There Goes The Neighbourhood...

The start to the new year saw the departure of one of the oldest businesses in my part of the East End as Duncan’s Pie and Mash shop on Green Street closed for good.


Joan Holt seving the masses

Although I was a relatively late convert to the pleasure of green liquor and pies done London-stylee, I have now tried a wide variety of this fare in different parts of London and can say, hand on heart with no hint of local bias, that Duncan’s was the best I’d come across.

And that was no mean feat given that there was some stiff competition in the area from Robin’s in nearby East Ham and also from Nathan’s just the other side of the Boleyn Ground.

The only thing I've never got to grips with is jellied eels.  I tried them back in the late 1980s and they were horrible - never again!

The local pie and mash shops are full to the gunnels on match-days as exiled Hammers fans poured into the area but trade at other times is patchy as the older residents of the borough die off or move out of the area.

Unfortunately the pleasures of pie and mash have failed to catch the imagination of the more recent influx of residents. Presumably no one has yet produced halal pie and mash?

Just recently Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain TV series visited Robin’s shop - Oliver tried to persuade viewers that pies originated in Egypt but I suspect that they were a pale imitation of what we know and love today.

Nevertheless it was still nice to see the footage of the shop. In an interview, the owners hinted they would be closing and sure enough the shop was long gone by the time the programme was transmitted – a shame after almost ninety years in business.



David Holt - keep the spuds boiling

 I’d popped into Duncan’s last week for a couple of takeaway pies and proprietor Joan said she was  pleased I'd dropped in – would I let the Pie and Mash club know that they were closing up in case anyone wanted to make a final visit?

Joan had been very impressed with the appetites of some members of the club when making their last visit back in 2010.

Joan added that they’d been going for forty years and that now was probably the time to call it a day.

And so the big day came and it was time for one last visit for a 2 and 2 – double pie and double mash. I made my way there before noon to beat the rush and managed to bag a seat. Whilst there I took a few final shots of the place, including some behind the scenes.

I had a quick chat with John – busy backstage in charge of the pies and mash – who although looking forward to taking thngs a bit easier said that he would miss his customers, especially on match days.

And then a farewell to Joan, busy serving at the front, before I left taking with me a few final pies for the freezer.

The queue was almost out of the door by then and I heard that later on that the queue stretched almost to the tube station and many fans failed to get in for a last taste.

The Last Crawl Of Summer

It was slightly odd to have Liz leave the house before me for her opening game of the season but having an extra weekend before the Conference kicked off meant I had time for a final close season Saturday crawl.

As ever, London Miller Chris was keen to come along me (though he should really have joined Liz and co. cheering on the Millers) and we met at the Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey. This was his first visit and he was tasting some of their beers when I arrived, including their latest brew, Amarillo Pale Ale.

We then split a bottle of their White beer which is my favourite of theirs at the moment - an extremely drinkable and more-ish brew.

Brewer Evin told us that his wife had given birth to a baby boy but they'd not yet got a name. I suggested that simcoe (a hop he uses in his ales) would be a good moniker. We'll see whether his other half agrees...

After Chris had bought a few bottles, we wandered off to Lou Farrow's, the local pie and mash shop.

I opted for double pie, double mash which was in hindsight a tad optimistic as their pies are quite filling and I ended up not finishing my mash. Bad form, don't you know...

(left) The Oakdale Arms - doomed?

The first pub of the day was to be the Oakdale Arms in Harringay, north London, which meant a three-tube journey.

This pub is part of the Individual Pubs chain and is sister pub to the Pembury Tavern. It has been under threat for the past few years and is now supposed to be closing for good.

As such the place is looking a bit run down and there are only two beers on - Spartacus and Tiki from Milton - apparently most of the handpumps have gone to the Pembury in Hackney. We opt for the Spartacus - it's not in brilliant condition.

Manager Rob sees Chris looking into one of the glass cases holding a variety of reptiles and takes out one of his Bearded Dragons. They look fearsome little beasts but don't apear to mind being handled so I pick one up and am surprised by how soft they are. Apparently all they need is one good meaty feed per week and then they're happy on salad. Not my sort of diet.

Rob said he is taking each day as it comes and there is hope that the current planning permission will expire before any work is done to convert the pub into housing. Fingers crossed it does survive.

From here we travelled across north London to Gospel Oak where the heavens opened as we got off the train. Once we'd taken the correct route (after I headed off in the wrong direction), it was just a short walk to the Southampton Arms and so we didn't get too wet.

This pub sits on Highgate Road and as we approached it was clear the road had been cordoned off by police cars. What was occurring?

It turned out that a car had somehow turned over on top of a zebra crossing just a hundred yards down from the pub.

Fortunately the driver was not badly hurt so we didn't feel too bad rubber-necking.

(right) Hmmm, bet you couldn't execute that manoeuvre again, squire...

The Southampton Arms has a great range of beers and ciders and thankfully is not too busy.

As ever I have to remember to ask for a straight glass in here otherwise you're given a jam jar.

After a few pints, it's time to get the football results - there is only one that really matters today and Chris is pleased to hear Rotherham have started the season with a victory against Lincoln (who had simian-featured Clarke Keltie in their ranks).

We move onto the nearby Dartmouth Arms where the Leeds -v- Derby game is in full swing on the TV with only a dozen or so interested punters watching it.

I'm quite surprised to see the pub has three Westerham beers on the pumps : British Bulldog, Grass Hopper and Finchcocks Original.

Both of us opt for the Grass Hopper - Chris quite likes it but I'm not keen as the condition is a bit poor.

(left) The Southampton Arms

Once the game is over, we move on down to Kentish Town and a nice back street boozer called the Pineapple which is the local CAMRA current pub of the year.

The place was very busy as we arrived but we managed to grab a couple of seats at the bar. Also in residence was Jeremy Paxman's understudy, Gavin Esler.

There were five beers on including the likes of Bass, Redemption Urban Dusk and Sambrook's Wandle Ale. We both had the Redemption which was OK but not outstanding - not a surprise as it then ran out.

We arranged to make a final pit stop at the Betjeman Arms at St Pancras where we'd meet Liz after she got back into town. As I got there I couldn't find my phone and then Liz turned up to tell me that the Pineapple had rung her (last number redial) to say I'd left it on the bar. Doh!

The beauty of having a crappy five-year old Nokia is that the smart young things of north London wouldn't think twice about pocketing such a primitive device.

Hopefully I'll not be quite so forgetful over the coming weeks and months of the season. Bring it on!

Pie and Mash Club

Over the past few years I've really got into pie and mash after many years of ignoring it. I'm not sure why I spent so long giving it a wide berth - I think the thought of having some weird green stuff on a pie instead of gravy just seemed so wrong.

But having finally tried some a few years ago and found that it's not actually as bad as I thought, I started following the progress of the Pie and Mash Club.

The PMC are a group of individuals who come together every so often for some p&m on a Friday lunchtime at a pre-arranged venue.

(left) Please, can I have some more? Nick polishes off some eels

It's mainly a social occasion but there is a healthy competitive element to it too.

As the venue for the latest outing of the club was my local shop, Duncan's on Green Street, I'd arranged to work at home for the day so I could attend.

On my arrival a couple of members were already present and tucking in - I was interested to see that they were just having pies, no mash. Presumably the mash fills you up too quickly?

Having no wish to take on these experienced trenchers, I went for double pie, double mash and liquor.

Other members of the club then joined us including Nick who organises the fixture list, keeps score and writes up the days events.

Pie shop owner Joan was bemused by all the frenzied activity - normally the shop never gets too busy except on West Ham matchdays when the queue stretches down the street.

I'm obviously rather biased but this shop does produce the best pie and mash I've had from my travels across London. There are other more well-known shops, such as Manze's and Goddard's, but for my money they don't come any near as good. The fact that these others are from south of the river has, of course, nothing to do with it.

There is a scoring system for the food eaten - 4 points per pie, 4 per portion of eels, 3 per portion of mash and 1 per portion of liquor. David Arkell was setting quite a pace today and eventually went on to score 56 points. Joan commented she'd not seen anyone eat so much - and in less than an hour too!

At the last count Nick Evans was leading the pack for the season - mainly by way of attending all the events - whilst David Arkell was second.

(right) Len Wilcox faces up to David Arkell

And currently in third place was Len Wilcox who told me he visited Feethams a few times and as a West Ham fan he even remembers our league cup game at Upton Park back in 1975. I remember listening to the progress of this on the radio - we lost lost 3-0 after a goal-less first half if I remember correctly.

Len is keen to get some points on the board and the tension between him and David Arkell hots up and the taunts about small pies start to hit home - they're like two bull elephant seals sizing each other up. But Arkell is out of sight today and as I leave for home Len is vainly trying to catch up.

The future of many pie and mash shops are in the balance - as with many pubs in the area some have closed as their traditional east-end clientele are either dying off or have moved to Essex. Joan was interviewed in an interesting article here where she describes the problems the shop faces.

But there are a few encouraging signs - a new pie shop opened up a mile or so away in Plaistow recently and my other local shop, Robins, have opened a new outlet in Wanstead. In an area where every other shop seems to be a fried chicken franchise, it's nice to see all is not lost.

Update: Nick has now written his report on this tie and interesting to see that Len managed to polish off eight pies but failed to match David Arkell by just a solitary point.

Shiver Me Timbers

And so another weekend without our regulation quota of trains, pubs and football. Obviously not a surprise given that there had been no let-up with the wintry conditions and so it was almost a complete white-out across the country with a handful of games actually going ahead.

Since the match was called off on the Thursday, this gave me plenty of time to come up with some alternative plans for the Saturday. Thankfully Chris T was more than willing to throw in his lot and join me.

And since he'd had ventured over to my side of town for a crawl before Xmas, it was now my turn to head to south London for the start of our little wander.

I arrived at Elephant & Castle tube and finally found the Walworth Road through the maze of underpasses - not a particularly salubrious stretch of road but it wasn't long before I found our rendezvous point, Arments Pie, Mash & Eel shop.

Arments have been plying their trade around here since the First World War but the premises at Westmoreland Road are relatively modern and probably the largest I've seen for a pie and mash shop.

(left) Luvly Jubbly!!

Unusually they offer a steak and kidney pie in addition to the standard issue and it's not too bad - quite a decent bit of kidney and quite flavoursome. The mash is OK - a few too many eyes in it for me which for some reason reminds me of school mashed potato - whilst the liquor is positively glowing (reminding me of Percy's purest green).

Following this we meandered towards Camberwell taking a slight deviation via the very impressive Addington Square - just about 100 yards from Walworth Road but seemingly from a different time - impressive regency-type houses with a central communal garden - very grand.

From here we went through slightly grimmer housing estates until we reached the first pub of the day - the Hermit's Cave - which is on of the corner of Grove Road on Camberwell Church Road.

It's quite a small-ish pub with a couple of tight bars, one of which seems to be set up for TV viewing rather than anything else and another with more comfy seating. It's a bit dark inside and rather quiet for a Staurday lunchtime but I suppose it is still quite early.

There's a decent selection of beers with three from Brodies (Mild, Red and IPA) plus Gravesend Shrimpers Bitter from Loddon Brewery. There were also two ciders on tap.

(right) The Hermits Cave

I tried a pint of Shrimpers Bitter whilst Chris had the IPA - both were OK but nothing special so we moved on.

We walked along Camberwell Grove which is also in marked contrast to the Walworth Road - very large and elegant houses - and as Chris commented, some wouldn't look out of place on a well-to-do seafront.

We popped into what was the Grove pub and is now in the final stages of being revamped as the Grand Union. Three handpumps for Youngs Ordinary and Well's Bombardier on the bar but no beer available from any of them.

We continued on and headed to Hooper's Bar and weren't totally surprised to find we were the first customers of the day. Two beers on offer - Adnam's Yuletide and Keltek Arthur's Ale. There was a third pump with Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew but this appeared to be off.

The Keltek is a new brewery to us - the pump clip was a rough and ready homemade affair which offered no clues but subsequent googling shows the brewery to be based down in Redruth - and the Arthur's Ale was quite tasty given it was only 3.5% but it didn't warrant a second pint.

It was also nice to see they use oversize glasses here too - I hadn't noticed this on previous visits. And no sign of our chum, landlord Jamie, as he's sunning it up in the Caribbean.

We'd originally intended to move onto the nearby Gowlett but after a flurry of texts with some other London Millers, we decided on a change of plan that saw us go to Herne Hill instead.

On the way there we popped into the latest branch of William Rose on East Dulwich Road - a butcher with a fine array of game birds as well as some enticing sausages and pork pies - and enticed we certainly were.

From here it was a bus ride to Herne Hill and the Florence pub. I'd been meaning to come here for a few years following good reports. On the slopes of Brockwell Park opposite there were lots of families out sledging as the snow started to come down quite thickly.

Inside the pub, we were warmly welcomed by the manager who sensed we were on a crawl - not quite sure what radar he has but it was spot on.

It's a big airy pub which seems heavily focussed to food with few people at the bar. We tried a pint of their own brew, Weasel, which was quite hoppy but a bit flat. Probably not surprising as it turned out to be the last of the barrel.

They also brew a wheat beer, Beaver, but this unfortunately wasn't on tap but our friendly manager managed to get us a small sample. Quite nice too with spicing more akin to Hoegaarden than Schneider Weisse but enjoyable all the same.

The manager said they were thinking about brewing a mild as well - they'd then have to try and come up with some ploy to market it to the younger crowd they serve so that it won't simply be regarded as an old man's drink.

I had a pint of Adnams Old before we left - very more-ish but served a tad too cold for my liking. Chris went for a bottle of the Coopers Sparkling, rolled before poring to disturb the sediment as is traditional with our antipodean cousins.

From the pub it's a very short walk to Herne Hill station where we catch the train to Beckenham and then take the tram to Addiscombe.

It is here that you find Clarets Free House which is the oft-visited pub for those three gentlemen of South Norwood - Chris, Andy and Paul. It is my first visit so I was keen to see what the fuss was all about.

(left) London Millers found here - beware...

A large-ish one room bar - quite gloomy and populated by what is probably fair to describe as an older clientele. Few pretty young things in here but sometimes that doesn't matter.

There was a great range of beers - apparently there is always a Palmers beer on sale (and it is Palmer's biggest selling outlet in London and has the certificate to prove it) but their beers don't do it for me.

I opted for an opening pint of Celtica from the Great Orme Brewery - a golden ale, quite light but nothing challenging.

There were also a few beers from the Westerham brewery - we were all on their William Wilberforce Freedom at some point which was another golden ale with a nice dash of hops - a Fairtrade beer originally brewed to celebrate the abolition of slavery.

Paul was in residence when we arrived and Andy arrived shortly afterwards - the chat was the usual male stuff and varied from how much we all spend on our weekly shop, which Sainsburys is best around that neck of the woods and do borlotti beans belong in a stew. Heady stuff.

The best beer of the day for me was the last one - the Sussex Stout from the Dark Star brewery which I almost overlooked as the pump clip looked like an old-fashioned Guinness clip. Dark Star is one of those breweries from which I've never had a poor beer and this pint wasn't about to start a trend - a nice full-bodied dry stout without any overwhelming bitterness. A perfect final beer.

Paul started the exodus as there was a stew with his name on it back at home - with borlotti beans - and it's then that hunger got the better of the rest of us.

I had the longest traipse back to east London where I popped into my local kebabish where I had a very interesting chat about brain and lambs foot curries.

It seems they no longer make a brain curry but they do still have the lambs foot curry - check out the recipe here - I have to admit I chickened out and went for boring old tikka instead. Maybe next time when I've had more Dutch courage...

Making Mischief

No report from our game at Hereford unfortunately as I didn't actually make it. I'd got as far as Paddington but was feeling pretty crap by the time I got there.

I suspect the cause of my malady was a dodgy pizza made by my own fair hand the night before though Liz seemed to have escaped - must have been the anchovy/chilli topping that I do for myself.

I made the only sensible choice and went back home instead of the less-sensible-but-more-enjoyable one of joining Steve and John in the Barrels.

However Steve was up in London to see the Villa at Upton Park and we decided to make an east-end afternoon out of it. Certainly beats working.

I met him at Earls Court and we tubed over to Bethnal Green and the Approach Tavern.

It's a Fullers pub we've been visiting occasionally over the past year and we just stuck to Pride although Steve had opted for Chiswick initially but it came out like soup!

(left) Cyprus Road War Memorial

After a couple of pints we wander along Old Ford Road and take a quick visit to see an interesting local landmark, the War Memorial on Cyprus Street.

The memorial was erected after the First World War by the Duke of Wellington's Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors Benevolent Club. They need an acronym.

It's very impressive in that it is beautifully maintained - in fact the whole street seems very pretty with all it's shutters - not how most would imagine the streets of Bethnal Green.

Apparently it is looked after by some elderly local residents but they're having trouble finding new volunteers to help out as all the old families die out.

We saw similar war memorials in St Albans when we had a crawl there in summer and they were also lovingly cared for.

From Cyprus Road we wander to the Roman Road where we're hoping to have some pie and mash in the local Robin's outlet. Steve was keen after being denied when we went to Dagenham a few weeks ago.

But it's not there - the local butcher informs us that it's recently closed and it now appears to be a meze cafe. Looks like Steve is out of luck again but we're told there are a couple more further along at the Roman Road market.

(right) G.Kelly to Steve's rescue

We troll along and find both of these outlets belong to G Kelly and as it's not a proper market day, we're not surprised to see that just one of them is open.

The food is very good - a nice pie, not too crusty with a decent filling of mince, and excellent mash - not too lumpy and certainly not the smooth baby-food style mash you get in most gastro-joints which I absolutely hate. Lovely jubbly!

(left) Traditional pie and mash with less traditional mushy peas


From here it's a short walk back towards Old Ford Road and a new pub for us, the Eleanor Arms.

We've seen the adverts for this pub in editions of the London Drinker for the last year or so and kept meaning to drop in and try it out.

It's a Shepherd Neame pub which has never been one of my favourite breweries but let's not prejudge! They had the Canterbury Jack and the Late Red autumn ale - we had the latter and it was in good condition and not too bad.

We got talking to Frankie and Lesley - the landlord and landlady - and they're a really friendly pair who seem to be on their way to turning this into a real cosy pub without any of the local ne'er-do-wells who previously visited the place. Their experience running NAAFI bars no doubt coming in handy here...

They're both delighted at being included in the latest Good Beer Guide - the first time for this pub - and we have a interesting chat on some of East London's other GBG entries - some of which do not always bear scrutiny in our humble opinions.

Frankie was getting a special brew from Shep's pilot brewery ready for the forthcoming quiz night - an American IPA - and he gave us both a small sample. Very tasty it was too but still with a Sheps aftertaste. I'm sure it will go down well.

(right) The Eleanor Arms

But we couldn't chat all day - next stop was the Palm Tree, one of our old favourites.

It's always a cosy bolt-hole and as dusk fell, the faint glitter of lights in the bar were a welcoming site across the Mile End eco-park.

As ever they had a couple of interesting beers on - one from Oxfordshire Ales plus Old Cocky from the Welton's Brewery in Horsham. We stuck to the latter - good stuff.

Liz then joined us for an hour or so before we left the pub and caught the tube to Upton Park for the West Ham -v- Villa game. Liz and I had got tickets for the home end as tickets in the away end had all gone.

We were in the old East Stand - the only stand which hasn't been revamped over the past few years - and the leg room is probably worse than the away end at Luton - even for a short-arse like me.

And the cost? £47. Which puts the £18 Darlo admission charge into perspective even allowing for the supposed difference in quality between the divisions.

As ever Villa fans are in good voice with their usual gamut of songs - "My Garden Shed (Is Bigger Than This)" and "John Carew, Carew (Is Bigger Than Me and You)" - clearly putting Holland-Dozier-Holland to shame - whilst the Hammers are extremely quiet, presumably through nerves. Just goes to show that a full stadium doesn't guarantee an atmosphere!

Villa more or less boss the game throughout but without taking the lead - West Ham are wasteful in possession and ponderous going forward. Villa live to regret their profligacy when the Hammers are awarded a penalty just before the break.

From our angle - more or less in line with the back line - Hines was offside anyway and the penalty awarded for a shove in the back looked harsh. But ref Bennett was clearly auditioning for a major role in The Simpsons. 1-0 to the Hammers.

Villa got their own penalty in the second-half for a high, clumsy challenge but Green saved Young's kick. But it was a brief respite as Young scored a cracker just a few minutes laterm curling the ball over a despairing Green.

Villa should then have taken West Ham to the cleaners but despite dominating possession they couldn't get another goal. Then ref Bennett sent off Habib Beye for a second yellow.

As Hammers fans around us snuck out early, it was almost inevitable that there'd be a late goal against the ten men and so it was - Villa were cruelly beaten in the 3rd minute of added time.

To ease the pain, we took Steve to a local kerala restaurant - fast becoming the new east end cuisine, much fresher tasting than the traditional Bangladeshi fare - and had some lovely mutton curry and parippu (that's lentils to you).

Still, a good day out, shame about the result - sounds just like Darlo...

Eastern Promise

What a glorious day for a pub crawl - warm weather but not as stupidly hot as earlier in the week. Liz and I had got to the Wenlock Arms a little before opening so we had a pleasant sit down in the small park next door.

Following the machinations of the AGM, it was time to sort out the teams for the Pub Crawl Treasure Hunt Quiz Thingy - only four teams in all to take on the course but all as keen as mustard to get started.

Our Plymouth-supporting chum, Geoff, accompanied me as we aimed to wander around behind the teams and check all the clues were still intact. Liz meanwhile went off to buy some prizes from the nearest Pound Shop.

(left) The Marksman


The first point of call for the teams was the Marksman on Hackney Road - a healthy little schlep from the Wenlock via Columbia Road Market - just enough of a hike to generate a thirst.

Geoff and I had wandered there via the nearby Royal Oak to try the cask-conditioned Meantime London Pale Ale but alas it was off.

The Marksman commemorates the death of Nelson and it sits of the corner of Horatio Road and Hackney Road and it currently offers just one cask beer, Landlord. The landlord reckons they can't really run to another handpump but they're doing their best and the menus look extremely tasty. They're also offering the chance to barter for a pint. I'm not sure that will catch on somehow.

When I first came to London this place was an Everards house, one of the few decent places in East London for real ale in those days.

From here it was a short walk to the second pub, the Albion, which is certainly a football pub. The place is a homage to West Bromich Albion and the walls are covered in pennants and photographs from their dim and distant past.

It's just such a shame then that the beer was so lousy. The Pitfield Organic was positively vinegrescent and the Landlord little better.

However it did allow most teams to check out the final quarter of the British Lions victory against SA on the big screen - and even the beer garden had it's own screen - but no one hung around after that once they got the required answers.

Another short-walk then took everyone to Broadway Market with two opportunities for point scoring by the teams.

The Dove a very popular pub - and is the sister pub to the Dovetail in Clerkenwell - and the place was overrun with trendy young things (which is generally everyone younger than me).

(left) Get yer eels here!


A fairly decent selection of 6-8 cask beers with the likes of Maldon Gold and Golden Duck from Crouch Vale, Speckled Hen, Landlord (again), Flowers IPA, Pedigree and Abbot.

There was also a variety of Belgian beers on draught - I opted for the Brugse Zot which is always drinkable - plus a good choice of bottles.

The other place for teams to score points was at Cooke's pie and mash shop just a few yards down the road. Most teams tried the pie and mash but only one team tried the jellied eels as well. Brave boys!

Liz and I had tried out their pie and mash a couple of weeks earlier when checking out the route and the current owner is a real friendly chap and was proud of what's probably the most verdant liquor I've yet seen. However his mash had too many eyes in it for my high exacting standards and the pies were only so-so.

From the bustle of the market, it was nice to get down to the relative calm of Regents Canal towpath and walk to the next pub. Well, it would be if it wasn't for 99% of cyclists bombing along the route as well. Bastards!

The towpath is a great route to take to miss out some of the more miserable roads around here but a pain as you have to have eyes in the back of your head to see these proto-Lance Armstrongs.

(right) Token arty shot

From the towpath Geoff and I had to scale the fence into neighbouring Victoria Park in order to get to the fourth pub, the Approach Tavern.

The Approach is another old haunt of mine from the mid 1980s - it has changed a little internally but offer a decent selection of beers, mainly Fullers but also an Adnams beer. Some decent foreign beers on draught too. Liz and I have been here a couple of other times recently and the place is always busy - the beer is kept well and the food is excellent. And most people sit outside on the terrace so it's nice and quiet indoors.

Whilt Robert, Clarkey and Peter went off to find more answers at the Crown, found at the corner of Grove Road and Old Ford Road, Geoff and I rejoined the towpath and wandered off to the final pub of the crawl, the Palm Tree.

Now the Palm Tree is very well known to Darlo and Rotherham fans as an after-venue for Dagenham and Redbridge games and quite a few on the crawl had been there before but probably not via this route.

The pub occupies an eco-park next to the canal and so can get quite busy with passing walkers and local students - that we have only one person serving a busy bar is not a surprise but which does mean the wait for a beer was longer than we'd want.

John and Bev had managed to join us at this point - unfortunately the lure of domestic duties had meant they couldn't start the crawl but they'd eventually tired of carpet shops and made it in time for the last leg of the crawl.

As ever two cask beers were on offer - the very drinkable Roy Rogers (3.8%) from the Brentwood Brewery and Jake the Snake (4.0%) from Mighty Oak - but by the time we'd got served the latter had all gone - we bagged the remnants of half a pint but found it to be a bit bland.

We eventually persuaded Rob, Clarkey and Peter to leave the Palm Tree a little after 7pm and headed to nearby Mile End tube, eventually arriving back at the Wenlock just after 8pm - in the end we weren't far behind the Three Gentlemen of Norbury who had stopped off for a fish supper.

Liz proceeded to give out the answers to her carefully crafted questions - most of the teams did quite well even if some googling was done for some answers (you know who you are!). And then time for the prizes - quite predictably Liz's brother and his teammates came last despite being the only team to take on jellied eels.

Once the prize giving was over it was time to relax and have some more beer. And listen to the jazz.

One pleasant surprise at the end of the night was bumping into Richard Stedman, or Stedders to his mates, who visiting the capital and who had decided to re-visit a few of his haunts.

DAFTS got to know Stedders very well when he first put together the Football and Real Ale Guides a few seasons ago when we were able to help out with pub recommendations in the lower divisions.

Since then, Richard has spent time running a cracking little pub in sunny Colne but he's now returned to his native Bristol where he can keep an eye on his beloved Rovers.

The Football and Real Ale Guide is now online where it is much easier to maintain and Stedders is always on the look-out for new pub recommendations as well as updates and reviews so that it can kept up-to-date and useful to fans. We'll certainly be doing our best to help out.

It's A Mash Up!

I'd decided to give our game at Dean Court a miss and have a day of minimal travel - I'd still get my weekly dose of football as I would be joining the London Millers for their match at Dagenham & Redbridge.

This meant my entire day would be restricted to a small section of the District line - and a replacement bus service. Lovely!

To start the day, I met Chris Turner at Upton Park tube and we went to Duncans, a local pie and mash shop close to the station. I've walked past this place for many years but this was to be my first visit.

We've been visiting other pie and mash shops but these have tended to be some of the well-known shops in Deptford High Street run by Manzes and Goddards.

There was a basic choice of food - pie, mash and eels (jellied and stewed) - and I stuck to the tried and tested combination of pie, mash and liquor.

There was no way I'm having eels - I've seen others try them and I'm afraid I've not got the stomach for them.

The pie was excellent - nice crust and a solid filling of mince - probably the best I've had in my relatively limited experience of pie and mash shops.

The liquor was also one of the best I've had - I'm not a big fan of parsley but this sauce was lovely.

For more details on pie and mash outlets in London, visit the Pie and Mash club.