The Barley Mow, Marylebone, W1

This pub re-opened a little while ago, after having been closed for some three years. It’s a CAMRA Heritage pub, due to the presence of the small “drinking boxes” to the left of the bar counter. The boxes in this pub are now unique in London, the other examples all in pubs now demolished or converted to other use. The chatty barman told me that someone had told him that The Beatles drank in the front box. Anyway, without the boxes there is nothing out of the ordinary about this pub. There are three separate entrances (with only the central one still in use), indicating that even a pub as small as this one would have been divided up into three separate rooms, in addition to the drinking boxes. The walls are pine clad; the floors are bare-boarded; and seating is a few normal tables and chairs. There were six handpumps on the bar counter, but only three in use during my visit, dispensing London Pride; Fuller’s seasonal Red Fox; and Sharp’s Red Ale (£3.40 a pint). I had the latter which was in good nick, if served a little too cold. The barman told me that the other three pumps would normally be in use – the Doom Bar; Butcombe’s Bitter; and a 3.7% Lancaster session ale had recently finished. Apparently it’s a genuine free house. I didn’t see anything in the way of food, but a chalkboard on the bar advertised toasties at £2.50 a throw, and sausage “subs” for a bit more than this. I found this to be a friendly and welcoming pub, and would be very happy to pay a return visit.