All Points East

Once again we have a cup game at home, in this case the FA Trophy game against Bath City, which meant there was not a lot of time to get reasonably-priced train tickets up to Darlo and so I decided to get my kicks drinking beer instead.

And not for the first time (nor the last I suspect), London Miller Chris Turner was more than happy to come out and play - but where to go?

We decided to make it a mixture of old and new and started out along the Central Line at Wanstead. As Chris and I arrived we passed one of the pubs on our list, the Cuckfield, but the beer choice looked unexciting and so we cut it out of our plans.

(left) Robin's Pie and Mash

Just a few yards further on was our first stop, Robin's Pie and Mash shop, a recent addition to the Robin's pie empire.

The pies were quite thin with soft pastry but a very tasty filling. They provide the corporate pie and mash at West Ham United so certainly the real deal - no prawns here (though they will do you poached salmon and mash at this branch).

From here it was a short walk to the Nightingale - a lovely pub tucked away from the bustle of the High Street, sat next to a small green which gives it a bit of a Essex village vibe. Great to see the pub opening before noon as well - very civilised.
A decent collection of beers on offer: Fullers ESB, Morland's Old Speckled Hen, Courage Best, Ringwood Boondoggle and Rudgate Ruby Mild. We looked to be the first drinkers in today and the beers we had - the Boondoggle and the mild - were both in excellent condition - too often you get a lukewarm "first of the day" pint. Pricey though at £3.45 a pint!

The pub has several rooms, all with a busy clutter of pictures and memorabilia, giving a real homely feel. There were boards everywhere advertising the food on offer which was very varied but which had an emphasis on fish dishes.
The Essex feel to the place was completed by a set of stereotypical Essex types, including one guy who resembled Smithy (from Gavin and Stacy) in both mannerisms and dress, completed when he orderd rogan josh and chips for a belated breakfast. Classy, Gavlar!
(right) The Nightingale, Wanstead
After a couple of pints we caught the W12 minibus - one of these buses that you can hail as it goes along it's route - and which took us along the edge of Epping Forest, past the towering frontage of Snaresbrook Crown Court, through Whipps Cross hospital to Walthamstow.

Here we popped into the Nags Head in the village part of Walthamstow which is markedly different from the surrounding areas of north-east London. Our Green Army chum, Geoff, was patiently waiting for us.

Chris and I had been here once before - it's a community pub with comfy chairs, books, magazine and various special-interest groups - it could be a bit precious but isn't, helped by a good selection of beers including Nethergate Best Bitter, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde Mild, Tim Taylor's Landlord and Fullers Pride.

Apart from the pubs, another reason we choose to come to this neck of the woods was to visit the East London Sausage Shop. The sausages are truly excellent and despite good intentions it has taken us over a year to come back and get some more.

From here we walk past the Village - we popped in here on our last visit and the the beer here was terrible so instead we head for the Castle which has had recent good reports and is another new pub for us.

(left) Geoff and Chris leave the East London Sausage Company

What was once an old east-end boozer had really had a major makeover and was now one of the (far too?) many pub eateries full of young couples who all seem to be glued to their netbooks and iPhones rather than actually talking to each other.

Nevertheless they had three handpumps with Black Sheep Ale, Youngs London Gold plus one other. The London Gold is what was Kew Gold which I used to like in bottles but this was fairly bland although in good condition.

The final stop of the day was the King William IV - otherwise known as the tap for Brodie's Beers who are probably the most prodigious brewers in London with a seemingly endless array of beers produced by siblings James and Lizzie, the White Stripes of brewing.

Not surprisingly there was a huge range of beers from the brewery - which sits behind the pub - on offer at the bar including Green Bullet, Brewer's Gold, El Dorado, Polska, Olde Ardour, Romanov Empress Stout (12.1%!), IPA, Kiwi, Citra, Amarilla, Californian and Seven Hop IPA (7.7%) plus a guest from North London, Camden Brewery's Pale Ale.

Some of the beers are excellent and the majority of the others are good to very good - you rarely get a duff beer from them. And all at the excellent price of £1.99, regardless of strength.

The big screen was tuned to Sky Sports so we were able to follow the fortunes of our respective teams - good news for me as Darlo beat Bath City 4-1 but not so great for Chris and Geoff as their teams lost.

The pub started to fill up once the final results came in - the match between West Ham and Arsenal was live on TV and this neck of the woods could be said to straddle both sets of supporters.

Not surprisingly it was the Arsenal fans who had most to cheer whilst the Hammers fans in the pub started up chants against the board - they want Grant out but at least they know he was probably a poor appointment in the first place.

But quite frankly I didn't care as our Wembley dream is still alive...

E Numbers

I'd made the decision to not travel to Torquay more or less at the start of the season - a lot of my fellow fans like this trip for an away weekend but personally I don't think the pubs there warrant the travelling.

So instead I'm hooking up with my London Miller chum, Chris, to try out a few pubs in sunny east London.

The first point of call for the day is the King William IV in Leyton - a pub Steve Duffy and I tried out a few years ago before a midweek game against Orient.

(left) King William IV

In those days it was OK but nothing special.

These days though it's a high profile pub in the area as it's home to Brodie's Beers which is run by Jamie and Lizzie, the brother and sister brewing team that operate from the old Sweet William brewery at the rear of the pub (which coincidentally was run by John Wilson's chum Eddie).

It's a big old pub, quite dark inside with two big rooms - the rear having an enormous buffalo head on the wall (as you do).

There was a pretty impressive array of pumps on display, all serving a myriad of Brodie's beers along with a cider and perry on hand pump.

Also impressive is the cost of a pint - £1.99 for all their own beers which includes the Romanov Empress stout, a 12% monster of a beer. Perfect prices for these recessionary times (but don't tell the prohibitionist lobby).

The TVs in the front room are turned on for the Sky match - which turns out to be the less-than-exciting Stoke -v- Wigan - and it's noticeable that a few of the regulars slip away to the back room to escape it.

The beers we try are all on excellent form - English Best, Sunshine, Orient, IPA and Special - much as you'd expect given they've not had that far to travel.

Once the Sky game is over, we depart and wander along the High Road, across the Lea Bridge Road and head up towards Walthamstow village.

The village is a little area of tranquility and poshness in E17 and it's quite spooky. We're heading to the Nags Head but it turns out we taken a wrong turn.

Luckily for us this means that we come across the East London Sausage Company and we wander in to peruse their range of home-made sausages. Quite a large choice on offer - I go for the 1920's recipe bangers which look nice and plump.

They also put us right in our search and before too long we're arrived at the Nags Head.

(right) Children - know your place!

What strikes me on arrival is the number of signs geared towards parents, all telling them what to do with their children and their buggies.

A subsequent perusal of the pub's BITE entry suggests this isn't the most child-friendly pub - clearly they've had their fill of yummy mummies (and daddies) - and the little darlings are not allowed in the pub, only outside in the heated garden.

On entering the pub, it's apparent that they're expecting a big group - rows of champagne glasses all waiting to be filled up. It turns out a wedding party is expected to drop in for a few drinks.

The Nags Head is totally different place to the more earthy King William - light-coloured wooden walls, comfy chairs, posters advertising in-house activities such as life-drawing and Egyptian dancing.

(left) Nags Head, Walthamstow Village

I'd like to think this latter class resembles Wilson, Keppel and Betty at their finest but somehow I doubt it.

There's a respectable range of beers on offer - Taylors Landlord; St Austell Tribute; Nethergate Suffolk Bitter; Mighty Oak's Oscar Wilde and Maldon Gold and their house beer, Itinerant.

This last beer turns out to be produced by Nethergate and is brewed for the pub to celebrate the late pub cat, Tetley. In fact the pub recently had a feline-themed beer festival. They like cats and won't have kids in the bar - this should be my sort of pub.

As we settle into our pints, the expected wedding party arrives and the pub goes from a quiet, library-like calm to a chatty maelstrom of air-kissing and how-do-you-dos. We hang around to watch it all and have another pint - some of the other regulars find it all a bit much though and depart.

However there's only so much jollity and such like that we can take and we decide to wander back down Orford Road to the Village.

On offer were three from Adnams - Bitter, Broadside and Explorer - and GK IPA. Not very inspiring.

Chris and I both opt for the Explorer and settle down to watch the football scores come in. The beer is not up to much - it has minimal condition and looks extremely flat and listless - and frankly it's a struggle to drink.

Even more disappointing is the latest score from Plainmoor - Torquay 5, Darlington 0! Oh dear oh dear. Happier news though for Chris as the Millers have won with a couple of late goals at Valley Parade.

We decide that the beer isn't worth bothering with and leave it. We wander back to Lea Bridge Road where we pick up the 69 bus which takes us to Leyton tube. From here we travel a couple of stops to Mile End.

I drag Chris through the streets of Bow until we reach Roman Road market - unfortunately Kelly's pie and mash shop is shut so we head straight to the Eleanor Arms.

As well as the usual Shepherd Neame choices, there is a Sheps Xmas ale and the guest beer is Old Hooky so I settle for that. Very nice.

Landlord Frankie eventually shows his face - I last saw him rather worse for wear at the end of the Pig's Ear festival a couple of weeks ago.

Whilst we have a few further pints (bottles of Otley's O-Garden for me), a few musicians wander up and perform a few tunes - not many people in to appreciate them though. We're right in the firing line and whilst it's not really our cup of tea, we applaud politely before calling it a day and heading home.

The sausages were eaten the very next day and were absolutely fabulous. I'll be going back for more...