To sit in a quiet pub on a pretty street with no TV, no music, no quiz, no loud stupidity, no “children,” the price of a pint is almost no object at this point.
I’ve had a pint in every pub in Belgravia (and Mayfair, and St. James, and Pimlico, and quite a few other areas besides). You’ve unerringly picked out the best pubs in the area, and your reviews are simply the best of any on RUclips.
Thanks so much tweedy. My mate Mike who is the landlord of the fox and hounds is glad he’s in the video and he never knew about the history, love your stuff and thanks for covering this part of Belgravia.
These are my favourite pubs in London -hands down. I’m relatively local (Battersea) and spent a lot of lockdown walking through the streets of Belgravia. They are institutions, and for me have been havens of peace and good cheer when I’ve needed them. It’s a fantastic microcosm of pubs in an area of London you least expect it. Laughed at one of the other comments on Kevin at the Nags Head. He’s a character! Keep up the excellent work Sir.
Such charming and elegant pubs. Wonderful traditional streets too. I have learnt about the distinction between public houses and beer houses from Tweedy Pubs. Amazing that one lingered on into the 1990s. I could quite happily spend a day visiting this great run of pubs. Best get saving for The Nag’s Head!
Thank you Mr WC21! If there is only one legacy of the Tweedy Pubs "project" then I hope it might be a wider recognition of the fact that Belgravia is a surprisingly good stomping ground for a pub crawl! I'm certainly not the first person to say this, but still I suspect many people associate the area solely with obscene wealth and assume there would be nothing to offer the humble pub goer... And yet I hope this video demonstrates there is in fact an embarrassment of riches on the pub front. Well, perhaps that's not the best metaphor given the context, but you know what I mean. The £8 pint at the Nag's Head is what it is, alas. I'd far rather hand over that princely sum to a characterful and long serving icon of the London pub scene than to some anonymous employee of a big pubco who would rather be somewhere else (...and understandably so, as the pubco is likely paying them a pittance).
Very glad I found this channel :) I decided to visit some of the older pubs in London on my last visit from the north. The Grapes, Prospect Of Whitby, The Boot etc. You have given me some great choices for my next visit in October. Hope the channel continues to grow :)
Many years since I have been to some of these pubs. A return vacation from South America to London to visit them becomes appealing after watching this video.
Tweedy, of all the videos you’ve created, this is my favorite so far. That’s likely due to the fact that just over a month ago I booked Liquid History tours (stellar, give them a try!) for a private pub tour that began in Belgravia and ended on Fleet Street. Our Belgravia pubs were The Grenadier, The Nag’s Head, and The Star Tavern. At The Grenadier we mostly luxuriated outside in the beautiful weather. At The Star, we occupied the library. Some of the books they have are very impressive indeed. And at The Nag’s Head….we’ll, I’d like to address The Nag’s Head…. Kevin was working the bar alone when we visited. I think it’s safe to say that Kevin is brilliant, but also eccentric and ornery. Do NOT dismiss his signs warning “No Mobile Phones!” Our man Tweedy got one over. Be prepared to pay cash. Kevin was only prepared to pull the payment card reader out for charges in excess of £60 when we visited. And when you order, do it sharpish and step to. Our Kevin does not appreciate indecisiveness. Follow the rules, honor the landlord’s eccentricities, and be rewarded with an excellent old London pub experience. Charm the man himself (no mean feat), and you may be rewarded with a round, smooth copper token to work the viewing machine affixed to the wall which is very much “what the butler saw”, albeit hand-colored images of late Victorian vintage. Cheers, Tweedy! This is a good’un.
Thank you, and really glad this video struck a chord! I've always managed to stay on the right side of Kevin but yes I can tell he might not be at his most charismatic when people aren't following his rules! On this occasion I visited expecting I probably wouldn't be able to get any interior footage, given the famous ban on mobile phones, but emboldened by having just handed him £8 for a pint of Guinness, and the fact the pub was conveniently nearly empty at that moment, I very deferentially asked him if it would be OK to take some photos of the interior. To my slight surprise he said that was fine, it's only really people talking on their phones he doesn't like. Yes I wanted to have a look in the "what the butler saw" machine but I thought that might be pushing it!
Hi Tweedy Jonny here! My friend James and I did the exact walk you did with your visits to pubs in Belgravia 😎 and after a few pints we thought how about a tours of historic pubs!🤔 Well ! you’ve done it . Well Done🤩
Grenadier is one of my favourite pubs. Nags Head is a time capsule. Fabulous place. Go while you can as pubs of this type are vanishing. Oth feature in the wonderful book Great Pubs of London. I only now done every pub in that book!
I think I may have watched too many of your pub video's, I cannot enter a pub these days without conducting a similar assessment of the various interior features, fixtures and fittings. None of which, I find in my regular haunts are particularly noteworthy !
😂 Sorry about that Garry! On the day I filmed this I was actually just in Belgravia killing time for a couple of hours while, ridiculous as it sounds, my mum was at Buckingham Palace. She'd been invited to the garden party in recognition of her volunteering work at a local museum. Anyway, I initially told myself I'd just wile away a couple of hours in the pub and relax - and definitely not bother making a video. Minutes later there I was getting shots of bar backs and nik naks hanging on the walls. So if it's any consolation I am now similarly afflicted with this disease!
I am loving these pub videos. I've read that The Grenadier is haunted by the ghost of a soldier who was killed after cheating at cards there. And that it was Madonna's local when she lived in the area.
Thanks Tweedy for another great video! I wish I were in Belgravia right now! Great histories also-we haven't been to the Antelope and Fox and Hounds for some reason, but they are going to be added to the list. You may have seen this, but there is an interesting blog about the Nag's Head: guidetoapub - The story of one of London's jewels (RUclips doesn't seem to like hyperlinks in the commments). Some interesting history (with pictures) of the Nag's Head before its remodel in the mid 1970s!
Extra thumbs up for The Star Tavern. I work around the corner and my collegue has been a regular visitor for many many years. He introduced us to the Antelope too. I don't think I've been to the Fox and Hound. Would love to bump into you on one of our pub crawl. Tom (collegue) could tell you great pub stories from the last 60 years.
Outstanding video…these always make my day! Glad to see you survived the “slums” of Belgravia and clearly enjoyed some wonderful sunshine. Absolutely love The Nags Head, despite the wallet draining prices. Great job…Cheers! 🍻
Thanks Ed! Yes I had to keep my wits about me on the mean streets of Belgravia. I completely agree on the Nag's Head - however shocking the prices are I'll keep going back. Perhaps one day it'll become something confined to a birthday treat!
I would ne'er thought I'd spy/ A leather couch as blue as the sky... (at the Fox & Hounds: 21:16). I guess cordovan red and club green get somewhat boring after awhile.. It would match the Fallon & Ball "Pimlico Periwinkel" clad walls of those other pubs...
I like Great Britain the most. Really beautiful, traditional country, where you feel like at home. Such nice pubs, hotels, small family run stores. Many unbelievable things.
Cascade hops (and other Pacific NW types), were the foundation of the US Microbrewery Revolution in the early 1980s. They produce a very bitter beer (to compensate for the US not having cask), which confusingly was sometimes described as “grapefruit”. The latest New England IPAs and APAs generally revolve around Mosaic and Citra (not citrus) hops and “mango” might be the word for them. Yes, I like a good pint of Bass too.
That's a really cool pub tour. I've walked through this area in the past en route to Hyde Park from Victoria but never stopped at the pubs. All of these pubs seem to have a village feel, despite their location. Thanks for the video!
Yes it's definitely in my top 5 areas of London for a pub crawl, and it's surprising how "pubby" the pubs are considering they're hidden in amongst some of the most expensive real estate in the world!
The Salisbury in Turnpike Lane is an amazing pub. You should definitely give it a visit. Only trouble it a stand alone outstanding pub in the area. You could include the pubs in Finsbury Park just down road.
Outstanding collection Tweedy. Your in-depth historical research adds so much to your pub reviews. It’s much appreciated. Shame you were caught by the scourge of Cascade hops. Pubs should be forced by law to add a health warning “Beware, this beer is tainted by Cascade” 🤢🥴 These modern, citrusy IPA’s do nothing for me. They make me long for the good old fashioned bitters of the 1970’s! 🍺👍
Thanks Andrew! Just the other day when I was making that Waterloo pub video, in one of the pubs I was surveying the lineup of hand pumps while the young barman was waiting for me to choose. I got a sense of a slight air of impatience from him so I tried to politely explain that I wasn't familiar with anything on offer and I was struggling a bit because I just really don't like any of these modern American style citrusy beers. So he not very helpfully offered a "mango IPA" instead. I get the definite sense of a generational divide emerging here in beer preferences and it seems there are some (young) people out there who struggle to even grasp the idea I might want a beer to taste like, you know, beer - rather than grapefruit or lychees or passionfruit. Is it really too much to ask?
@@TweedyPubs Hi John. I can so relate to your experience. On Saturday I was faced with a row of pumps in a busy pub. The bar lady asked me what I would like. Peering between the blokes standing at the counter I could barely make out the name of the unknown beers. One caught my eye, Hobgoblin a name I had seen before. Never tried it before, however I felt under pressure and I ordered a pint. On seeing the pint being poured my heart sank. It was so pale. Then my first taste was awful. Citrus and soap suds. Who in their right minds thinks that beer should taste like lemon Fairy Liquid. I am grateful to pubs which place a bottled sample in front of each hand pub so at least you can see which beer looks like a proper “bitter”, “mild” or “stout”. I also appreciate pubs ( and may I complement Wetherspoons in this respect) which provide “taste notes”. It is a tricky mine field in many pubs. And yes, it is a generational problem. We are not “hipsters”. We are “old farts” stuck in our old ways. 😂 BUT I do indeed like my beer to taste like beer. And what did I do with my pint of Hobgoblin? I didn’t drink it. I’ve never not drank a pint I’ve bought. I simply couldn’t. 🤢
Thank you! The Beerhouse Act is a fascinating reflection on changing attitudes towards social behaviour in the 19th century. I suppose it partly came on the back of the gin craze (as famously depicted in Hogarth's "Gin Lane", albeit nearly 80 years earlier), and there was a sense that establishments which could only sell beer would be far less of a blight than those which were permitted to sell spirits. So the authorities thought that by making it easier to open a beer only pub they might curb some of the excesses of what we later referred to as "gin palaces". ...but then wind forward to 1910 and the "Licensing (Consolidation) Act". It was clear by then the beer houses were now considered to be a problem, presumably in part because they were less regulated, there were so many of them, and in turned out by drinking a lot of beer you could still get just as drunk as if you were drinking gin!
The Trafalgar Tavern Greenwich has an IPA priced at over £8. It's been there for quite a while too. Thanks for this very good video. It's interesting that the Thomas Cubit was omitted.
Thanks Adam! Yes I'm sure this isn't the first time a pint of beer has been sold for £8 in London - obviously some restaurants have already been doing this for a while, and specialist beers attract higher prices. I suppose the Time Out article was motivated by the fact the Nag's Head is an old fashioned pubby pub, and those prices are for fairly ordinary beers. I omitted a couple of pubs I actually really like in Belgravia - simply because I ran out of time (and capacity to go to more pubs whilst still talking / operating the camera coherently!). The Horse and Groom is a notable omission, as is the Duke of Wellington - even though the latter has had an unfortunate (in my opinion) refurb in recent years I still have a soft spot for it. Both featured on the my earlier Belgravia pubs video, linked in the description. I have actually been to the Thomas Cubitt - perhaps twice in total - but I've only known it in its very gastro era and it barely seems like a pub to me!
Thank you for this list of fine places, and for the research into their histories. The Fox and Hounds is a fine local. Has been for years, since I first happened upon it in the 1980's. It was still a beer house then.
Good evening, Tweedy. It looks like I am going to have to visit some of these Belgravia pubs with my "usual suspect " friends 😆 We usually visit on weekdays, when the pubs tend to be a little quieter. Nothing worse than a noisy overcrowded pub with either loud music or noisy TV's playing sports !!! I must say I like these small mews pubs - they are growing on me 👍 Another good video Tweedy. Keep up the good work 😃👍
Thanks Lee! Several of these pubs were wonderfully quiet on my visit. The Nag's Head did have music playing but it was of a much earlier era (late 60s, early 70s), and not too loud, so i didn't find it offensive. Some of the other pubs had no music at all, which would always be my preference - for example the Star Tavern.
Thank you for yet another excellent pub walk, Tweedy. Watching your videos is a wonderful way to vicariously experience your amazing British pub culture. -And your research into the history of the areas with newspaper clippings and maps is very impressive and enjoyable. Cheers from Norway!
Thanks Roy, really glad you enjoy the videos, and particularly thank you for noticing the research! It can be very time consuming, and although I personally find it interesting I sometimes wonder if my time might be better spent doing something else... So it's great to hear it is appreciated.
I really appreciate all the time and research put into the video. I had never heard of Fox and Hounds but it looked like a warm atmosphere. Too bad the same can't be said for The Nags Head which I find an incredibly problematic place. As charming as that pub looks I think the landlord is in the wrong profession. Anyway, cheers Tweedy!
Thanks for noticing TKP! This video started off spontaneously - I found myself with a couple of hours to kill in Belgravia and thought I might visit some old haunts. To begin with I thought I'd perhaps go back to a more quick and easy "vlog" style, as I did with the very early pub videos, but along the way some kind of bizarre work ethic took over and I felt I had to do all the research etc - so those couple of hours of filming were then followed by two full days of research, recording voiceovers and editing. I think I probably need to find a happy medium there as I suspect most people just want to see what the pubs look like and perhaps have a nugget or two of history thrown in, but probably don't particularly care whether it dates to 1843 or 1861! I've never personally had a problem at the Nag's Head, but clearly the landlord there is one of those "my pub, my rules" type and I can imagine he might rub some people up the wrong way!
@@TweedyPubs I enjoyed the re-visit to Belgravia. This feels like a stronger video than the first one you made and yet they can both sit next to each other. Nice to see The Antelope as well. I’ve always considered that one a bit of a hidden gem in that part of town.
Happy to get to know your interesting, very-informative videos. Would be great if there is one featuring best pubs for small gathering, e.g., seven or eight people.
Thanks Chris! I find the era of the beer houses really quite fascinating - it's surprising how much legislation around the sale of alcohol tells us about our ever changing attitudes to society over the past couple of centuries.
We will be staying at the Z Hotel Victoria in a couple of months. . Which pubs are the best in that area? *We do plan on going to the Star Tavern. Plumbers Arm too.
Thanks for the interesting video and the effort in making it. It must be hard work having to wander from pub to pub drinking beer and maybe having a bite to eat. Love the videos though. 👍
I was talking about this video with a Manchester United friend of mine and he thought Ratcliffe still owned the Grenadier, not his car company. I guess it amounts to the same thing but I couldn’t see any change of ownership online.
Thank you for another interesting video! This time an area I'm not familiar with, but look forward to investigating. I like how you described the value of an experience, enjoying somewhere you like to be. I have to agree, it's something beyond just the cost of it.
Thanks Graham! I don't look at Twitter (or X or whatever it's called now) much but I recall a recent spat there where somebody complained that a single glass of wine in some wine bar cost more than the entire bottle would have cost had they bought it in a supermarket. Although on the surface that did seem extortionate, as you can imagine, people in the industry weighed in and talked about all the overheads people in hospitality have to deal with. I think somebody said you should think of it as paying rent for your space in the bar for the duration. I suppose I can see both sides of the argument, and I think the point about paying rent makes sense, but the key thing is it has to be somewhere with atmosphere/decor you like and a space you actually want to spend time in! I do like wine, but I generally don't like wine bars - they tend to have soulless and/or pretentious modern interiors, and the clientele are rarely my sort of people either. I'd far rather buy the bottle myself and go and sit in the woods! ...but by comparison £8 for that magical half an hour I spent in the Nag's Head seems like money well spent, to me.
Love the Waitrose cut through, exactly what I use to do when I worked round there for 10 years. Re The Star you didn’t mention the big slab of a step outside the entrance… which I have fallen down. The Thomas Crapper is a recent ish refurb (15 years I think). I will be in here Tuesday week !
Yes it's a classic, well known by locals it seems - I often see someone else doing the same shortcut whenever I do it! I've only know the Star Tavern for about 15 years as it happens. The sinks themselves look in too good condition to be genuinely old, but I thought the brackets supporting them looked a bit older.
Another thoroughly interesting video from the best pub channel on RUclips. Love the Grenadier at 01.53 with the Gibraltar battle honour spelled 'Gibralter'.....no military many penned that. There is a story about an army officer being caught cheating at cards in there and being promptly flogged to death by his fellow officers. I hate cheats but this was rather disproportionate. I wonder if this story in fact relates to the other pub that you mention? Many journals attribute it to this building but if this was not the officer's mess, it would perhaps be the other place? Anyway, great video and please keep them coming.
Thank you for the very kind words Liam - although it still seems there are bizarrely few pub channels on RUclips! I didn't look into that other nearby pub called the Grenadier, but just saw a passing mention of it on whatpub.com and trusted that they had probably done their homework. I generally consider CAMRA affiliated authors to be very reliable but perhaps I am a bit biased! I'm a member myself, and somewhat grew up with it - my parents ran a pub when I was a child, and they were among some of the earliest members.
Yet another excellent and informative video. Great presentation and I love the combination of History and Geography in your narrative, makes me wonder if you have been a schoolteacher at some point?, I shall be visiting the Star Tavern at some point as it looks fabulous, particularly the library room, thank you for the considerable effort you put into these endeavours and I look forward to many more..
Thank you! No I was never a school teacher per se, although I did a post graduate degree and as part of that ran some tutorials / practical sessions for undergraduates. I always thought I was terrible at it! The undergrads I was responsible for always looked utterly bored.
Thank you for noticing! It was only about 3 hours to do the filming, but 2 very full days for the research and editing. That's probably quite typical for recent videos. When I made the original Belgravia pubs video - in October 2022 - it was more of a "vlog" style - I just said whatever came to mind about each pub, no research, barely any interior shots to overlay, and it probably only took a couple of hours to do the editing!
A lovely area Belgravia, but dear me ! £8 a pint, WTF ! I could just about bare it, if it was a trendy craft beer or a premium real ale, but Guinness for crying out loud, something up here in the North East, that I could probably get 4 cans of for a tenner. Each to their own, but can never understand why Guinness is so revered and has a cult following, bland taste, albeit unique. Guinness are like the Mafia of the drinks industry, even in the North East it would be knocking on £5 a pint, and I've never seen it discounted. A shame a lot of these pubs have sold their soul to food, but that's a familiar story. I am pleased that I remember the Star as just a normal pub with few frills, when I first visited in the early 90s. Another great video, keep up the good work.
Thanks Ronnie. As I said in the video I think you have to look at it as a sort of admission fee, or a rental charge for your table for the duration of your visit. I love that kind of pub interior, but I can quite understand other people might be completely unmoved by it, and for them it's definitely not going to be good value for money! There are definitely some far cheaper pubs in the area, with quite different styles of interiors but I think at least some of them are still quite appealing.
I love mild - that sounds great! It's really good to hear some of those old fashioned English beer styles I would have assumed to have been considered a bit unfashionable are being brewed over there. I have actually been to Connecticut, getting on for 30 years ago. As you're probably aware drinking ages differ between here and the US, and it was a bit of a shock to the system when I arrived there, thinking I was all grown up (aged 19) to discover I wasn't technically allowed to buy alcohol there! It didn't stop me of course, and the locals showed me some wonderful hospitality in turning a blind eye to that odd legislative discrepancy.
Belgravia looks stunning. Real Crapper sinks are amazing.The pubs look like real, beautiful British pubs but when I heard £8.00 for a pint of Guinness I almost lost control of my bowels (again). Come to Cork, Ireland for a pub tour and I’ll recommend a few good boozers!
It's currently 0255 and I've just got in. I was telling my mates tonight that Tweedy is a good man. They all agreed.... If there is any moral to this little vignette. I don't know what it is. But maybe that is the point.
Thank you! ...and I really appreciate you spreading the word. Although I think my videos might not be everyone's cup of tea! I certainly can't get my wife to sit through one of them.
@@TweedyPubs I believe that there is an unspoken arrangement between men and women. That would apply to; either, relationships or marriage... Or more trivial matters. Two things are generally recognized. Firstly, that one shouldn't acquiesce to any American spelling of "recognised".. That is completely bad form. AND secondly. I consider you as a bastion of all that is good about the spirit of PUBS. I have spent 48 summers on this planet. AND few have managed to articulate a love of pubs and the spirit of them as well as yourself.
I have mixed feelings about pubs focusing on anything but beer (or perhaps cider, depending where you are in the country) but in this context that sounds great! The articles mentioned in the video about the Grenadier's rickshaws and sedan chairs were a new discovery to me. I'd always assumed the pub went from being a down-to-earth back street boozer for the staff at the big houses nearby to being a bit of a tourist pub as it is today (although I've always loved it nonetheless)... but it was fascinating to learn it had that period in-between of being a bit of a swanky drinking den!
I like your videos very much but if I may make a small comment: I prefer the rather more ad hoc in situ delivery of your pub histories. This felt more like a formal documentary. The Nag's Head is pretty much opposite the mews house of Ghislaine Maxwell where the infamous photo of Prince Andrew with Virgina Giuffre that he claims was fake was taken.
I would prefer to do the narration in situ but it's often difficult - first and foremost I don't want to spoil the atmosphere for the other customers, and this kind of one sided conversation can be as annoying to overhear as someone talking on their mobile phone, especially as I often make mistakes and have to repeat things several times. There's also quite often background noise to deal with - piped music in some pubs, or traffic noise or things like air conditioning units if I'm sat outside. Plus sometimes publicans or their staff get a bit uncomfortable if I appear to be "vlogging" about the pub while I'm there. I always ask if it's OK to take photos / short videos for the interior shots, but that's quite a different thing from sitting there and talking to camera about the pub for 10 minutes. On this occasion the timing of it was such that I had an unexpected opportunity to do the filming for a couple of hours, but no time to prepare the research the day before, so it was a bit back to front. I'll continue to do the narration in the pubs whenever I can though!
@@TweedyPubs Totally understand. And thanks for the thorough explanation. Just wanted you to understand that we appreciate the spontaneous delivery when you feel it's right.
To sit in a quiet pub on a pretty street with no TV, no music, no quiz, no loud stupidity, no “children,” the price of a pint is almost no object at this point.
why do i find these pub videos so relaxing
Thank you - glad to hear it! A good pub should be a relaxing space and I hope I have captured some of that in these videos.
great video as usual. my personal favorite is the Horse and Groom
I’ve had a pint in every pub in Belgravia (and Mayfair, and St. James, and Pimlico, and quite a few other areas besides). You’ve unerringly picked out the best pubs in the area, and your reviews are simply the best of any on RUclips.
Thanks so much tweedy. My mate Mike who is the landlord of the fox and hounds is glad he’s in the video and he never knew about the history, love your stuff and thanks for covering this part of Belgravia.
Thank you - and wow that's great to hear you know the landlord - what a small world!
These are my favourite pubs in London -hands down. I’m relatively local (Battersea) and spent a lot of lockdown walking through the streets of Belgravia. They are institutions, and for me have been havens of peace and good cheer when I’ve needed them. It’s a fantastic microcosm of pubs in an area of London you least expect it. Laughed at one of the other comments on Kevin at the Nags Head. He’s a character! Keep up the excellent work Sir.
Such charming and elegant pubs. Wonderful traditional streets too.
I have learnt about the distinction between public houses and beer houses from Tweedy Pubs. Amazing that one lingered on into the 1990s.
I could quite happily spend a day visiting this great run of pubs. Best get saving for The Nag’s Head!
Thank you Mr WC21! If there is only one legacy of the Tweedy Pubs "project" then I hope it might be a wider recognition of the fact that Belgravia is a surprisingly good stomping ground for a pub crawl! I'm certainly not the first person to say this, but still I suspect many people associate the area solely with obscene wealth and assume there would be nothing to offer the humble pub goer... And yet I hope this video demonstrates there is in fact an embarrassment of riches on the pub front. Well, perhaps that's not the best metaphor given the context, but you know what I mean.
The £8 pint at the Nag's Head is what it is, alas. I'd far rather hand over that princely sum to a characterful and long serving icon of the London pub scene than to some anonymous employee of a big pubco who would rather be somewhere else (...and understandably so, as the pubco is likely paying them a pittance).
Great show thanks. I worked in Knightsbridge in the 90's and those were all our regulars. Happy days. 🍺
Very glad I found this channel :) I decided to visit some of the older pubs in London on my last visit from the north. The Grapes, Prospect Of Whitby, The Boot etc. You have given me some great choices for my next visit in October. Hope the channel continues to grow :)
Many years since I have been to some of these pubs. A return vacation from South America to London to visit them becomes appealing after watching this video.
Tweedy, of all the videos you’ve created, this is my favorite so far. That’s likely due to the fact that just over a month ago I booked Liquid History tours (stellar, give them a try!) for a private pub tour that began in Belgravia and ended on Fleet Street. Our Belgravia pubs were The Grenadier, The Nag’s Head, and The Star Tavern.
At The Grenadier we mostly luxuriated outside in the beautiful weather. At The Star, we occupied the library. Some of the books they have are very impressive indeed. And at The Nag’s Head….we’ll, I’d like to address The Nag’s Head….
Kevin was working the bar alone when we visited. I think it’s safe to say that Kevin is brilliant, but also eccentric and ornery. Do NOT dismiss his signs warning “No Mobile Phones!” Our man Tweedy got one over. Be prepared to pay cash. Kevin was only prepared to pull the payment card reader out for charges in excess of £60 when we visited. And when you order, do it sharpish and step to. Our Kevin does not appreciate indecisiveness. Follow the rules, honor the landlord’s eccentricities, and be rewarded with an excellent old London pub experience. Charm the man himself (no mean feat), and you may be rewarded with a round, smooth copper token to work the viewing machine affixed to the wall which is very much “what the butler saw”, albeit hand-colored images of late Victorian vintage.
Cheers, Tweedy! This is a good’un.
Thank you, and really glad this video struck a chord!
I've always managed to stay on the right side of Kevin but yes I can tell he might not be at his most charismatic when people aren't following his rules!
On this occasion I visited expecting I probably wouldn't be able to get any interior footage, given the famous ban on mobile phones, but emboldened by having just handed him £8 for a pint of Guinness, and the fact the pub was conveniently nearly empty at that moment, I very deferentially asked him if it would be OK to take some photos of the interior. To my slight surprise he said that was fine, it's only really people talking on their phones he doesn't like.
Yes I wanted to have a look in the "what the butler saw" machine but I thought that might be pushing it!
The strangest sports board I've seen is at the Botanist in Newcastle. It lists the yearly winners of the Polar Bear Wrestling Champions.
Hi Tweedy Jonny here! My friend James and I did the exact walk you did with your visits to pubs in Belgravia 😎 and after a few pints we thought how about a tours of historic pubs!🤔 Well ! you’ve done it . Well Done🤩
Grenadier is one of my favourite pubs. Nags Head is a time capsule. Fabulous place. Go while you can as pubs of this type are vanishing. Oth feature in the wonderful book Great Pubs of London. I only now done every pub in that book!
18:45 Upstairs to upstairs. ❤
I think I may have watched too many of your pub video's, I cannot enter a pub these days without conducting a similar assessment of the various interior features, fixtures and fittings. None of which, I find in my regular haunts are particularly noteworthy !
😂 Sorry about that Garry! On the day I filmed this I was actually just in Belgravia killing time for a couple of hours while, ridiculous as it sounds, my mum was at Buckingham Palace. She'd been invited to the garden party in recognition of her volunteering work at a local museum.
Anyway, I initially told myself I'd just wile away a couple of hours in the pub and relax - and definitely not bother making a video. Minutes later there I was getting shots of bar backs and nik naks hanging on the walls. So if it's any consolation I am now similarly afflicted with this disease!
I am loving these pub videos. I've read that The Grenadier is haunted by the ghost of a soldier who was killed after cheating at cards there. And that it was Madonna's local when she lived in the area.
If I’m not mistaken, the Grenadier Pub was used in Carol Reed’s great film, “The Fallen Idol”. made in 1948 🤔
Thanks Tweedy for another great video! I wish I were in Belgravia right now! Great histories also-we haven't been to the Antelope and Fox and Hounds for some reason, but they are going to be added to the list. You may have seen this, but there is an interesting blog about the Nag's Head: guidetoapub - The story of one of London's jewels (RUclips doesn't seem to like hyperlinks in the commments). Some interesting history (with pictures) of the Nag's Head before its remodel in the mid 1970s!
Extra thumbs up for The Star Tavern. I work around the corner and my collegue has been a regular visitor for many many years. He introduced us to the Antelope too. I don't think I've been to the Fox and Hound. Would love to bump into you on one of our pub crawl. Tom (collegue) could tell you great pub stories from the last 60 years.
Full of enaging interest again Tweedy. Pubs + real ale + historical features = A proper night out!
Another great video with info on pubs,keep up the good work
I was in the Wilton Arms and the Nag's Head less than 2 weeks ago. Nice places!
Good evening Mr Tweedie. Marvellous video - thank you
Sorry, I mean Mr Tweedy
@@lamiaitaly2549 Either works, and thank you!
this will be a worthwhile day out. another interesting TPV.
I love that a "TPV" is a thing. (I of course want to refer to it as an acronym, but my inner Alan Partridge demands I call it an initialism).
Outstanding video…these always make my day! Glad to see you survived the “slums” of Belgravia and clearly enjoyed some wonderful sunshine. Absolutely love The Nags Head, despite the wallet draining prices. Great job…Cheers! 🍻
Thanks Ed! Yes I had to keep my wits about me on the mean streets of Belgravia. I completely agree on the Nag's Head - however shocking the prices are I'll keep going back. Perhaps one day it'll become something confined to a birthday treat!
Another excellent video, with a lot of well-researched information. Thanks again, Tweedy!
I would ne'er thought I'd spy/ A leather couch as blue as the sky... (at the Fox & Hounds: 21:16). I guess cordovan red and club green get somewhat boring after awhile.. It would match the Fallon & Ball "Pimlico Periwinkel" clad walls of those other pubs...
I like Great Britain the most. Really beautiful, traditional country, where you feel like at home. Such nice pubs, hotels, small family run stores. Many unbelievable things.
Cascade hops (and other Pacific NW types), were the foundation of the US Microbrewery Revolution in the early 1980s. They produce a very bitter beer (to compensate for the US not having cask), which confusingly was sometimes described as “grapefruit”. The latest New England IPAs and APAs generally revolve around Mosaic and Citra (not citrus) hops and “mango” might be the word for them. Yes, I like a good pint of Bass too.
The first fancy car you showed in the street is an Ineos Grenadier which was actually named after the pub.
One area to do: The area between Chiswick and Hammersmith. You’ve done the river, but not the Stamford Brook/Ravenscourt Park (W6) bit
That's a really cool pub tour. I've walked through this area in the past en route to Hyde Park from Victoria but never stopped at the pubs. All of these pubs seem to have a village feel, despite their location. Thanks for the video!
Yes it's definitely in my top 5 areas of London for a pub crawl, and it's surprising how "pubby" the pubs are considering they're hidden in amongst some of the most expensive real estate in the world!
The Salisbury in Turnpike Lane is an amazing pub. You should definitely give it a visit. Only trouble it a stand alone outstanding pub in the area. You could include the pubs in Finsbury Park just down road.
What an excellent selection of pubs, as always very well presented Me Tweed.
Thank you!
I have to say the Nags head looks amazing! That's been added to the "Must visit when in the area" list.
Outstanding collection Tweedy. Your in-depth historical research adds so much to your pub reviews. It’s much appreciated. Shame you were caught by the scourge of Cascade hops. Pubs should be forced by law to add a health warning “Beware, this beer is tainted by Cascade” 🤢🥴
These modern, citrusy IPA’s do nothing for me. They make me long for the good old fashioned bitters of the 1970’s! 🍺👍
Thanks Andrew! Just the other day when I was making that Waterloo pub video, in one of the pubs I was surveying the lineup of hand pumps while the young barman was waiting for me to choose. I got a sense of a slight air of impatience from him so I tried to politely explain that I wasn't familiar with anything on offer and I was struggling a bit because I just really don't like any of these modern American style citrusy beers. So he not very helpfully offered a "mango IPA" instead.
I get the definite sense of a generational divide emerging here in beer preferences and it seems there are some (young) people out there who struggle to even grasp the idea I might want a beer to taste like, you know, beer - rather than grapefruit or lychees or passionfruit. Is it really too much to ask?
@@TweedyPubs Hi John. I can so relate to your experience. On Saturday I was faced with a row of pumps in a busy pub. The bar lady asked me what I would like. Peering between the blokes standing at the counter I could barely make out the name of the unknown beers. One caught my eye, Hobgoblin a name I had seen before. Never tried it before, however I felt under pressure and I ordered a pint. On seeing the pint being poured my heart sank. It was so pale. Then my first taste was awful. Citrus and soap suds. Who in their right minds thinks that beer should taste like lemon Fairy Liquid.
I am grateful to pubs which place a bottled sample in front of each hand pub so at least you can see which beer looks like a proper “bitter”, “mild” or “stout”. I also appreciate pubs ( and may I complement Wetherspoons in this respect) which provide “taste notes”.
It is a tricky mine field in many pubs. And yes, it is a generational problem. We are not “hipsters”. We are “old farts” stuck in our old ways. 😂
BUT I do indeed like my beer to taste like beer.
And what did I do with my pint of Hobgoblin? I didn’t drink it. I’ve never not drank a pint I’ve bought. I simply couldn’t. 🤢
Nice episode “reboot” :-)
Only England could have had a Beer house Act. That’s awes9me.
Thank you! The Beerhouse Act is a fascinating reflection on changing attitudes towards social behaviour in the 19th century. I suppose it partly came on the back of the gin craze (as famously depicted in Hogarth's "Gin Lane", albeit nearly 80 years earlier), and there was a sense that establishments which could only sell beer would be far less of a blight than those which were permitted to sell spirits. So the authorities thought that by making it easier to open a beer only pub they might curb some of the excesses of what we later referred to as "gin palaces".
...but then wind forward to 1910 and the "Licensing (Consolidation) Act". It was clear by then the beer houses were now considered to be a problem, presumably in part because they were less regulated, there were so many of them, and in turned out by drinking a lot of beer you could still get just as drunk as if you were drinking gin!
The Trafalgar Tavern Greenwich has an IPA priced at over £8. It's been there for quite a while too. Thanks for this very good video. It's interesting that the Thomas Cubit was omitted.
Thanks Adam! Yes I'm sure this isn't the first time a pint of beer has been sold for £8 in London - obviously some restaurants have already been doing this for a while, and specialist beers attract higher prices. I suppose the Time Out article was motivated by the fact the Nag's Head is an old fashioned pubby pub, and those prices are for fairly ordinary beers.
I omitted a couple of pubs I actually really like in Belgravia - simply because I ran out of time (and capacity to go to more pubs whilst still talking / operating the camera coherently!). The Horse and Groom is a notable omission, as is the Duke of Wellington - even though the latter has had an unfortunate (in my opinion) refurb in recent years I still have a soft spot for it. Both featured on the my earlier Belgravia pubs video, linked in the description.
I have actually been to the Thomas Cubitt - perhaps twice in total - but I've only known it in its very gastro era and it barely seems like a pub to me!
@@TweedyPubsYou would probably enjoy Kennington, loads of Chaplin and other history on the route from Vauxhall Station to Imperial War Museum.
Thank you for this list of fine places, and for the research into their histories. The Fox and Hounds is a fine local. Has been for years, since I first happened upon it in the 1980's. It was still a beer house then.
Good evening, Tweedy.
It looks like I am going to have to visit some of these Belgravia pubs with my "usual suspect " friends 😆
We usually visit on weekdays, when the pubs tend to be a little quieter.
Nothing worse than a noisy overcrowded pub with either loud music or noisy TV's playing sports !!!
I must say I like these small mews pubs - they are growing on me 👍
Another good video Tweedy.
Keep up the good work 😃👍
Thanks Lee! Several of these pubs were wonderfully quiet on my visit. The Nag's Head did have music playing but it was of a much earlier era (late 60s, early 70s), and not too loud, so i didn't find it offensive. Some of the other pubs had no music at all, which would always be my preference - for example the Star Tavern.
Thank you for yet another excellent pub walk, Tweedy. Watching your videos is a wonderful way to vicariously experience your amazing British pub culture. -And your research into the history of the areas with newspaper clippings and maps is very impressive and enjoyable. Cheers from Norway!
Thanks Roy, really glad you enjoy the videos, and particularly thank you for noticing the research! It can be very time consuming, and although I personally find it interesting I sometimes wonder if my time might be better spent doing something else... So it's great to hear it is appreciated.
I really appreciate all the time and research put into the video. I had never heard of Fox and Hounds but it looked like a warm atmosphere. Too bad the same can't be said for The Nags Head which I find an incredibly problematic place. As charming as that pub looks I think the landlord is in the wrong profession. Anyway, cheers Tweedy!
Thanks for noticing TKP! This video started off spontaneously - I found myself with a couple of hours to kill in Belgravia and thought I might visit some old haunts. To begin with I thought I'd perhaps go back to a more quick and easy "vlog" style, as I did with the very early pub videos, but along the way some kind of bizarre work ethic took over and I felt I had to do all the research etc - so those couple of hours of filming were then followed by two full days of research, recording voiceovers and editing.
I think I probably need to find a happy medium there as I suspect most people just want to see what the pubs look like and perhaps have a nugget or two of history thrown in, but probably don't particularly care whether it dates to 1843 or 1861!
I've never personally had a problem at the Nag's Head, but clearly the landlord there is one of those "my pub, my rules" type and I can imagine he might rub some people up the wrong way!
@@TweedyPubs I enjoyed the re-visit to Belgravia. This feels like a stronger video than the first one you made and yet they can both sit next to each other. Nice to see The Antelope as well. I’ve always considered that one a bit of a hidden gem in that part of town.
What a great little channel I've stumbled upon good sir.
Thank you, glad you like it!
I love walking Belgravia but the only pub I seem to frequent is the Grenadier. I shall start trying some of the others based on your excellent video!
Happy to get to know your interesting, very-informative videos. Would be great if there is one featuring best pubs for small gathering, e.g., seven or eight people.
The handles on the bar front in the Star are known colloquially in the building trade as 'monkey lip' handles which I have always found charming.
Thank you, I've never heard that before - that is indeed charming!
Thank you, utterances and beer houses and attempted murders, almost Sherlockian. Loved it.
Thanks Chris! I find the era of the beer houses really quite fascinating - it's surprising how much legislation around the sale of alcohol tells us about our ever changing attitudes to society over the past couple of centuries.
We will be staying at the Z Hotel Victoria in a couple of months. . Which pubs are the best in that area? *We do plan on going to the Star Tavern. Plumbers Arm too.
Thanks for the interesting video and the effort in making it. It must be hard work having to wander from pub to pub drinking beer and maybe having a bite to eat. Love the videos though. 👍
Thanks Ysgolgerlan! The filming isn't too hard at all but the research/editing for these videos seems to take a ridiculous amount of time!
I was talking about this video with a Manchester United friend of mine and he thought Ratcliffe still owned the Grenadier, not his car company. I guess it amounts to the same thing but I couldn’t see any change of ownership online.
Thank you for another interesting video! This time an area I'm not familiar with, but look forward to investigating.
I like how you described the value of an experience, enjoying somewhere you like to be. I have to agree, it's something beyond just the cost of it.
Thanks Graham! I don't look at Twitter (or X or whatever it's called now) much but I recall a recent spat there where somebody complained that a single glass of wine in some wine bar cost more than the entire bottle would have cost had they bought it in a supermarket. Although on the surface that did seem extortionate, as you can imagine, people in the industry weighed in and talked about all the overheads people in hospitality have to deal with. I think somebody said you should think of it as paying rent for your space in the bar for the duration.
I suppose I can see both sides of the argument, and I think the point about paying rent makes sense, but the key thing is it has to be somewhere with atmosphere/decor you like and a space you actually want to spend time in! I do like wine, but I generally don't like wine bars - they tend to have soulless and/or pretentious modern interiors, and the clientele are rarely my sort of people either. I'd far rather buy the bottle myself and go and sit in the woods!
...but by comparison £8 for that magical half an hour I spent in the Nag's Head seems like money well spent, to me.
Another great video, always interesting and enjoyable
Thanks Mark!
Love the Waitrose cut through, exactly what I use to do when I worked round there for 10 years. Re The Star you didn’t mention the big slab of a step outside the entrance… which I have fallen down. The Thomas Crapper is a recent ish refurb (15 years I think). I will be in here Tuesday week !
Yes it's a classic, well known by locals it seems - I often see someone else doing the same shortcut whenever I do it!
I've only know the Star Tavern for about 15 years as it happens. The sinks themselves look in too good condition to be genuinely old, but I thought the brackets supporting them looked a bit older.
Interesting interiors and histories! Nags Head felt a little claustrophobic and the prices! But would happily go to all the others.
Thanks L&J! Yes I can imagine the Nag's Head might not be everyone's cup of (very expensive!) tea!
Excellent as always 🍺
Another thoroughly interesting video from the best pub channel on RUclips. Love the Grenadier at 01.53 with the Gibraltar battle honour spelled 'Gibralter'.....no military many penned that. There is a story about an army officer being caught cheating at cards in there and being promptly flogged to death by his fellow officers. I hate cheats but this was rather disproportionate. I wonder if this story in fact relates to the other pub that you mention? Many journals attribute it to this building but if this was not the officer's mess, it would perhaps be the other place? Anyway, great video and please keep them coming.
Thank you for the very kind words Liam - although it still seems there are bizarrely few pub channels on RUclips!
I didn't look into that other nearby pub called the Grenadier, but just saw a passing mention of it on whatpub.com and trusted that they had probably done their homework. I generally consider CAMRA affiliated authors to be very reliable but perhaps I am a bit biased! I'm a member myself, and somewhat grew up with it - my parents ran a pub when I was a child, and they were among some of the earliest members.
lovely Porsche at 5:27
Yet another excellent and informative video. Great presentation and I love the combination of History and Geography in your narrative, makes me wonder if you have been a schoolteacher at some point?, I shall be visiting the Star Tavern at some point as it looks fabulous, particularly the library room, thank you for the considerable effort you put into these endeavours and I look forward to many more..
Thank you! No I was never a school teacher per se, although I did a post graduate degree and as part of that ran some tutorials / practical sessions for undergraduates. I always thought I was terrible at it! The undergrads I was responsible for always looked utterly bored.
Another very interesting video, A large amount of time most go into making these video's what with all the research you do before you visit the pubs.
Thank you for noticing! It was only about 3 hours to do the filming, but 2 very full days for the research and editing. That's probably quite typical for recent videos. When I made the original Belgravia pubs video - in October 2022 - it was more of a "vlog" style - I just said whatever came to mind about each pub, no research, barely any interior shots to overlay, and it probably only took a couple of hours to do the editing!
A lovely area Belgravia, but dear me ! £8 a pint, WTF ! I could just about bare it, if it was a trendy craft beer or a premium real ale, but Guinness for crying out loud, something up here in the North East, that I could probably get 4 cans of for a tenner. Each to their own, but can never understand why Guinness is so revered and has a cult following, bland taste, albeit unique. Guinness are like the Mafia of the drinks industry, even in the North East it would be knocking on £5 a pint, and I've never seen it discounted. A shame a lot of these pubs have sold their soul to food, but that's a familiar story. I am pleased that I remember the Star as just a normal pub with few frills, when I first visited in the early 90s. Another great video, keep up the good work.
Thanks Ronnie. As I said in the video I think you have to look at it as a sort of admission fee, or a rental charge for your table for the duration of your visit. I love that kind of pub interior, but I can quite understand other people might be completely unmoved by it, and for them it's definitely not going to be good value for money! There are definitely some far cheaper pubs in the area, with quite different styles of interiors but I think at least some of them are still quite appealing.
Having a dark mild called dapple from OEC brewing out of Oxford Connecticut as I join you on your pub crawl here in Lewiston New York
I love mild - that sounds great! It's really good to hear some of those old fashioned English beer styles I would have assumed to have been considered a bit unfashionable are being brewed over there.
I have actually been to Connecticut, getting on for 30 years ago. As you're probably aware drinking ages differ between here and the US, and it was a bit of a shock to the system when I arrived there, thinking I was all grown up (aged 19) to discover I wasn't technically allowed to buy alcohol there! It didn't stop me of course, and the locals showed me some wonderful hospitality in turning a blind eye to that odd legislative discrepancy.
Go to the Star for their pies.... awesome, and not expensive.
I don't think I've ever eaten there, but that's good to know!
Nice pub crawl again The Nags Head looks like my type of pub interior but I didn't like the beer price 🍻
Belgravia looks stunning. Real Crapper sinks are amazing.The pubs look like real, beautiful British pubs but when I heard £8.00 for a pint of Guinness I almost lost control of my bowels (again). Come to Cork, Ireland for a pub tour and I’ll recommend a few good boozers!
I had expected to see ‘The Plumbers Arms’ of Lady Lucan fame.
At £8 a pint I am surprised that they have got any regulars.
I did briefly mention that in the earlier Belgravia pubs video I made - there's a link in the description.
It's currently 0255 and I've just got in. I was telling my mates tonight that Tweedy is a good man. They all agreed.... If there is any moral to this little vignette. I don't know what it is. But maybe that is the point.
Thank you! ...and I really appreciate you spreading the word. Although I think my videos might not be everyone's cup of tea! I certainly can't get my wife to sit through one of them.
@@TweedyPubs I believe that there is an unspoken arrangement between men and women. That would apply to; either, relationships or marriage... Or more trivial matters. Two things are generally recognized.
Firstly, that one shouldn't acquiesce to any American spelling of "recognised".. That is completely bad form. AND secondly. I consider you as a bastion of all that is good about the spirit of PUBS. I have spent 48 summers on this planet. AND few have managed to articulate a love of pubs and the spirit of them as well as yourself.
11:18 …purveyor of asses’ milk 😂
In the 80s The Grenadier had a Bloody Mary bar with an old boy in a white stewards outfit.
I have mixed feelings about pubs focusing on anything but beer (or perhaps cider, depending where you are in the country) but in this context that sounds great!
The articles mentioned in the video about the Grenadier's rickshaws and sedan chairs were a new discovery to me. I'd always assumed the pub went from being a down-to-earth back street boozer for the staff at the big houses nearby to being a bit of a tourist pub as it is today (although I've always loved it nonetheless)... but it was fascinating to learn it had that period in-between of being a bit of a swanky drinking den!
I suspect I'd need a new mortgage to have a night out in Belgravia.
Commenting for the algorithm
Thank you - much appreciated!
I like your videos very much but if I may make a small comment: I prefer the rather more ad hoc in situ delivery of your pub histories. This felt more like a formal documentary. The Nag's Head is pretty much opposite the mews house of Ghislaine Maxwell where the infamous photo of Prince Andrew with Virgina Giuffre that he claims was fake was taken.
I would prefer to do the narration in situ but it's often difficult - first and foremost I don't want to spoil the atmosphere for the other customers, and this kind of one sided conversation can be as annoying to overhear as someone talking on their mobile phone, especially as I often make mistakes and have to repeat things several times.
There's also quite often background noise to deal with - piped music in some pubs, or traffic noise or things like air conditioning units if I'm sat outside.
Plus sometimes publicans or their staff get a bit uncomfortable if I appear to be "vlogging" about the pub while I'm there. I always ask if it's OK to take photos / short videos for the interior shots, but that's quite a different thing from sitting there and talking to camera about the pub for 10 minutes.
On this occasion the timing of it was such that I had an unexpected opportunity to do the filming for a couple of hours, but no time to prepare the research the day before, so it was a bit back to front.
I'll continue to do the narration in the pubs whenever I can though!
@@TweedyPubs Totally understand. And thanks for the thorough explanation. Just wanted you to understand that we appreciate the spontaneous delivery when you feel it's right.
@@chriswhite1417 Thanks, good to know!
Pricey but nevertheless very nice.
The beer in the Grenadier is consistently poor to average.
Card only. Gtfo.
I drank at the Nags head in 77, I was 16 years old...worked in Fredrick Mews.....