Rose & Crown, pt. 3

Way back in February*, I went with Jamie to see Dick Gaughan, the Scottish folk musician at Walthamstow Folk Club. When I got there, I found, to my surprise that the pub was a Rose & Crown!

Ye Olde Rose & Crown #3
Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London
3^rd February 2013
Beer: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10

The pub had a nice interior, where we bought a pint each before ascending up a small rickety staircase to the room where the folk club was to be held.

The night began with some questionable singing from the landlord's family and friends, before Dick took the stage. Jamie had given me a copy of Handful of Earth for my birthday a few years before, but it was not until this evening that I truly appreciated how great a guitar player and singer Dick Gaughan is.

This pub really came close to being as great fun as the Rose & Crown in Oxford, although this was largely due to the musical entertainment, so viewed solely as a drinking hole, the great palace on North Parade remains undefeated...

*Through forgetfulness and laziness I'm only writing this up now.

Rose & Crown, pt. 2

On Saturday, Rob and I visited the Rose & Crown in Oxford.

Rose & Crown #2
North Parade, Oxford
1^st October 2011
Beer: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Atmosphere: 10/10

This pub can be largely blamed for us beginning this journey: Our discussion in The Black Horse began with me claiming that Oxford's Rose & Crown is the best pub in the country. Assuming the Rose & Crowns are a representative sample of the UK's pubs, then finding whether Oxford's is the country's best Rose & Crown would be a good indication of whether or not it's the UK's best pub.

As always, our experience at the best pub on North Parade was great. This pub really should be visited by all. Lots.

Rose & Crown

Last Tuesday (2 August), Rob and I were in The Black Horse Inn, Shipton-on-Stour. It was late afternoon and we were already in our second pub of the day, so we were both quite persuadable. Then I made the suggestion. Rob agreed.

So now we are both going to attempt to visit every Rose & Crown pub in the UK. A quick look on the British Beer & Pub Association website told us that there were 326 such pubs in 2007. Amazingly, such a high number failed to put either of us off.

Rose & Crown #1
Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon
5^th August 2011
Beer: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10

Friday found us beginning our journey in the Rose & Crown, Stratford-upon-Avon, a large pub in the centre of town with a good sized beer garden, where we had our first Rose & Crown pint. We decided to rate each pub out of ten for beer, service and atmosphere. However we both found rating our first pub a difficult task as we had nothing to compare it to. Hence I decided to give it 8/10 in each category and return to update these ratings once we've visited a few more.

This pint also taught both of us that we know very little about reviewing pubs or ale. Although once we've reviewed 326 pubs our skills may well have improved...