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ONE PUB ONLY?
The Wenlock
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
|  | 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.uk
G 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. |  | Island Queen
87 Noel Road, Islington, London N1 8HD Telephone 020 7704 7631
Food: Comprehensive menu includes “Lights”, “Big Ones”, “Home Made Specials” and “Fish & Chip Fridays.” Noon – 10.30
MP TV 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, European beers, and lots of wine.
BWV: 16/12/06 Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Fuller’s London Pride
BWV 16.01.10 Adnams Wheat Beer, Sharp's Doombar, Timothy Taylor Landlord (Stedders)
Chris Ackrill | 
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The Gilpin's Bell 50-54 Fore Street Upper Edmonton N18 2SS Opening Times: Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-12.30pm
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