And then there was three, but finally two, plus a guest.
The Other Paul G and Wapping, braved strikes and other terrors to make it to The Alma, where we met up with Jim, a friend of Paul’s who lives locally. Jim, is a ‘good bloke’, a new owner of a Guzzi and a racing Renault Clio, which will be in action this weekend in Spa.
can't remember when i last went in a pub that had so many people in it .
Paul and I both commented that, if you run a good pub, people will use it. The Alma, has a long history of being a ‘good pub’. Its most striking feature is its large central, three sided bar. It’s a great design as (provided there are enough bar staff) more people can be served simultaneously. The restaurant at the back is efficient and the food reasonably priced. The only oddity, which might only be noticed by someone from London, is that (as a Young’s pub) they had no ‘Special’ available. This meant that a ‘Mix’ was off the menu. What’s a ‘Mix’, you might ask? It’s a pint, made up of 50% Young’s ‘Ordinary’ and 50% Young’s ‘Special’.
That aside, a great evening. I even got to see Paul’s ‘digital diary’, a thing of wonder! Plans for Gedinne were settled on and I got to hear about tuk-tuk racing in Sri Lanka…. What can go wrong?
PS If anyone is thinking of coming to London for a short break, the pub has rooms upstairs. It might make a good base, not least as it’s right outside Wandsworth Town railway station with its regular trains to Clapham Junction and into Waterloo. Have a look at the Young’s website and also the Fuller’s brewery website, as they too have ‘hotel pubs’. You could do worse.
PPS You were right, Paul
