London 2012            9/11

 

20 finally made the trip to London this year, being the highest turn out since we started visiting the big smoke:

 

Yupmeister, Mid Week Tone, Granpop Bill, JayCee, Corky, Ali Gee, 'Mind the Gap' Sid, DCeen, Bolt, Richee, Craigee, Scottee, 2 Pie r'd Dave semi colon, Jacko, Keithee's up for it, Mothy, Sean of the County Wounties, Zolette, Bicky and Stand Well Back Dave.

 

Pedro was forced to take the day off following a crisis at home. Mrs Pedro had tried to demolish the next door's house with the car but failed.

 

Tim got held up in traffic and missed the train, meeting up an hour later in London.  Scottee's train was also late so he also met up later.

 
The proposed route this year took in the pubs shown below, but due to time restraints we had to omit The Magpie yet again.

 

The challenging itinery was going to be difficult to keep to, so time was of the essence.  Arriving at Euston at different times we decided to meet up at the Market Porter. 

 

With oyster cards and day tickets at the ready, we caught the tube to London Bridge.  'Who's going to give us a pole dance?', asked Corkster. The train jerked forward and several obliged by taking a grab for the pole.

 

Our first stop was our favourite the Market Porter, next to the Borough Market.  Standing outside with our plastic glasses we enjoyed the sunshine, our ale and the sights.  We even spotted 2 lads necking pies in the market !!

 

Mid week Helen took her lunch break to join us for a short while before we headed off back to the London Bridge underground.

Scottee had still not shown up, so Richee, Sid and Bolt hung back and subsequently headed over the Thames to the Jamaica Inn when he arrived, where we'd meet up later.

 

 

 

The rest of us took the tube to the O2 led by Granpop Bill and his flag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

The lift to the departure platform almost creaked with our weight as we squeezed in.   There was no queue so we were quickly shown onto the Emirates cable cars, splitting into 3 groups.  Sean held on tightly, gradually turning white, but we were carried safely across as we admired the fantastic views.  

 

 

 

 

An impromptu leap onto the wrong train back to town lost us valuable time but gave us a close and unexpected view of the Olympic stadium.

 

A walk past the Tower of London was therefore omitted and a further tube train was taken to the Monument where the first pub, The Ship, was located.  Now a Nicholson’s chain pub, the ale was poor but as time was short we were happy to move on to the Jamaica Inn.  Stig's son, Andrew, joined us, but sadly for only a few minutes, before we had to leave and he slipped off to Burma, as you do !!   http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/theshiptalbotcourtlondon/

 

The Jamaica Inn was also disappointing, with over priced Shepherd Neame ales only being available.  So we moved on, optimistically, with Granpop Bill still waving the stoke flag.  http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/pubs/london/jamaica-wine-house  Strange that these were our favourite haunts just a few years ago.
       
 

Just 5 minutes later we arrived at the Lamb Tavern in Leadenhall Market. http://www.lambtavernleadenhall.com

 

 

 
John was given the news that Mid Week Tone, was soon to become 'Anytime' Tone, after his VR request had been accepted.  Richee celebrated with a fine cigar.
       
The Young’s Ale was the only real choice although it was very tasty. 

Zoe joined us straight from work for the final 3-4 hours.

Corky continued his moaning from where he left off last year and sought alternative ale houses with a greater choice, dragging Granpop Bill with him.  Finding that an adjacent pub within the market was up to scratch it was added to the list for future trips.

 

     
We headed off to Brick Lane via the Jack the Ripper area where his previous silhouette had sadly been covered with graffiti. The Beardy boys had slipped off to Davy’s wine bar opposite the Ripper's alleyway where a couple of bottles of port were quickly emptied. 

The touts were out in Brick Lane and Zolette quickly went to work on a couple, successfully negotiating a cracking deal at a tenner each for poppodoms, starters, main course, rice and nan bread, with 2 glasses of red wine or a cobra. Well done Zo. www.monsoonatbricklane.co.uk

The Beardy boys, worse for wear, turned up eventually and joined the far end of the table.

 

The food in the Monsoon was excellent although Ali Gee's meal was too hot for comfort. With a few extra drinks the final bill was £12 so £13 each including a tip.  Amazing value.  We'll be back.

Texts and calls from Harmesh were sadly missed and he ended up at his brothers in west London sooner than expected.

 

We caught the tube from Aldgate back to Euston Square.  Craigee held on to Keithee to ensure he didn't fall over. (Craigee, not Keithee)

 

 
   

 
 

The Brae Louise at Euston was bustling as we stopped off for our last drink before heading off to the station. 

 

Connections were made with seconds to spare and everyone made it home without the need for expensive taxis......  Attempting to sober up on the train, Richee volunteered to fetch coffees from the on board coffee shop.  After 5 attempts he finally made it back with the correct orders, milks and biscuits just as we arrived back at Stoke.

 

 

It had been an exhausting but most enjoyable day.

 

Cheers

Yuppers