The Prince Arthur, Old Street, N1

This is a small attractive looking locals pub hidden away in a side street close to Old Street and amongst some grim looking housing blocks and 1960’s offices. Frosted windows at the front of the pub and carpeting throughout help create a traditional cosy atmosphere. Separate doors ( one now no longer in use ) indicate that this was probably a two bar pub in days of old. An L shaped bar counter serves a small area at the front part of the pub which is furnished with traditional banquette seating and tables. An additional area down one side of the pub, named The Bottle and Jug Bar, is dominated by a dartboard and a fine collection of trophies on a mantelpiece. Also here was a few boxing photographs and I understand that the tenant is one Dixie Dean, a former boxer ( funny, I thought he was an Everton footballer ?) . Some racehorse pictures also decorate the walls. The Prince Arthur is a Sheps pub which, on my recent visit, was serving Spitfire, Late Red and Master Brew. The Spitfire - £ 3.50p – was in good nick. The pub is listed in the 2011 CAMRA Good Beer Guide ( under Hoxton, post code N1 ) This is a fine unpretentious, welcoming pub – worth dropping in on when you’re in the area.

This is a Shepherd Neame house, which had Spitfire, Master Brew, Kent’s Best and Late Red on during my visit. The Late Red was as good as always, but it’s never cheap - £3.40 a pint in here. It’s a traditional backstreet pub by the feel of it, based on my brief weekday lunchtime visit. It’s not a big pub; there are four tables by the front windows, complemented by some banquette seating and a few small stools, a few stools at a ledge on the left hand side and at the bar, and that’s about it as far as furnishings go. There’s a fireplace at the back with sporting trophies on the mantelpiece, probably relating to darts in view of the prominent darts area to the right of the fireplace. Wall decor amounts to some framed cigarette cards and assorted prints, and it’s carpeted throughout. In fact the place has a very 70s feel about it. The traditional nature of the pub is confirmed by the glass case behind the bar containing sandwiches and rolls. This is a simple, clean, pub with no pretensions of grandeur and it is a joy to find this sort of pub within spitting distance of the centre of London. I would be very happy to pay a return visit.

Randomness Guide to London - Prince Arthur entry

Randomness Guide to London - Prince Arthur entry

The Prince Arthur is a small Shep Neame pub tucked away in Brunswick Place, North of Old Street. Takes a bit of finding but is worth the effort. When falling upon it the green and white exterior with light oak panelled windows, it stands out amongst the surrounding sterile housing blocks. The Prince Arthur is a tidy but smallish back street boozer and there’s not a lot of floor space internally and a fair bit of it is given over to the dart board. But worth searching out for the Shep Beers and the couple I tried were in excellent nick.