Woodins Shades, Bishopsgate, EC2

Nicholson's pub on a street corner, with Dirty Dicks just across the side road and Liverpool Street station just over the other side of Bishopsgate. Its convenient location always ensures that there will be a few people in. I've been less than impressed with the Nicholson's chain of late and this visit further cemented my views. St Austell Nicholson's Pale Ale & Sharp's Doom Bar are the regular ales. Guests were Fuller's London Pride & Titanic Plum Porter. The Plum Porter was a slight bonus on what I was expecting. But the foreign barmaid looked fairly clueless. When I asked for a half of the Plum Porter, she immediately rang it up on the till as £5.10, at which I replied I wouldn't pay that amount. That seemed to horrify her. But I honestly was not going to pay this amount for a half. Clearly language was the barrier here and once I'd managed to communicate that it was only a half that I wanted, the price became much more reasonable. However, she still struggled to find the correct handpull to use for the Porter. A very simple task was made much more difficult than it needed to be. The pub will always appeal due to its location. But walking a little further away from the station is beneficial for a better drink.

Very busy on my Sunday morning visit with a lot of football fans having a pre match drink. I could only see 2 beers on with a few clips turned round. The choice was London Pride or Wainwright's. I went for the latter at the strange price of £5.05 a pint. It was drinkable but not great. Handy for the station but not worth seeking out.

A good sized Nicholson’s pub on a street corner plot just around the corner from Liverpool Street station, it consists of one single, open plan room although with some small wooden partitions incorporating stained glass to break up the space slightly. It is perhaps slightly gloomy internally with dark blue/grey wood panelling on the lower part of the walls, the same colour plasterwork above and a very dark ceiling, although this is offset to some extent by the large windows. Narrow wooden boards were on the floor and there were a few iron supporting pillars for the high ceiling and a small fireplace at one end, although this was not in use. The long bar counter covered most of one wall, and there was some ornately carved woodwork behind this. Beers on tap were Black Isle’s 20 Hours of Daylight, Sharp’s Atlantic, Doom Bar, London Pride, Nicholson’s Pale Ale, London Brewing’s Flying The Mags and West Berkshire’s Good Old Boy. The solitary cider meanwhile was Mortimer’s Orchard. Overall, whilst there was certainly nothing wrong with this pub, I thought it lacked much in the way of any character, and is certainly less interesting than many of the company’s other outlets.

This pub dates from at least the mid-19th century when the landlord was a one William Woodin and rebuilt in 1893. This used to be a regular haunt for me around 20 years ago, due to convenience for meeting up rather than quality. I stopped coming here around 10 years ago when after visiting and buying a half out of desperation to use the lave, only to find out that it was out of order - out of order indeed. A return the other night and it's clear that some reordering and renovation has been undertaken, with the interior a restrained blend of the old and new, typical of many a Nicholson's pub, with a modern bare floor and conventional furniture but with flashing games' machines and two TVs showing the Arsenal v. Watford match and generating much exuberance but not as much as the large group of drinkers, oblivious to the action but perhaps a little too well oiled. Fairly gloomy inside, there were eight pumps on the bar and I plumped for a half of the Robinsons Blonde, James Blonde at a reasonable £2.30 and in good nick. This pub is certainly better than Dirty Dicks, opposite, but it's not great and I find no compelling reason to return, especially in light of better hostelries over the border in E1.

A fairly simple Nicholsons pub with one medium-sized room in dark paintwork, offset by large windows. There is a also a dining room upstairs. A fair range of beers: Siren Broken Dream Breakfast Stout, Hawkshead Pale, Fyne Ales Yarl, a charity brew and Landlord alongside the usual London Pride, Doom Bar and the St Austell house ale. Didn't feel like somewhere you would want to spend the evening in, but fine for a passing visit.