The Nags Head, Walthamstow, E17

This pub dates from at least the mid-17th century to be rebuilt in 1859; a side entrance at right and coach house at left indicate that this was once a coaching inn, when Walthamstow was an actual village, rather than referred to as one by estate agents. The fascia has been rendered somewhat whacky in the last couple of years, with the garish salmon pink and cucumber green livery, I initially thought that this was an offshoot of the Garrick Club; that’s before I spotted the cartoon caricatures of cats and the prominent sign (see photo) expressly barring kids; good times! With the out-of-the-skip furniture collection, the interior seems to be as quirky as mentioned earlier, with pictures of pop stars and cats. Indeed, the bar’s parapet bears illuminated lettering reading: Gin Pizza Ale Cats. Customers were a laid-back bunch of locals, some more traditional, then young, professional types, all lapping up the loud vinyl soundtrack which featured ABC’s All Of My Heart and Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis Eyes at the time of my Saturday 9.50pm visit and despite the promise of pussies galore, there was no sign of the furry ones, but perhaps they could have been tempted in by Squeeze. With one unused pump, there was a choice of New River London Tap and Twin Spring, then Landlord, £2.80 a half, very nice, served by an enthusiastic barmaid. This is a fun pub, my favourite of the quartet to be found in Walthamstow ‘Village’.

This pub has now become quite "trendified" with vibrant colours in use inside and out with a heavy bearing on pink. Although I couldn't now class this as a traditional pub it is very much a community pub representitive of the immediate area it inhabits and was very well attended on a Saturday afternoon. Pictures of rockstars past adourn the walls as well as images of fampos people from other generas. The bar with a pine clad frontage and solid pine top supported four handpumps drawing three beers, Southwark LPA (changed in visit for Bankside Blonde) and Mayflower, competently kept, as well as TT Landlord. There was a Pizza and burger menu. A nice pub but not a game changer.

Official site of The Nags Head - www.nagsheadwalthamstow.co.uk

Official site of The Nags Head - www.nagsheadwalthamstow.co.uk

This is a lovely looking old pub in the pleasant Walthamstow Village area, notable on approach for its impressive green tiled facade. Two entrances lead through into the same U-shaped, knocked through room. The left hand side has a surprisingly dark seating area, which has been carpeted and offers plenty of standard tables and chairs under plain walls decorated with the occasional portrait. There is a nice brick fireplace to one side and a sofa along the rear wall, which help make this feel like quite a cosy, homely space. More sofas can be found under the front windows, where a book swap scheme has been set-up on the window sills. These sofas stand opposite the bar, which forms a long U-shape with its tongue and groove panelled counter, chunky canopy and mirrored bar back. Over to the right, there is a much smaller area with a few more tables and chairs, some more portraits on the walls and a few drinking ledges here and there. Tributes to both David Bowie and Eric Bristow had been created and put on display, although whether either of them have a connection to the pub, I cannot say. There is a good sized front garden from which to admire the pub’s fine exterior and a rear garden with lots of additional seating. Live music was being promoted and there was a pretty good soundtrack playing throughout the duration of my visit. Food seemed to be reasonably priced and included some burger options from a pop-up outlet that had temporarily set up in the pub. A friendly pub cat was busy doing the rounds and came and sat at my table on the chair opposite me. The bar supports five handpulls, four of which were in operation on this occasion, offering a selection of Cameron’s Whakanui, Purity Ubu, Taylor Landlord and Adnams Fat Sprat. I had a pint of the latter which was in excellent condition and I really enjoyed sitting in one of the seats to the front of the pub and indulging in a bit of people watching. This is a really nice pub that I’m a bit surprised I walked straight past the last time I was in Walthamstow. It is a comfortable place to settle down in over a few pints of well kept beer and offers plenty of distractions without these impairing the over ambiance of the place. It would be nice to be able to call this place your local and I’m sure I’ll check it out again the next time I’m in the area.