Crosman’s Prime Farmhouse cider Wenlock Arms 26 Wenlock Rd, Hoxton?, N1 7TA   T 020 7608 3406   W www.wenlock-arms.co.uk   G Steven Barnes and John (Will) Williams   F Good pub food including the famous salt-beef sarnies   12 to 9   MP   TV   P O 12 to late (depending on custom)           Follow the taxis of the city workers from Old St station and you find this glory in regenerating Hoxton. Small and comfortable, the pub has a lively, yet almost reverential feel. Easily the most recommended London pub to my website, its reputation goes far beyond the local area. You are more likely to find an old mate from a real ale festival than your average crafty cockney. Steven and Will run a top boozer .Whether sitting at the bar, or squeezing onto a table, you are guaranteed a good real ale find. The turnover of ales is so great that a longer session will bring up surprises from rarer micro-breweries as well as national seasonal ales. The Wenlock is simply a top-notch boozer, yet is still a locals’ community pub, as witnessed by the pub cricket and darts teams. UPDATE:  The football teams add to the list of community activities as seen on the revamped website. BWV 6.12.04:  Adnams Bitter,  Grainstore Rutland Panther,  Harveys Armada,  Nelson Frigging Yuletide,  Pictish Porter,  Pitfield East Kent Goldings,  Titanic Premium  BWV 2.11.05:  Adnams Bitter,  Downton Light Fantastic,  Dark Star Golden Gate,  Holden’s Black Country Mild,  Nelson Banger Ale,  Oldershaw Tolle Topers Tipple,  Phoenix Pale Moonlight BWV 16.01.10 Acorn Pacific Rim, Art Brew Winter Mild, Brodies 1J91, Five Towns Winter Warmer, Dark Star Hophead, Original, Gallons Tattooers Arms, Mauldon's Midwinter Gold, Pitfield Shoreditch Stout. The Bree Louise 69 Coburg Street Euston  NW1 2HH  www.thebreelouise.com  G. Craig and Karen. F. Interesting menu. I can recommend the home made pies and the cheese selection. Food served 12 - 9, seven days a week. O 1130 - late Mon - Fri. 1200 - late Sat/Sun.           Turn right out of the main doors of Euston station, walk along to the end of the station building and you can see the pub down the street opposite. This is a one room pub with plenty of seating inside and out. If its real ale or cider you are after, this is the place. Up to 18 ales served via handpump or gravity. Up to 8 ciders/perries are also on offer. The staff are very friendly and helpful and will let you try before you buy. If you are a CAMRA member, take your card and you will get 50p off each pint. No jukebox, fruit machines etc, just great beer. BWV 14/08/10 Beers included the following. Batemans GHA, Brewdog Punk IPA, Trashy Blonde, Brodies Mild, Dark Star Espresso Stout, Downton Quadhop, Itchin Valley Hampshire Rode, Meantime London Pale, Redemption Pale Ale, Urban Dusk, Robinsons Double Hop, Sambrooks Junction, Wandlke, Thornbridge Lord Marples LOCAL CAMRA POTY 2009 and 2010 Photo taken from website Steve Bradbury NORTH LONDON CAMRA THE EMIRATES STADIUM        WETHERSPOONS The Coronet  338-346 Holloway Road  Holloway  N7 6NJ  Opening Times:   Mon-Sat 9am-11pm; Sun 9am-10.30pm  The White Swan  255-256 Upper Street  Islington  N1 1RY  Opening Times:  Sun-Thu 9am-11pm; Fri/Sat 9am-midnight