Calthorpe Arms, WC1

Lovely old school boozer in the heart of Bloomsbury. Young's Special was in good condition. Outside seating area, where unbelievably for the area, an elderly couple had come for a drive and were having a pint in their classic Citreon DS. I found this quite cute. Worth hunting out for a classic pub experience. Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2vEHXrf

Young's pub with quite a dark interior. 4 real ales and food served.

Situated in a slightly off-the-beaten-track part of the city, this is a simple, single room traditional boozer. A corner door leads into the main, carpeted bar with a dark wood servery along the right hand wall boasting an original looking counter and a slightly clunky bar back. Youngs branded windows run along the front and left hand sides of the room, behind nice red drapes with comfy button backed banquettes underneath, serving round tables with standard chairs and low stools in support. Some wood-effect wallpaper and a lincrusta ceiling add to the place's traditional feel whilst also hinting at the inevitable creep of modernisation which all Young's pubs must fear. At the far end there is a large mirror on the wall and a TV screen showing muted rolling news coverage. A few bits of admittedly interesting Young's breweriana, including some nice black and white photos, dotted the walls and offer the only real form of décor. Stairs to the rear lead up to Wren's Room - a dining area and function room - with the menu detailed on a large board at the far end of the bar. In keeping with the pub's traditional feel, there was no music playing - making this pub a notable exception on a long Friday evening crawl around the area. This is a Young's pub, so Ordinary and Special were available alongside a guest of St Austell Tribute and Weston's Old Rosie cider with two pumps unused. A friendly, old school landlord served me a good pint of Tribute which I very much enjoyed drinking whilst taking in some of the pub's character and charm. It's always nice to stumble across an old survivor such as this place when on a crawl around the city. It offers a good contrast to the gentrified pubs that are two-a-penny in this area and whilst it's not perhaps the most exciting of venues with the most extensive of ale ranges, it provides a friendly and comfortable environment in which to relax and that's a combination that people will always seek out.

Traditional Youngs pub that seems untouched since the early 80s. A long, straight room which is carpeted, with bottle green button back banquettes, dark wood bar/panelling and heavy red curtains making for a homely feel. Single mute TV tuned to horse racing. A friendly, community atmosphere within and a tranquil oasis given the surroundings. Six pumps but only three ales on; Youngs Special, Ordinary, Winter Warmer plus Westons Old Rosie cider (the Twickenham Naked Ladies clip was turned). The WW felt like it was fag-end of the barrel (and was spluttering as it came out). When I mentioned this I was told “oh that’s the dodgy pump we only use for specials”. Why not get the bloody thing fixed then, rather than serving sub-standard beer? John Young would be spinning in his grave at that slack attitude (which perhaps sums up large parts of the Youngs estate now). Could and should have scored more than a 7.