Wait until next year

May 29, 2026

Pub Thoughts #12 (The King Billy, Nottingham)

The exterior of the King Billy pub. A sign hangs off the wall with a picture of a goat.

The World’s Greatest Pub Blogger, RetiredMartin, will occasionally consider a pub one of his Top 100. This place, The King Billy, is one of them. And rightly so. It is unlikely I will ever visit as many pubs as Martin, and will certainly never reach his levels of Pub Expertise, but this pub is definitely in my top 100 too. And probably quite high in that list too. It’s a magical pub.

Sometimes you enter a pub and right away know that it just works. It is cosy, almost a little too cosy for comfort, but that gives it this immediate sense of hubbub and homeliness and place. There are different spaces, each with a slightly different feel, yet all part of a whole.

A row of empty chairs in a pub, lined up against a wall. There are old pictures of landscapes on the wall. In the distance is a strange doll with a little stuffed bear

There’s a bar in the middle that feels a little like a cockpit, serving each space and orchestrating the pub-ness, driving it even, a centrifugal force that influences the whole interior, that doesn’t just hand out the drinks but sets the tone, the feel, the fun.

All good pubs feel like someone’s living room. A public house, public home. The King Billy feels like the living room of someone’s particularly barmy aunt, and I mean that as the highest praise. The walls are covered in old paintings. Toby jugs line a wall. Knick knacks abound. A framed advert of a local visit from Su Pollard. A slightly creepy doll training a stuffed bear. A tartan carpet, a means of ensuring that even the floor isn’t plain. Detail, texture, stuff, everywhere.

A framed advert announcing Su Pollard is making an appearance at Sneinton Market. It looks quite old.

The Cup Final is on but there is enough entertainment in just scanning the walls. You can look around and piece together a whole history.

A man drinks from a pewter jug, another good sign. I love pubs where the regulars have their own receptacles. There’s scattered chat about the game, differences of opinion sportingly accepted. A man yells “Get that flag up!” Couples chat with half an eye on the telly. A man on his own spreads out a set of postcards on his table, takes a photo of them. Soon it’s half-time.

There’s a tremendous selection of cask and keg, and a just as good a selection of snacks. Life is good with a well-kept pint and a packet of honey mustard pretzel pieces. It’s a good place to stop after wandering around Nottingham’s trendy Sneinton Market. Catch your breath. Plan your next move.

Like all good pubs you can make it whatever you want it to be, but I think it is probably at its best with a quick pint on your own on a Saturday afternoon, with a bit of people-watching, a bit of football-watching and a bit of pub-watching.

Top 100, easily.

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May 22, 2026

Pub Thoughts #11 (Bleary-eyed notes from a weekend in Nottingham)

Interior of Brew Tavern, Nottingham. White wooden-slatted walls adorned with a Bass mirror and various old metal beer adverts

A fantastic weekend in Nottingham with friends – visited lots of pubs and bars and got at least some kind of sense of the kind of Beer City that Nottingham might be. At least in terms of the city centre I would say it felt like one side was very craft-y while the other was Mega Booze Dome-esque. There were a few good traditional pubs, but it didn’t feel like there were loads of them – and even the ones that were there seemed to offer far more that the usual trad fare.

I carried around a notebook with the intention of taking some notes, making some observations and generally having something to remember the weekend by. I’m not sure how successful I was – in reality I wanted to spend more time chatting and taking everything in rather than scribbling away in a corner.

First stop was the Brew Tavern, right by the station. There was a time when station pubs were almost universally bleak, depressing places. The kind of pubs people went to out of necessity or desperation, not choice. Now, there are plenty of great places to drink either before or after a train journey. This place is a converted cabman’s hut, and I’d love to see more pubs in disused railway architecture. It really ties the whole experience together and adds some character and soul. I went for a pint of Bass, as is obligatory for any beer blogger visiting the Midlands. It was excellent. A lad came in and downed an £11 pint of very strong craft. A group of old boys gathered before the football. A bloke on his own commented on the music, “A bit repetitive!” The track was skipped, to something equally repetitive.

Kilpin Beer Café was lovely. Spacious without feeling cavernous. Clean without feeling sterile. Some good continental beer. A really relaxed atmosphere, just the sort of place you could go to with anyone, a good spot to pop into while shopping, or after work.

Interior of Six Barrels, Nottingham. Two men stood at the bar, there are two screens above highlighting beer choices

Six Barrel Drafthouse, while pretty craft-inclined, felt like a proper boozer, a bit rough around the edges in a good way – lived in, well-used and clearly well-loved. It had a really nice feel to the place – a genuine mix of people and a sense that everyone is welcome.

The Tap Room was one of those places where you pour your own beer and then settle up at the end. I love the idea in theory – you can give lots of things a try, you don’t need to commit to pints, you might try something new, there’s no need to wait to be served. In practice I found it all a little stressful. A lively pint isn’t great when the little screen is showing how much you’ve spent on a glass of froth. Even just seeing how much your beer costs as your bill goes up in real-time isn’t exactly…fun. But it was a classy space with friendly service before and after I struggled with the taps.

Interior of the Tap House, Nottingham. A wall of self-service beer taps along a wall, each with a small screen above

Angel Microbrewery had some good beer on and I think worked as a multi-room pub, although was a little unfathomable – one room was absolutely rammed, while another big space upstairs was entirely empty. The kind of place I couldn’t quite get a handle on.

Neon Raptor’s taproom was very much in keeping with a lot of modern taprooms, stripped back aesthetic, hipster-y vibes, but their beer is great, it all felt very relaxed and there was plenty of room to sit or stand outside. It looks like they are moving to a bigger venue soon and I hope they can keep the feel of the current venue.

Interior of Some Where, Beeston. There is a beer fridge, a comfy sofa and a window painted green with the window sill covers in plants.

Somewhere Beerhouse in the suburb of Beeston is a bit of a hidden gem (the town of Beeston is a bit of a hidden gem too, but that’s another story for another time). Somewhere is more a micro-craft-bar than micropub but manages to successfully juggle being funky and cosy at the same time. There was a really interesting and unusual selection of beer on draft, can and bottle and was the kind of place I would happily lose an afternoon in. Really friendly and patient service too.

Barrel Drop is a micropub tucked away on a backstreet back in the city centre and manages to feel like a proper city centre pub despite its size. I really liked the barrels behind the bar converted into draft tap holders, glass holders, somewhere to keep the bar snacks etc. A good range of craft too, including plenty of stuff I hadn’t seen elsewhere.

Interior of Barrel Drop, Nottingham. A view of the back bar, where old barrels have been converted to house various keg taps, to keep glasses and store snacks

A few doors down from Barrel Drop, 400 Rabbits is a cocktail bar and I thought the cocktails were of high quality, a good mix (excuse the pun) of classics and less familiar recipes and were incredible value for money. Any bar with lucha libre decorations works for me too. A cool bar to spend a little time.

Junkyard is next door to the Kilpin and they seem to…maybe be the same place? They certainly appeared to share a garden and staff. Junkyard is less airy and open that Kilpin, more the kind of sparsely decorated, dark and busy craft bar that seemed to be very popular with younger drinkers, but was a bit crammed and noisy for an old fart like me.

So, that’s as much sense as I can get from my notes and my memory. I think Nottingham is an underrated beer destination. There are loads of different bars, a really good selection of beer, a really good atmosphere and a notable mix of ages out and about. Oh, and there’s also the magnificence of the King Billy, but I think that warrants a whole post of its own…

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May 8, 2026

Rough and ready thoughts on the Bexley Council election

Polling Station sign in the street, a path behind it

Some incredibly rough and ready thoughts on the Bexley Council election results – somewhere I think is interesting at a national level as it was very much a target for Reform but ended up being, at least on the surface, a pretty straightforward victory for the incumbent Tories.

This is obviously a huge generalisation, but Bexley, as a borough is inherently small-c conservative (as well as capital-C Conservative). There is an inherent suspicion of anything radical, to the left or right. People like a good moan about The State of Things Today but they also don’t really want anything to change. I think this absolutely played into people choosing not to vote Reform. It would be risky to have them in power, and while in some parts of the country people may feel they have nothing to lose taking that risk, many voters in Bexley are far too cautious and far too comfortable to roll the dice.
Tories and Labour focused solely on the threat of Reform, unlike the national campaign. We’ve seen a week or so of a concerted effort to discredit the Greens at a national level. This simply wasn’t relevant in Bexley – the Greens were no threat. And so both the Tories and Labour focused their attention on attacking Reform and positioning themselves as the safe and stable options. This was a smart move considering point one above.
Traditionally there hasn’t been a whole load of marginal wards in Bexley. However, with the rise of Reform, several safe seats became anything but. And so many people who were against Reform gaining power held their noses and voted for whoever would keep them out. In many ways it was a simple election – do you want Reform or not? And that kind of simplicity meant tactical voting stood a good chance of working, and the Tories stood to benefit disproportionately.
Policies were interchangeable between parties. Every leaflet went on about potholes, open spaces and HMOs, but not a lot else. There didn’t seem to be a whole lot of ideological difference between the Tories, Labour or Reform on local issues. And so the vote became more about who you didn’t want, rather than who you did.
The Tories had a much better ground game – local MP Louie French was a very public presence, Laura Trott came up from Sevenoaks, Kemi Badenoch made a visit to the Borough. It felt like as the campaign went on the Tories realised they were still in the fight, and responded accordingly.
Meanwhile, Reform’s campaigning was lazy – a brief trip to Welling from Farage, uninspiring leafleting, lack of door-to-door campaigning. It didn’t feel like a particularly “local” campaign.
The Labour vote held up in the north – I think the strong work of local councillors over the last few years helped – people voted for the councillors ahead of the party perhaps. But also in those wards people simply aren’t going to vote Reform or Conservative in any kind of numbers.
In terms of vote share Reform were close to the Tories, but got edged out in multiple wards. With a more focused effort they could have done significantly better. An extra 100 votes here and there and they might have had a significantly more successful time of it in Bexley.
Bexley has always been a divided borough, between the Labour North and Tory South. The middle of the borough has often been what has swung elections, but this time Reform took some of those wards. In the next national and local elections that middle of the borough will need to be the battleground – that’s where things can change.

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May 1, 2026

Pub Thoughts #10 (Pub websites and the Rusty Bucket, Bexley)

Entrance to a craft beer bar. There are wooden tables with yellow cushions. There is green and yellow ornate wallpaper. Blue and white flags hang from the ceiling.

Pub websites should be brilliant. They are a (reasonably) quick, easy and cheap way for pubs to market themselves, keep in touch with regulars and generally articulate what they are all about. At a bare minimum they are a good way to let people know when you are open. Beyond that you can list what beer is on, what food is available, what events you’re holding. Are you dog friendly, kid friendly, wheelchair accessible? Do you take cash, cards or both?

And yet, so many pubs barely bother. If I’m heading somewhere new I’ll often have a quick Google to try to get a sense of a pub. Sometimes the website is sparse, often it is out of date, inaccurate. On other occasions it is not there at all, its only remnant being an expiry notice from a hosting provider. There might be a Facebook page, which can work well, but needs updating, needs some thought. A neglected page says just as much as an active one.

Pubs cannot survive on regulars alone. The internet, for all its failings, provides an incredible opportunity for pubs to attract new drinkers. To convince wary locals that it is worth giving that place a try. To inspire others to travel from further afield. To keep in touch with those regulars, remind them that they are part of a wider pub community. It is a space to show the character of a place, the kind of pub you are and the kind of pub you’re not.

Which brings me to the Rusty Bucket at Bexley (there’s one in Eltham too, maybe another blog post for another day), and its website. The opening hours are up to date. It has a full list of drinks available. But beyond that, and far more importantly, it has some kind of mission statement on the welcome page of the site. After the more usual information, it finishes with:

“We welcome everyone except Bellends. If you’re racist, sexist, transphobic, etc please don’t come, this is not the pub for you”

Fundamentally, this is a policy I’d like all pubs to follow. However, I know that will never happen. But for a pub to come out and say it upfront – to be open that bigotry and discrimination is not welcome – is massively refreshing. It is not enough to welcome everyone, you also need to be clear that anyone without that outlook, who is going to cause trouble, isn’t welcome. I feel like this is allyship with teeth.

It also means a lot in an area that is deeply small-c conservative and increasingly capital-R Reform. As much as Bexley Village is an idyllic place in many ways, there can also be an unpleasant undercurrent if you step in the wrong place and your face doesn’t fit. The statement means much more because of the location.

I guess none of this would matter if the pub was rubbish, but it is not, it is great. It is friendly and welcoming to all, genuinely. There’s a really nice buzz about the place, and a good mix of people drinking there from all manner of backgrounds as far as I can tell. And I haven’t encountered a bellend yet.

I popped in the other day, there was a big mixed group celebrating a landmark birthday, an old couple enjoying a drink, a group of friends catching up, and a few people just enjoying a pint on their own.

There’s also a really thoughtful beerlist, especially for the area – a lot of modern keg, a beer fridge full of unusual craft and continental stuff, and a limited cask offering which is absolutely beautifully kept. The range of snacks are excellent too, which always earns a lot of bonus points from me.

At first glance it could appear to be just yet another craft beer bar – under a railway arch, minimal but tasteful decor, a wooden board behind the bar with beers listed in san serif font, something you would have once called trendy. But for where it is, it is so much more. The area has plenty of good micropubs, but not many places that bring in interesting keg beer. There aren’t that many “craft bars” that feel like a good place for a proper night out but still offer something decent to drink (I think a few places cosplay the craft bar vibe but then just stick on Neck Oil and hope for the best).

And most importantly, it is somewhere that is openly and proudly here for the whole community, not just who fits or who drinks there already.

And the website isn’t bad either.

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March 27, 2026

Pub Thoughts #9 (Queen Charlotte, Fitzrovia)

A pint of mild beer in a dimpled jug on a table in a pub. In the distance is the bar, some banquette seating and on the wall a list of available beers.

The Queen Charlotte is a former Brewdog pub, which in some ways is the least interesting thing about it, but also something that probably needs addressing at some point, if only to acknowledge both its recent history and its potential future – that here is an example of how pubs can not just survive but thrive once they have been released from Brewdog’s grip. It is a fine template of what newly independent pubs can do.

It is a one-room, corner boozer in Fitzrovia, a short walk up from Oxford Street but a world away from that particular thoroughfare in thrall to commerce. It’s all a little more refined up here but also a little more normal – fancy restaurants but also proper shops. A place that benefits from real pubs, and has a fair few of them.

The Queen Charlotte has a rather austere interior. It has been stripped back to its original bones – a traditional bar, wood flooring, banquette seating, leather-topped stools that look like massive Toffifee. It is sparse enough that you can project your own idea of a pub upon it – it can look like a trad boozer, a craft pub, a post-office drinking den.

There is the nostalgic smell of Brasso. The outside light hits the room perfectly, as if the place has been professionally illuminated. Bright, but soft somehow.

I’m the first one in for the day, as far as I can tell. I get a lovely welcome from the barman as he asked for my glass preference. I always go for a dimpled jug, even when it probably isn’t appropriate, because I quite like the idea of looking like an extra from an episode of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? The barman approves of my decision – I have made the right choice in his book.

There are two cask beers and they are both a fiver a pint. I think more pubs would benefit from offering this kind of cheaper option. Pubs should be accessible rather than a rare treat. Even the craft beer isn’t too expensive, I’ve seen it cost a lot more in far less fashionable parts of London. And the cask is good too, cool, packed full of flavour, the kind of pint that sings. Cheap beer doesn’t have to be bad beer, and if it encourages enough turnover then you can find yourself with beer that is both reasonably priced and outstandingly kept, that simply doesn’t have time to become dull, tired.

This pub does the simple things well – a fine space with a good choice of drinks, friendly service in a place that offers some escape for a while. Sometimes that is all a pub needs. It sets a high benchmark for independent pubs in Central London, and for all pubs really. I liked having it to myself for a while, but I hope it gets more patrons. It deserves them.

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