Concentrating on the League

Thanks to what was apparently a dreadful performance by the Quakers, it was Droylsden and not us who were travelling to sunny Saltergate for the second round of the FA Cup.

And since nature abhors a Saturday without some sort of pub-related activity, I joined forces with Chris Turner - similarly bereft of a game after Rotherham lost their replay to Aldershot - and we meet up at Lou Farrow's pie and mash shop in Bermondsey.


(left) Pie shop


Unlike most traditional P&M shops, Farrow's also offers the usual cafe-style grub.

But we were here for the traditional stuff and since I was quite hungry I went for two pie and mash - the pies were very nice though the mash was rather lumpy. I'd also overestimated the filling power of the pies so I left some mash.

From Bermondsey we made our way to the Angel and took the short walk to the Red Lion. This was a new pub for me despite having worked near by for several few years - five handpumps even if they were some of the usual suspects.

I settled for a pint of Landlord and it is probably the best I've had in London - having that nice crisp, bitterness which is often lacking.

(right) Chris and the Red Lion interior

The pub was quite empty but they were gearing up for the rugby international later in the afternoon - we decided to move on and try the Charles Lamb.

This is another pub that I was aware of but had never tried and if I'd relied on the comments on http://www.beerintheevening.com/ we probably wouldn't have bothered - complaints of rude and snooty staff.

The pub was full of people eating rather than drinking but we managed to find some stools at the bar. There were three beers on tap - a regular Dark Star Hophead whilst the guests included Butcombe IPA and Blackawton Winter Fuel. Both the Hophead and IPA were in excellent condition and the staff friendly. We'll be back.


Next stop on the crawl was back down the Northern line to Borough Market and the New Forest cider stall where we met Liz, John and Bev. This stall became a regular Saturday afternoon haunt during the close-season but we'd not been for a while.

(left) Paul and some parsley - Liz on the cider champers

As usual we were served by Paul, a shy retiring type who delights in a bit of banter, and who we've previously met in Rose's, Woolwich.

The boys had pints of the vintage Kingston Black whilst the ladies had the champagne cider - lovely stuff!

We departed as the market was closing down and popped into the nearby Rake. I'm rather ambivalent to this bar - it's OK when quiet but too often it's full of loud, shouty types who like drinking straight from the bottle which - as my Mum will tell you - is just common. They also like to freeze the tits (a technical term) off some beers that don't need it.

On the pumps tonight were BrewDog Trashy Blonde and Hophead Porter - we all went for the Porter (except for Liz who was now on the tomato juice) and very fine it was too - tasty with that familiar coffee grounds feel their Expresso Stout has.

By now the hunger pangs had started and we wandered down the road to the Royal Oak - we thought it opened at 5:30pm on Saturdays but the place was almost full when we got there and just managed to get a table.

It was good to see they had Fullers London Porter on - unlike far too many Fullers pubs - and we all got stuck into that. The food was as hearty as they come, my steak and kidney suet pudding was just what was required on a cold day. And the new London Drinker was in stock too.

(White Man) In Hammersmith Odeon

Having just had a trip round the most prominent building in Hammersmith, I made a trip to probably the most famous building in Hammersmith later the same day - the Apollo - although I still think of it as the Odeon.

I can stare out of my window at this building too. I suppose I should actually do some work.

My first visit to the Odeon was back in 1984 after I'd first moved down to London - it was to see Jethro Tull on their Under Wraps tour and I've been a fairly frequent visitor ever since.

(left) Innes

The great, the good and the downright rubbish have played here over the years - more recently the venue went through a period of hosting stage shows such as High School Musical - but it now seems to be back on the circuit for many touring bands.


Those who know me will not be surprised to hear that the majority of my visits have been for Hawkwind who used to play there on virtually all of their tours back in the 80s and early 90s.

In those days Hammersmith was a bit of a scruffy place - a dirty old bus station on the site of where my office building now stands.

Tonight though Liz and I were going to see Primal Scream on the London leg of their NME Rock'n'Roll Riot tour.

Before the gig we went for a few beers - most of the pubs around Hammersmith were chock full of Scream fans and office workers so we went to one of our backstreet favourites, the Old Parr's Head, which is slightly off the beaten track. A decent pint of London Pride and some very tasty Thai food set us up nicely.

(right) Careful - you'll have someone's eye out with that!

For tonight's gig I was going to get a photo pass (thanks Martin!) to allow me into the photographers pit with the professionals. On arriving at the box office I was told to wait until 9pm when all the photographers would be escorted to the pit.

On our way to said pit we had to go around the outside of the building - almost bumping into a confused-looking Bez who was stood outside looking desperate to get in - and we had about a minute to spare before the band hit the stage and launched into Kill All Hippies.

And so it was a hectic 12 mins or so as I tried a variety of lenses to capture the lightshow and animated backdrop but it's bloody hard under these lighting conditions - well it is for an amateur like me - but great fun being right there at the front with no one in front of you.

Before long our time was up and we were being ushered out into the cold. One of the photographers was complaining that is was hard to get some decent shots in this particular lightshow - so it wasn't just me! The pros then all disappeared off into the night whereas I had a ticket and went back in and joined Liz in the throng downstairs.

The rest of the gig was storming - acclaimed by long time Screamers as being the very best for many years. It's awfully hard to disagree...