The Gladstone Arms, Borough, SE1

The Gladstone Arms a decent looking side street pub that is close to Borough tube station. Once inside there is a smallish single room with the bar on the left side,the room is bare boarded,the seating two pew seats and normal tables and chairs,there is also a piano to the rear right. There were four real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Adnams bitter which was a nice drink,the other beers were Dark Star Pale Ale,St Austell Tribute and Doom Bar. Background music was playing,food was also available with one customer having a nice looking meal. I quite liked the laid back feel of this pub,one i could stay in for a few. Pub visited 26/5/2015

There was a bit of a Cornish theme on the ale front, with pumps clipped for Sharp’s Doom Bar, and St Austell Tribute and Trelawny, but the Trelawny was declared to be off unfortunately, leaving Tribute as the beer of choice for me. All the tables had a “Pieminister menu” on them, with various pies at £5.95 (the same ones I buy in Tesco I suppose), plus £1.50 for mash and £1.25 for mushy peas. Personally I reckon that £8.70 is a bit over the top for a bought in pie with mash and peas, but if you’re hungry enough I suppose it’s worth it, and as shop bought pies go the Pieminister range is better than most. The outside of the pub looks OK in the main, but judging by the large name at the back on the left it is apparently called “ The Glad”, coupled with a large caricature of a sinister looking fellow appearing more like Jack The Ripper than the distinguished politician after whom this pub is named. I know that Gladstone did engage in some nocturnal activities, but portraying him as JTR is a bit over the top. But not to worry, the interior of the pub has a certain charm. It’s a small one-room pub, which wouldn’t take many customers for it to be crowded. There were a couple of sofas with a low table, but otherwise there were just normal tables and chairs. There were no TVs, fruit machines or others of that ilk. The music being played was some classic soul – Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett et al. Other than a few coloured lights on the ceiling, the only lighting is provided by candles on the tables. At 4.0 PM it’s now getting too dark to see what I’m writing in my notebook, and my pen’s now run out. This must be a sign. I actually quite liked this pub, which I didn’t think I would when I went in as it seemed overly gloomy, and in fact I wasn’t even sure that it was open. It has a nice friendly laid back feel to it (might be different if it was crowded though) and I’d be happy to pay a return visit.

Slightly left wing and a whiff of something illegal in the air. Sat and did the Telegraph crossword in here one lunchtime unmolested.