Calthorpe Arms, WC1

I could have sworn I'd been here before but upon entry nothing rang a bell. A single roomed corner pub, brightly coloured in Mustard and Oxblood shades, sounds odd but kind of worked, A few old boxing photos on the walls along with one of Henry Coopers gloves.Six handpumps provided a choice of Youngs Original , Dark Star Hophead and Harveys Lewes Castle Brown along with two Southtown Ciders, the Harveys beer was superb, NBSS 4.5. A combination of the beer and afternoon rain meant I stayed for more than one and enjoyed it.

My late afternoon midweek visit to this pub found it fairly quiet, though I received a friendly welcome from behind the bar. It's a single room corner pub in an unadorned box-like brick building, with a few seats and tables on the pavement in the side street. There were six hand pumps on the bar, with Youngs Original, Timothy Taylor Landlord and two from Purity. I went for the Mad Goose, which was in good enough condition. Date of visit: 14th September 2022

Visited 3rd March 2016 - rating: 4 Much as described below. This is a traditional old geezers' pub in a none-too-fashionable area. There's a TV, fruit machine, carpets...Food, somewhat incongruously, constitutes homemade hummus and marinated olives - I wonder how this goes down with the hoary old Marxist philosopher in the corner? Beers: Truman's Blindside, Twickenham's Redhead and Young's Bitter only (this is a Young's pub?) at £1.75 which was ok. With the lack of punters and resultant lack of atmosphere, this is one for the tickers and locals only. I won't be returning, but I wish it all the best. ------------------------ A return the other night to a pub which did indeed have something of a modernised makeover during Lockdown. An interesting gobbet of history here, in that in 1830 it was used as a temporary magistrates’ court for the trial of a person accused of the world’s first-ever murder of a policeman. The bar front looks original, but now there’s a back with chunky stained wood and fluted glass lamps over the bar top. Otherwise, the interior has been substantially altered, with wood elements painted dark grey, black Anaglypta to the dado then bare brick painted white, a white Anaglypta ceiling but now with ugly office fans. There are incongruous drape curtains and décor comes in the form of trendy prints. There are studded black banquettes to the periphery, furniture may be remaindered and the carpet is probably new; the games machine and jukebox certainly are. Customers are still resolutely older locals, so no change here, though all seemingly on first name terms with the staff. Ales amounted to just Young’s Original and Landlord at £2.60 a half, fine and served by a very friendly barmaid. This isn’t a bad place as such; actually, I preferred it in its previous no-nonsense guise, but there are better pubs locally, such as the York, Blue Lion and especially the Queens Head. Having lost much of its former character - not to mention the homemade hummus - I doubt I’ll return, but I still wish it well.