Great Pubs of England: Thirty-three of Britain's Best Hostelries from the Home Counties to the North: Thirty-three of England's Best Hostelries from the Home Counties to the North

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A community pub in Plumstead, The Lord Herbert offers everything from open-mic and DJ nights to boardgame parties and poker evenings. Special thanks to landlady Sandra from The Golden Heart and Prestel Publishing for making this happen ! If the old oak beams and nooks and crannies don’t do it for you, the pub has had a licence to sell American stamps since the 1800s thanks to its historic connections, making it a pretty unique proposition. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community. A handbill at the door announces the history of this charming Thamesside inn (surely the best on this stretch in Hammersmith), featuring the comings and goings of Charles II and Nell Gwyn at the pub.

Great Pub of England - Kentishtowner Dublin Castle: officially a Great Pub of England - Kentishtowner

Not only does it have an expansive beer garden (which is great for people-watching), it’s extremely close to London Fields. It explores the variety of pubs the country has and the traditions that have kept them going for nearly 500 years, all of which share the same time-honoured purpose: to offer the warmest of welcomes and to lift the spirits. The pair document over 30 of the most interesting in the book, a “virtual pub crawl”, from spit-and-sawdust to Michelin-starred gastropubs, alongside famous owners such as chef Tom Kerridge and singer James Blunt. It went on sale in May, with a launch event last week attended by over 100 supporters, including Tim Worrall, Sue Hardie, and three direct descendants of George and Annie Robinson. With a top-quality menu of Belgian craft beers – yes, there’s more than 100 – and a decent selection of vegetarian and vegan scran, you’ll have plenty of choice to keep your stomach satisfied while you enjoy some good, old-fashioned fun.If all of that sounds a little too involved for you, worry not, pulling up a corner pew with a drink and doing absolutely bugger-all is also encouraged. Horst Friedrichs' photographs have appeared in the National Geographic, The New York Times, and Stern. Head down on a typical evening and you’ll find queer nightlife veterans like Princess Julia and Jeffrey Hinton on the decks, east London’s most out-there drag artists performing surreal cabaret on the tiny stage and a raucous crowd of fabulous, arty queers cackling in the smoking area. Victorian favourite Crown Posada, on The Side, is highlighted in the new book - Great Pubs of England - which reveals 33 of the country's most notable and distinctive watering holes. As Madness themselves said, apropos of ‘Our House’ but with equal relevance to the pub that remains their alma mater: “There’s always something happening, and it’s usually quite loud.

Great Pubs of England by Horst A. Friedrichs, Stuart Husband

This is important for a post-big night out trip to the pub: when you’re in there it feels like you’re hidden from the judgement of strangers, the consequences of last night’s decisions and, most importantly, your ex. It’s family-run and independent, a rare thing these days in London, and attracts everyone from OAPs to local bands, chic fashion students and troupes of cheerful lads. Take a moment to enjoy the dough-scented air as you approach – this place sells some seriously good pizza. Perhaps it’s due to Fifi, the ghost that roams its cellar; perhaps it’s the link with the Great Train Robbery, allegedly planned here.Singer Suggs is still Castle royalty and sometimes pops in to muck about behind the bar and pour himself drinks. The Dublin Castle opened in 1856 to serve the Irish community of “navvies” who were building the nearby railway (the English, Welsh and Scots labourers all had their own venues, in an effort to prevent sectarian skirmishes). The owner, James Blunt – yes, the James Blunt says in the book that ‘his main job was to make this place beautiful’.

Great Pubs of England - Penguin Random House Great Pubs of England - Penguin Random House

DW´s culture and lifestyle TV program "Euromaxx" at Deutsche Welle is filming a feature about my new book Great Pubs of England . A spokesperson for the book added the authors had whittled down pubs from every corner of the country into a pick of the nation’s "finest and most distinctive inns", saying: "The book charts the history of England’s illustrious pub culture, capturing their idiosyncratic glory and infinite variety.

The Dublin Castle: Henry Conlon landlord of the Dublin Castle Tavern in Camden Town, London, England. It's unique positioning – you'll find it all on its own in a grassy patch – is due to the fact that it's the only survivor from a Blitz-era WWII bombing raid. This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites. Located behind the Royal Courts of Justice, the tiny, charismatic Seven Stars is the spot where barristers bring their clients for celebratory champagne or commiseratory scotch after a big case. A gastropub for the ages, Notting Hill’s The Cow is the best spot in west London to wash down some seafood with a stonking selection of pints.

Great Pubs of England: See Inside the New Book

Friedrichs and Stuart Husband contacted us we were rather surprised as we knew that Prestel is a very famous publisher in the fields of art, photography and lifestyle and it was an honour that they knew about our pub. The story goes that the pub is haunted by the ghost of a Spanish barmaid, adding a touch of spooky tourist-orientated ambience. James and his team have done an amazing job, considering this seventeenth century coaching inn previously had a reputation for being insalubrious and know amongst locals as the Fox and Unpleasant.Despite the stereotypes, The Anglesea has always had more aura than the average South Kensington hostelry. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. Traditional but not remotely seedy with friendly welcoming staff, a welcoming and inviting interior with good honest, quality pub grub. Its courtyard setting is probably how it attracted such a rough-around-the-edges crowd in the nineteenth century, when it hosted bare-knuckle prize fights.