The Baring, De Beauvoir Town, N1

Interesting curved building, with the curve also built into the bar area. Interior décor is perhaps a little modern for my tastes, red and white walls with stripped wood flooring. Four pumps featuring Spitfire, TT Landlord, London Fields Pale and Hackney Golden – a decent choice. I plumped for the London Fields and was rewarded with a first class half. Busy and convivial, with 6 Nations rugby being shown on the TV. Board games, papers and books available which always gets an extra mark. A lack of seating in the fairly small interior meant most of our crawlees were standing throughout the visit. There is mention elsewhere of an upstairs area but I spied no evidence of it. I enjoyed my brief stop and would make an effort to return here.

I was looking forward to my inaugural visit to this community free house on the border of Islington and Hackney and it did not disappoint. Friendly welcome and a lively Saturday afternoon crowd that we seamlessly added to. The main bar area is a bit on the small size and wraps around the main serving area with a flat screen at either end, which were muted and showing the Scotland v England Rugby game, but then there is an upstairs section set up as a 'games room' with a pool table, a dartboard and table footy. Four ales are always on with TT Landlond and Shep Neame Spitfire as the house ales and then weekly changing guests on the other two. For our visit these were HB Golden Ale and London Fields IPA and both of these were in excellent condition. The pub has a weekly quiz night and runs football, cricket and rounders teams. I felt at home in this community back street local, which also has the benefit of being a relatively short stroll to and from the Wenlock and the Old Fountain.

An interesting Georgian freehouse with a good local feel, which has previously obtained a Community Pub award from CAMRA in addition to its GBG listing. The building had to be extensively rebuilt after WW2 due to bomb damage in the Blitz. The plain décor and wooden floors give it a traditional pub feel, and although there is no sawdust, it feels as though there should be. There was tv showing sports and a lively buzz about the place, friendly and welcoming. There were 4 ales on, reasonably priced for the area. I had London Fields Pale Ale which although it was well-kept, I couldn't get too excited about. A good place for a few beers and a useful inclusion on a crawl.

A decent little corner pub,4 handpumps with a couple of regulars and a couple of guests,I had a fine pint of London Fields Pale Ale,not a large pub, standing room at the bar and seating for food and drinking,there is a beer garden but I didn't investigate on this occasion.It shows live sport and seemed a popular water hole early Saturday evening,a nice community pub I would be happy to return to.

The Baring is off the main road and close to a square. Once inside this pub had one room that had been done up in the modern style,there were two real ales on the bar i had a drink of London Pride and this was a decent drink the other beer was GK IPA. The pub was very busy on my visit here.