Top work again mate!👍 That Red lion looks an absolute gem! My favourite RUclips channel no messing!!! Cheers 🍻 Without appearing greedy, I’m looking forward to the next one!! Paul
Thanks Paul, I really appreciate the kind words there! I think I caught the Red Lion at a special moment, I have been a few times before and it was always much busier on previous visits, but early in the day when it's practically deserted it's magical.
The first time I watched a Tweedy Pubs vid, I watched for about ten seconds and then reached out to turn it off. Then, I hesitated. I kept watching…and watched some more. Then I watched others. Now I watch them all. Great work, I especially love the architectural commentary.
Thanks, that's really good to hear! I'm definitely not an expert RUclips "content creator", and I occasionally watch those videos made for people like that which tell me I'm doing just about everything wrong! In this video I was a bit worried that it's over a minute at the start before you even see the inside of a pub, and I'm sure an "expert" would tell me that's probably going to lose a lot of the audience... but I grew up in an era before the internet, watching longer / slower documentary type TV shows, and I suspect some of my audience similarly have a bit more patience than your average RUclips viewer. I know this presentation style really isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm glad that at least some people like it!
As someone that loves history, london and pubs your videos are a perfect watch for me. The research you do is fantastic, and its fascinating to learn some of the back story to these places. Ive been in at least three of those pubs you reviewed, and look forward to returning. I was in Covent Garden last weekend doing the dreaded xmas shopping and would have loved to sneak off for a quiet pint, Alas i was needed for lugging gifts around. Look forward to the next one Tweedy.
Thanks Rob! Pubs and history are always so intertwined and I think it makes perfect sense that anyone who is interested in one of those things would also be interested in the other. Sorry to hear you had no chance for pub respite on your recent shopping trip!
We hate Christmas Shopping too! Some of these we knew but thanks for the heads up on others! The Red Lion looks stunning. We’ll add that to our list! Cheers 🍻
The Red Lion on Kingly Street is at the back of Hamleys more or less, but feels like a world away. I neglected to mention in the video but the Red Lion didn't have any Christmas decorations (yet?) whereas all the other pubs did. I can't remember now whether Sam Smith's pubs normally do that or not, or perhaps if they just wait until a bit later on to put them up... But if any one pub stands out here as a complete refuge from Christmas shopping it would be that one.
Had to be the first to congratulate you on reaching 1000 subscribers, still at 998 but it wont be long, Great work really like your uploads, Subscriber of all three of your channels, You had 63 subscribers on your first channel when I found you a little over a year ago.
Thanks Hartley, and I really appreciate you being here from the early days! This feels like quite a different kind of video now from those early Tweedy Outdoors ones. I suppose the subject matter is also different but I typically spend a day before these pub videos doing research and writing detailed notes, which I then refer to when filming. The Tweedy Outdoors videos are a lot more reactive by contrast - I only do a tiny bit of planning beforehand (to decide the route essentially) but after that I'm just responding to whatever I happen to see on the day. Afterwards in terms of editing the Tweedy Outdoors videos are relatively straightforward - I just stitch whatever footage I took together in a linear fashion and decide which bits to keep and which bits to drop. Whereas with the pubs videos - especially the more recent ones - there's a lot more overlays / B-roll / embellishment to deal with and the editing comparatively takes a lot longer. I enjoy both approaches to making videos but I feel like the end result is quite different in style, so it's especially nice to hear you enjoy both!
Brodie’s ceased trading in 2018, its 2 beers are brewed by the Battersea brewery on behalf of the past brodies owners. Love the red lion, wondered why ive never been inside then i saw Sam smith on pump haha
Thanks for the correction, it seems my information was out of date! I know Sam Smith's beer isn't everyone's cup of tea, and particularly at this pub where there's no real ale served. I had the Old Brewery Bitter, but it was the keg version rather than the cask version they have in some other Sam Smith's pubs. To be honest, even from a keg, I thought it wasn't bad. Certainly better than the not-at-its-best London Pride I had at the Argyll Arms, but perhaps that wasn't saying much. The terrifyingly expensive Landlord at the Clachan was decent, and to my surprise the London Glory at the Shakespeare's Head was actually quite drinkable (I'm not normally a fan of Greene King's beers). The Brodie's Bethnal Green Bitter at the Old Coffee House was the best beer of the day though.
This is something I have done on numerous occasions in years past! I always found Christmas shopping a lot more bearable if punctuated with pub visits. I think this cluster of pubs is particularly good for that - not sure I really explained that very well in the video (I think once I got to the pubs I pretty much forgot all about that Christmas shopping nonsense!) but they're very close to Oxford Street / Regent Street, where a lot of London's major shops are.
Beer “north of 7 quid” is eye watering 😮 Oh, how times have changed in central London. 😢 As always, thank you John for such an informative and interesting pub crawl. 👏👏👍😀
Great videos! I look forward to the new releases. My brother, a friend and I have been doing regular trips to London from the US since 2000 to check out the historic London pubs and drink real ale. This is giving us some new ideas...and confirming that we were making some good choices. This is quickly becoming my favorite RUclips channel! Love getting some of the history as well.
Thanks Chris! Really glad you're enjoying the videos and that they're helping you plan your future tours of London pubs. Although it sounds to me like you have been doing this for longer than I have! I didn't do my first proper historic London pub crawl until 2003, although I had been to individual pubs here and there for a few years before that.
@@TweedyPubs We only get to them every few years so our quantity isn't great. But we just put the Red Lion on Kingly and the Old Coffee House on the list for next trip :)
Thanks Steve! I suppose every architectural style references what went before, and I agree, despite the "mock" word, anything which is by now a century old has a venerability all of its own.
I thought it was about time I commented. Came across your channel by chance, as is often the way, and have now binged through pretty much all your pub videos and a fair few on your other channels. Absolutely loving your content, especially the pubs. It’s been great watching you talk about quite a few pubs I’ve spent a fair amount of time in, Soho, Strand, Carnaby etc. I know your channels are small but it looks like they’re growing, so long may you continue - watching a fellow posh chap talking about pubs….what’s not to love! Hoping one day I stumble across you filming at a pub and we can enjoy a pint!
Thank you for the very kind words! The other two channels are a bit more slapdash, but on this one I'm trying to be at least a bit more thorough and say something worthwhile (maybe even novel?) about the history of these great cultural institutions. Although of course a balance has to be struck there - I don't want it to get too dry and academic, pubs are supposed to be places of merriment after all! Posh is a funny word isn't it? Most people don't seem to want to self identify as that, but obviously it's a bit hard to deny if I'm sitting there in a three piece tweed suit quoting Pevsner! I actually had a very humble upbringing in the Midlands, then moved down to London as an adult and just seemed to gravitate towards the finer things in life. Pubs are, in theory, the great leveller though... That said, that wasn't really the case in these late Victorian pubs with all these internal partitions, and I get the sense that, although today we don't exactly have that weird division within individual pubs, different pubs are clearly catering for different crowds.
My memory of the Argyll goes back 40 ish years. Virtually empty when I arrived but suddenly became packed shortly afterwards.( Didn't realise it was opposite the Palladium). It emptied as quickly as it filled leaving most glasses only partially emptied. I then observed the steel bucket coming round collecting undrunk beer to be filtered back in to the barrel!
@@TweedyPubs no .Regarding the Red Lion I gather the owner has passed control of his London pubs to son Samuel so a more relaxed regime ?Have seen Humphrey reprimand a Manager for not having the fire lit(as in your video), even when the central heating was on ! The coal fire in the other bar was so hot a black labrador kept moving away !
Don't forget the Clachan just off Fleet St in Serjeants' Inn behind El Vinos - a desperate cellar bar with a redeeming courtyard outside. Now part of a hotel I think.
Another really interesting and informative video. That raised snug area in The Clachan may be from the 80s onwards when pub food started to take off and children were allowed into pubs from where previously they were banned. Apparently being raised made it not the same room, so the children were technically not in the room where alcohol was dispensed. Whoever thought that one up must have been on the sauce all day. I well remember as a young father being told repeatedly 'Your kids can come in as long as they sit in the raised area.' Now it seems kids sit where they want as pubs become more like restaurants, but the raised areas remain as curios for future discussion and debate.
Superb videos, haven't been in the Red Lion for a long time...quality battle cruiser! For fans of live blues music, you cannot go wrong with Ain't Nuthin but the Blues on Kingly Street...phenomenal venue!
Thank you sir! Yes I think for me the Red Lion may well have been the star of the show on this occasion. I was originally going to talk a bit more in the video about the history of jazz clubs on Kingly Street, apparently at one time London's main centre for them, and I imagine the blues bar you mention is partly a remnant of that era.
Interesting about the Jazz Clubs on Kingly St...would tie in with Blues as you suggest....worth a visit again to establish the facts of the situation!@@TweedyPubs
Some real gems! That corridor in The Argyll Arms - what a thing of beauty. And The Red Lion. That looked so inviting. I guess one has to hope it’s not always so quiet, but it can be like that when I visit. The only problem with this video is that it has reminded me of the imminence of Christmas - which has not made its way onto my things to do list yet. Let the season of stress commence! The level of research for these is going up and ever upwards. Fantastic work.
Thank you, as ever it is a moment of delight when I see one of your comments pop up in my notifications! An aside about the Red Lion I neglected to mention in the video is that it played a part in the genesis of my whole tweedy identity. It may shock you to learn (and I am somewhat ashamed to admit) I haven't actually spent my entire life perpetually tweed clad! The catalyst was a tweed cap I bought on a whim for a party in 2007. From then on I was a part time / partial tweed wearer for a couple of years, I bought a few tweed jackets and struggled a bit to find trousers to go with them which didn't look ill at ease... but one day I saw a chap saunter out of the Red Lion in a full three piece tweed suit and he seemed to me like a God amongst men. I think I knew in that moment what I should aim for in life. Yes sorry to mention Christmas before December 1st - it's quite inexcusable!
@@TweedyPubs that’s a great story! And that chap has no idea what he started. I think my conversion to tweed happened in my early/mid 20s. I had been dressing smartly to annoy my father - who wanted me to “look America” as a teenager, whatever that means - but one day I went into a very traditional gents’ outfitters in Bishop’s Stortford, and the rest as they say, is history!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd There is a good chance he was just wearing that tweed suit as a complete one off for a fancy dress party or some such! I love the idea of dressing in tweed as an act of rebellion and it definitely resonates! During my early years dabbling with tweed I was surrounded by Silicon Valley types at work, in their corporate uniform of jeans, T-shirts and hoodies. At the time I didn't have any objection to that style of clothing in principle, but it bothered me that when a company made a point of saying there was absolutely no dress code, rather than having a wonderful display of individualism, everyone just converged on that one outfit. It was still a de facto dress code because nobody wanted to stand out!
@@TweedyPubs yes, I remember the introduction of ‘dress down Fridays’ at one company I worked for. Everyone wore the same clothes. I rebelled again and wore a suit. Of course, those ‘dress down Fridays’ ended up setting the template for all days. Such that today, wearing a suit seems to cause many to become suspicious and, on occasion, hostile. I frequently get challenged. Tweed suits are the new Punk Rock!
Thank you! The Red Lion featured here would be a particularly great refuge from the weather - once they light that fire I would imagine it's a very hard pub to leave.
I had to utter that well known Yorkshire phrase ‘Ow much!’ when you said a pint was in excess of £7 😮 I agree with you, the Red Lion looked a delightful hidden gem of a pub
Yes that was a bit ridiculous! I forgot to mention it in the video, but the half of Old Brewery Bitter at the Red Lion Was £2.85, so I assume a pint there would have been £5.70. I know outside of London that would probably still seem a bit pricey, but a lot better than over 7 quid! Although I should add at the Red Lion for some reason they only have the keg version of OBB, not the cask version, I know some people would be a bit disappointed by that.
It wouldn’t have bothered me as I only drink cider! I’m currently on Anglesey doing a house and dog sit, and a local pub is doing pints of cask beer at £2.80! Looking forward to seeing which area you explore next.
@@FrugalMrB Wow £2.80! I too am a cider fan but alas most pubs in London don't have much in the style which appeals to me - I like either West Country or Herefordshire/Worcestershire/Gloucestershire type ciders, the more traditional the better. You have given me a great idea actually - I'd love to do a video of London pubs which are good for cider - I know a lot of people aren't really into cider and might not be that interested but it would be a really fun to make! (Or better still, a tour of, say, Herefordshire or Devon cider pubs, but the logistics of that are a lot more challenging...)
I look forward to that @@TweedyPubs, and it will definitely get a like from me! 😀 There used to be the Cider Tap near Euston station that only sold cider, but that had closed last time I ventured down to the big city.
@@FrugalMrB Yes I was sad about the Cider Tap too, it felt like cider was having a bit of a resurgence for a while there in London, but maybe that peak has already passed? The Bree Louise round the corner from there always had a good cider selection too, but alas that fell victim of HS2 building work. Off the top of my head, the only place I know which is still good for cider is the Southampton Arms in NW5. That makes me all the more keen to do a bit of research and figure out where else has a decent cider offering.
I was out for a walk in Aberdeen and saw a van with “Tweed plumbing” on the side. It also had a personalised number plate that kind of looked like “tweed”. I thought you had moved to Aberdeen to set up another RUclips channel on plumbing - alas I can confirm to fellow subscribers that you were definitely not driving the van 😂. Great content as always. Thanks.
😂I was up near Berwick Upon Tweed back in January for a video on my other channel (@TweedyOutdoors). I'm guessing I'd make a lot more money if I trained as a plumber than I ever will on RUclips!
“… the ‘glam rock’ band, Kiss”! Priceless. Whilst I don’t entirely disagree with you on the pigeonholing you might incur a little bit of wrath from the odd Kiss fan … then again, I can’t imagine too many Kiss fans watching this so you’re in the clear I reckon. Great vid, as always, Tweedy. Looking forward to another City of London / Sq.mile delve, please, as & when the opportunity arises. 😉✌️
Thanks Raymond! Yes part way through that sentence on Kiss I realised I was on an unsure footing but I decided to just forge ahead with it... I'm sure a rock historian would agree they owe at least something to Glam Rock, but yes, that feels like a strange label for them. You're absolutely right the City of London deserves further exploration - one video is definitely not enough to cover that area!
I know the grass is always greener but I am envious! It feels like you experienced drinking in this area in a magic era. Alas I only came of drinking age in the 1990s and was a bit of a slow starter - I didn't start to actively seek out characterful pubs until the early 2000s. By which time Soho was already heading inexorably towards the bland, sanitised, corporate version of its former self we see today. Of course it's important here to remember what Ian Board of the Colony Room said about Soho: "People say it isn't what it used to be, but then it never really was what it was either." I would hope you'd find at least some of the interiors are recognisable to you still. Alas, probably not as many interesting characters in the pubs as there were back in the 1970s.
At that time after work drinking brought people together. Random groups made up of Prudential owned building caretakers , solicitors, draughtsmen, carpenters, girls who worked in design and making fur coats for wealthy Jewish women, and my now wife an Australian teacher.
Not to be a party pooper - watch out for pick pockets, especially in these crowded tourist areas. They will use convincing distraction techniques as well, like get you to help them look around for an umbrella, while an accomplice gets to work on your coat pocket, handbag, under your table, back of your etc. Enjoy yourself, but beware, Xmas comes a lot earlier for these little tykes / tykesses - the pub landlord won't give a toss either - be warned - merry xmas!!
Thanks Paul, it's a sad reality of many central London pubs today, but you are right - it is a risk. I once had to accompany a young Japanese guy to a police station to help him file a report because his bag had been stolen off the back of a chair and he needed a bit of language help (as an odd aside I used to live in Japan and I speak a bit of Japanese). I felt kind of ashamed on behalf of Britain, knowing what a safe country Japan is and what a shock this must have been for him.
Yes that was true.... But as you say a uniform conformity seems to have taken over from Bath to Bournemouth and for many pubs that's simply created a bland drinking experience.......keep reviewing this wonderful historical content
Thanks Steve! Yes it's very sad how the regional identity of pubs is being eroded so much, but there are still a few strongholds of individuality here and there and these places are to be cherished.
Top work again mate!👍
That Red lion looks an absolute gem!
My favourite RUclips channel no messing!!!
Cheers 🍻
Without appearing greedy, I’m looking forward to the next one!!
Paul
Thanks Paul, I really appreciate the kind words there! I think I caught the Red Lion at a special moment, I have been a few times before and it was always much busier on previous visits, but early in the day when it's practically deserted it's magical.
Thanks for bringing me up to speed in a gentle tour; haven't been in London for 38 years. I do appreciate the architectural background.
Your channel deserves to be better known. The Red Lion looks like a real jewel.
Worked in Hanover Sq. The Clachan was a regular at lunchtimes. A lovely pub.
The first time I watched a Tweedy Pubs vid, I watched for about ten seconds and then reached out to turn it off. Then, I hesitated. I kept watching…and watched some more. Then I watched others. Now I watch them all. Great work, I especially love the architectural commentary.
Thanks, that's really good to hear! I'm definitely not an expert RUclips "content creator", and I occasionally watch those videos made for people like that which tell me I'm doing just about everything wrong! In this video I was a bit worried that it's over a minute at the start before you even see the inside of a pub, and I'm sure an "expert" would tell me that's probably going to lose a lot of the audience... but I grew up in an era before the internet, watching longer / slower documentary type TV shows, and I suspect some of my audience similarly have a bit more patience than your average RUclips viewer. I know this presentation style really isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm glad that at least some people like it!
@@TweedyPubs It’s great, keep it coming!
@@TweedyPubsQuite Tweedy indeed. Excellent job as usual.
As someone that loves history, london and pubs your videos are a perfect watch for me. The research you do is fantastic, and its fascinating to learn some of the back story to these places. Ive been in at least three of those pubs you reviewed, and look forward to returning. I was in Covent Garden last weekend doing the dreaded xmas shopping and would have loved to sneak off for a quiet pint, Alas i was needed for lugging gifts around. Look forward to the next one Tweedy.
Thanks Rob! Pubs and history are always so intertwined and I think it makes perfect sense that anyone who is interested in one of those things would also be interested in the other. Sorry to hear you had no chance for pub respite on your recent shopping trip!
Nearly at the 1000 subs mark Tweedy - well done to you.
We hate Christmas Shopping too! Some of these we knew but thanks for the heads up on others! The Red Lion looks stunning. We’ll add that to our list! Cheers 🍻
Just the information I need to escape the forthcoming family pre-Christmas meander around the London shops !
The Red Lion on Kingly Street is at the back of Hamleys more or less, but feels like a world away. I neglected to mention in the video but the Red Lion didn't have any Christmas decorations (yet?) whereas all the other pubs did. I can't remember now whether Sam Smith's pubs normally do that or not, or perhaps if they just wait until a bit later on to put them up... But if any one pub stands out here as a complete refuge from Christmas shopping it would be that one.
@@TweedyPubs The Sam Smiths pub in the village where I used to live was always trimmed up, but that was a few years ago now. Red Lion it is then !
Had to be the first to congratulate you on reaching 1000 subscribers, still at 998 but it wont be long, Great work really like your uploads, Subscriber of all three of your channels, You had 63 subscribers on your first channel when I found you a little over a year ago.
Thanks Hartley, and I really appreciate you being here from the early days! This feels like quite a different kind of video now from those early Tweedy Outdoors ones. I suppose the subject matter is also different but I typically spend a day before these pub videos doing research and writing detailed notes, which I then refer to when filming.
The Tweedy Outdoors videos are a lot more reactive by contrast - I only do a tiny bit of planning beforehand (to decide the route essentially) but after that I'm just responding to whatever I happen to see on the day.
Afterwards in terms of editing the Tweedy Outdoors videos are relatively straightforward - I just stitch whatever footage I took together in a linear fashion and decide which bits to keep and which bits to drop. Whereas with the pubs videos - especially the more recent ones - there's a lot more overlays / B-roll / embellishment to deal with and the editing comparatively takes a lot longer.
I enjoy both approaches to making videos but I feel like the end result is quite different in style, so it's especially nice to hear you enjoy both!
Brodie’s ceased trading in 2018, its 2 beers are brewed by the Battersea brewery on behalf of the past brodies owners. Love the red lion, wondered why ive never been inside then i saw Sam smith on pump haha
Thanks for the correction, it seems my information was out of date!
I know Sam Smith's beer isn't everyone's cup of tea, and particularly at this pub where there's no real ale served. I had the Old Brewery Bitter, but it was the keg version rather than the cask version they have in some other Sam Smith's pubs. To be honest, even from a keg, I thought it wasn't bad. Certainly better than the not-at-its-best London Pride I had at the Argyll Arms, but perhaps that wasn't saying much. The terrifyingly expensive Landlord at the Clachan was decent, and to my surprise the London Glory at the Shakespeare's Head was actually quite drinkable (I'm not normally a fan of Greene King's beers). The Brodie's Bethnal Green Bitter at the Old Coffee House was the best beer of the day though.
Great idea, Pubs to go in to avoid the shops😂 brilliant John👏👏👏
This is something I have done on numerous occasions in years past! I always found Christmas shopping a lot more bearable if punctuated with pub visits. I think this cluster of pubs is particularly good for that - not sure I really explained that very well in the video (I think once I got to the pubs I pretty much forgot all about that Christmas shopping nonsense!) but they're very close to Oxford Street / Regent Street, where a lot of London's major shops are.
Beer “north of 7 quid” is eye watering 😮 Oh, how times have changed in central London. 😢
As always, thank you John for such an informative and interesting pub crawl. 👏👏👍😀
can't wait to get there. Thanks!
Great videos! I look forward to the new releases. My brother, a friend and I have been doing regular trips to London from the US since 2000 to check out the historic London pubs and drink real ale. This is giving us some new ideas...and confirming that we were making some good choices. This is quickly becoming my favorite RUclips channel! Love getting some of the history as well.
Thanks Chris! Really glad you're enjoying the videos and that they're helping you plan your future tours of London pubs. Although it sounds to me like you have been doing this for longer than I have! I didn't do my first proper historic London pub crawl until 2003, although I had been to individual pubs here and there for a few years before that.
@@TweedyPubs We only get to them every few years so our quantity isn't great. But we just put the Red Lion on Kingly and the Old Coffee House on the list for next trip :)
Fascinating stuff! I think this mock medieval "Art's and Craft" architecture is now old enough to class it as vintage!
Thanks Steve! I suppose every architectural style references what went before, and I agree, despite the "mock" word, anything which is by now a century old has a venerability all of its own.
I thought it was about time I commented. Came across your channel by chance, as is often the way, and have now binged through pretty much all your pub videos and a fair few on your other channels. Absolutely loving your content, especially the pubs. It’s been great watching you talk about quite a few pubs I’ve spent a fair amount of time in, Soho, Strand, Carnaby etc.
I know your channels are small but it looks like they’re growing, so long may you continue - watching a fellow posh chap talking about pubs….what’s not to love! Hoping one day I stumble across you filming at a pub and we can enjoy a pint!
Thank you for the very kind words! The other two channels are a bit more slapdash, but on this one I'm trying to be at least a bit more thorough and say something worthwhile (maybe even novel?) about the history of these great cultural institutions. Although of course a balance has to be struck there - I don't want it to get too dry and academic, pubs are supposed to be places of merriment after all!
Posh is a funny word isn't it? Most people don't seem to want to self identify as that, but obviously it's a bit hard to deny if I'm sitting there in a three piece tweed suit quoting Pevsner! I actually had a very humble upbringing in the Midlands, then moved down to London as an adult and just seemed to gravitate towards the finer things in life.
Pubs are, in theory, the great leveller though... That said, that wasn't really the case in these late Victorian pubs with all these internal partitions, and I get the sense that, although today we don't exactly have that weird division within individual pubs, different pubs are clearly catering for different crowds.
My memory of the Argyll goes back 40 ish years. Virtually empty when I arrived but suddenly became packed shortly afterwards.( Didn't realise it was opposite the Palladium). It emptied as quickly as it filled leaving most glasses only partially emptied. I then observed the steel bucket coming round collecting undrunk beer to be filtered back in to the barrel!
Oh no! Did you ever go back again?
@@TweedyPubs no .Regarding the Red Lion I gather the owner has passed control of his London pubs to son Samuel so a more relaxed regime ?Have seen Humphrey reprimand a Manager for not having the fire lit(as in your video), even when the central heating was on ! The coal fire in the other bar was so hot a black labrador kept moving away !
Don't forget the Clachan just off Fleet St in Serjeants' Inn behind El Vinos - a desperate cellar bar with a redeeming courtyard outside. Now part of a hotel I think.
Another really interesting and informative video. That raised snug area in The Clachan may be from the 80s onwards when pub food started to take off and children were allowed into pubs from where previously they were banned. Apparently being raised made it not the same room, so the children were technically not in the room where alcohol was dispensed. Whoever thought that one up must have been on the sauce all day. I well remember as a young father being told repeatedly 'Your kids can come in as long as they sit in the raised area.' Now it seems kids sit where they want as pubs become more like restaurants, but the raised areas remain as curios for future discussion and debate.
Superb videos, haven't been in the Red Lion for a long time...quality battle cruiser! For fans of live blues music, you cannot go wrong with Ain't Nuthin but the Blues on Kingly Street...phenomenal venue!
Thank you sir! Yes I think for me the Red Lion may well have been the star of the show on this occasion. I was originally going to talk a bit more in the video about the history of jazz clubs on Kingly Street, apparently at one time London's main centre for them, and I imagine the blues bar you mention is partly a remnant of that era.
Interesting about the Jazz Clubs on Kingly St...would tie in with Blues as you suggest....worth a visit again to establish the facts of the situation!@@TweedyPubs
Some real gems! That corridor in The Argyll Arms - what a thing of beauty.
And The Red Lion. That looked so inviting. I guess one has to hope it’s not always so quiet, but it can be like that when I visit.
The only problem with this video is that it has reminded me of the imminence of Christmas - which has not made its way onto my things to do list yet. Let the season of stress commence!
The level of research for these is going up and ever upwards. Fantastic work.
Thank you, as ever it is a moment of delight when I see one of your comments pop up in my notifications!
An aside about the Red Lion I neglected to mention in the video is that it played a part in the genesis of my whole tweedy identity. It may shock you to learn (and I am somewhat ashamed to admit) I haven't actually spent my entire life perpetually tweed clad! The catalyst was a tweed cap I bought on a whim for a party in 2007. From then on I was a part time / partial tweed wearer for a couple of years, I bought a few tweed jackets and struggled a bit to find trousers to go with them which didn't look ill at ease... but one day I saw a chap saunter out of the Red Lion in a full three piece tweed suit and he seemed to me like a God amongst men. I think I knew in that moment what I should aim for in life.
Yes sorry to mention Christmas before December 1st - it's quite inexcusable!
@@TweedyPubs that’s a great story! And that chap has no idea what he started.
I think my conversion to tweed happened in my early/mid 20s. I had been dressing smartly to annoy my father - who wanted me to “look America” as a teenager, whatever that means - but one day I went into a very traditional gents’ outfitters in Bishop’s Stortford, and the rest as they say, is history!
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd There is a good chance he was just wearing that tweed suit as a complete one off for a fancy dress party or some such!
I love the idea of dressing in tweed as an act of rebellion and it definitely resonates! During my early years dabbling with tweed I was surrounded by Silicon Valley types at work, in their corporate uniform of jeans, T-shirts and hoodies. At the time I didn't have any objection to that style of clothing in principle, but it bothered me that when a company made a point of saying there was absolutely no dress code, rather than having a wonderful display of individualism, everyone just converged on that one outfit. It was still a de facto dress code because nobody wanted to stand out!
@@TweedyPubs yes, I remember the introduction of ‘dress down Fridays’ at one company I worked for. Everyone wore the same clothes. I rebelled again and wore a suit.
Of course, those ‘dress down Fridays’ ended up setting the template for all days. Such that today, wearing a suit seems to cause many to become suspicious and, on occasion, hostile. I frequently get challenged. Tweed suits are the new Punk Rock!
So enjoy the pub tour and commentary. Cold, gray and then walking in to a warm pub with wonderful and unique beers. Heaven🎉
Thank you! The Red Lion featured here would be a particularly great refuge from the weather - once they light that fire I would imagine it's a very hard pub to leave.
Great stuff, always love the Argyle Arms in Winter.
Outstanding tweedy love the farrow and ball references and so true
Thank you! Thinking about it now, this was an impressive (and unusual) run of five pubs where I didn't notice any Farrow & Ball paint!
When we go on our tour of shop windows i can impress everyone with some decent pubs. Best part is that i can leave the thermos of mulled wine at home.
I forgot to mention in the video the Argyll Arms reeked of mulled wine! Although I suspect your home made version would be better than one in a pub.
I had to utter that well known Yorkshire phrase ‘Ow much!’ when you said a pint was in excess of £7 😮 I agree with you, the Red Lion looked a delightful hidden gem of a pub
Yes that was a bit ridiculous! I forgot to mention it in the video, but the half of Old Brewery Bitter at the Red Lion Was £2.85, so I assume a pint there would have been £5.70. I know outside of London that would probably still seem a bit pricey, but a lot better than over 7 quid! Although I should add at the Red Lion for some reason they only have the keg version of OBB, not the cask version, I know some people would be a bit disappointed by that.
It wouldn’t have bothered me as I only drink cider! I’m currently on Anglesey doing a house and dog sit, and a local pub is doing pints of cask beer at £2.80! Looking forward to seeing which area you explore next.
@@FrugalMrB Wow £2.80! I too am a cider fan but alas most pubs in London don't have much in the style which appeals to me - I like either West Country or Herefordshire/Worcestershire/Gloucestershire type ciders, the more traditional the better. You have given me a great idea actually - I'd love to do a video of London pubs which are good for cider - I know a lot of people aren't really into cider and might not be that interested but it would be a really fun to make!
(Or better still, a tour of, say, Herefordshire or Devon cider pubs, but the logistics of that are a lot more challenging...)
I look forward to that @@TweedyPubs, and it will definitely get a like from me! 😀 There used to be the Cider Tap near Euston station that only sold cider, but that had closed last time I ventured down to the big city.
@@FrugalMrB Yes I was sad about the Cider Tap too, it felt like cider was having a bit of a resurgence for a while there in London, but maybe that peak has already passed? The Bree Louise round the corner from there always had a good cider selection too, but alas that fell victim of HS2 building work. Off the top of my head, the only place I know which is still good for cider is the Southampton Arms in NW5. That makes me all the more keen to do a bit of research and figure out where else has a decent cider offering.
Hell on Earth ! I’m same tweedy , loved this one mate , thank you 👍
Thanks Mark! It's funny, not a single person has commented on this video to say they actually really like Christmas shopping! 😂
@@TweedyPubs 🤣🤣 nightmare !
Another real interesting video 🍻
Thank you!
Great video, enjoyed that
Thank you!
I was out for a walk in Aberdeen and saw a van with “Tweed plumbing” on the side. It also had a personalised number plate that kind of looked like “tweed”. I thought you had moved to Aberdeen to set up another RUclips channel on plumbing - alas I can confirm to fellow subscribers that you were definitely not driving the van 😂. Great content as always. Thanks.
😂I was up near Berwick Upon Tweed back in January for a video on my other channel (@TweedyOutdoors). I'm guessing I'd make a lot more money if I trained as a plumber than I ever will on RUclips!
“… the ‘glam rock’ band, Kiss”! Priceless. Whilst I don’t entirely disagree with you on the pigeonholing you might incur a little bit of wrath from the odd Kiss fan … then again, I can’t imagine too many Kiss fans watching this so you’re in the clear I reckon.
Great vid, as always, Tweedy. Looking forward to another City of London / Sq.mile delve, please, as & when the opportunity arises. 😉✌️
Thanks Raymond! Yes part way through that sentence on Kiss I realised I was on an unsure footing but I decided to just forge ahead with it... I'm sure a rock historian would agree they owe at least something to Glam Rock, but yes, that feels like a strange label for them.
You're absolutely right the City of London deserves further exploration - one video is definitely not enough to cover that area!
Brilliant 👏 😊
Congrats on over a thousand views in 23 hours Tweedy!!!!
Thank you! Yes it does seem to have got off to a good start.
That was part of my Friday after work boozing area back in the 1970’s.
I would like to do it again just for old times sake.
I know the grass is always greener but I am envious! It feels like you experienced drinking in this area in a magic era. Alas I only came of drinking age in the 1990s and was a bit of a slow starter - I didn't start to actively seek out characterful pubs until the early 2000s. By which time Soho was already heading inexorably towards the bland, sanitised, corporate version of its former self we see today. Of course it's important here to remember what Ian Board of the Colony Room said about Soho: "People say it isn't what it used to be, but then it never really was what it was either."
I would hope you'd find at least some of the interiors are recognisable to you still. Alas, probably not as many interesting characters in the pubs as there were back in the 1970s.
At that time after work drinking brought people together. Random groups made up of Prudential owned building caretakers , solicitors, draughtsmen, carpenters, girls who worked in design and making fur coats for wealthy Jewish women, and my now wife an Australian teacher.
no infamous Blue Posts on Berwick Street? or John Snow?
more hipster pubs!!
Don't overlook the Duke of Argyll's contribution to rhyming slang
I've have many times passed by the Argyll Arms but never have i been in there. Next time i will make sure to do a pit stop for a joyful 'SKÅL' 🍺🍻
I think it's really worth stopping off there! It's quite hard to film given the lighting and the small spaces, but I think it's a great interior.
My experience of sam smiths pubs especially in leeds is likegods waiting room avoid them like the plague
Not to be a party pooper - watch out for pick pockets, especially in these crowded tourist areas. They will use convincing distraction techniques as well, like get you to help them look around for an umbrella, while an accomplice gets to work on your coat pocket, handbag, under your table, back of your etc. Enjoy yourself, but beware, Xmas comes a lot earlier for these little tykes / tykesses - the pub landlord won't give a toss either - be warned - merry xmas!!
Thanks Paul, it's a sad reality of many central London pubs today, but you are right - it is a risk. I once had to accompany a young Japanese guy to a police station to help him file a report because his bag had been stolen off the back of a chair and he needed a bit of language help (as an odd aside I used to live in Japan and I speak a bit of Japanese). I felt kind of ashamed on behalf of Britain, knowing what a safe country Japan is and what a shock this must have been for him.
Yes that was true....
But as you say a uniform conformity seems to have taken over from Bath to Bournemouth and for many pubs that's simply created a bland drinking experience.......keep reviewing this wonderful historical content
Thanks Steve! Yes it's very sad how the regional identity of pubs is being eroded so much, but there are still a few strongholds of individuality here and there and these places are to be cherished.
Good to see you doing some public service broadcasting, possibly too late for an award on this New Year's honours list? 🤔
Hahaha thanks Vince! Maybe next year?
I never " escape" it, just don't do it period