Dicey Reilly's, Silver Street, N18

Despite living within two miles of the Bull for the significant part of my legal drinking life I have never set foot across the threshold of this pub until the other evening, and this was only due to it being the closest pub to the North Middlesex Hospital and after being taxi for a friend who had caught a squash ball in the eye, a couple of hours spent over a pint and a paper here were infinitely preferable to spending a few hours in the hell hole that is the North Mid A&E department. However my historical absence is probably more due to this area of Edmonton rather than the pub itself and it is for good reason that the pony tailed Tim has not blessed Edmonton with an outlet of his Wetherspoons empire (yes I know, before you lambast me, that technically the Gilpin Bell has an N18 postcode, but it is physically much closer to Tottenham than it is to Edmonton). For the area of Edmonton east of the A10 and north of the North Circular trench we can mourn the loss of The Pimms Park Inn, The Britannia, The Golden Fleece, The Cross Keys, The Exhibition, The Golden Lion, The Horse and Groom, The Jolly Farmer (LTs), The Town Crier, The Rose And Crown (Rosies), The Crown and Horseshoes and The Two Brewers. So it’s true to say that the Upper and Lower Edmonton area covered by the N9 and N18 post codes in this area has suffered significant pub losses over the years and is now a bit of a pub desert and desperately cries out for a decent go to pub. Unfortunately this is not it. I found it largely inoffensive. The service was good, the standard draft beer offering (there is no real ale here) was, well, standard. And the locals, the few that were in, seemed a friendly lot and in no way threatening. However as Rex laments below, any character this pub may have had at one time has been removed by its opening up into one largely soleless space around the central serving bar, and the pubs main function seems to be to cater to the local sport watching, pool playing , lager drinking populous, which is perfectly fine and long may it continue to do so. And I will continue to hope that the beloved Edmonton of my youth will at some stage undergo the gentrification and improvement that swept Islington and is currently happening in parts of Walthamstow and Hackney. But for the moment, anyone who enquires if there is a decent Edmonton pub east of the A10 will continue to be met with stony silence.

This used to be one of my locals when I lived in Edmonton in the 70s and 80s. The pub has changed considerably since then – gone has the separate off sales area, and the public and saloon bars have of course been knocked into one fairly soulless and uninspiring bar. Seating consisted of red fabric covered banquettes plus stools; there's a pool table on the right in what used to be the public bar; and a few tables out in the back; and a handful of picnic tables on the forecourt at the front. There's nothing else worth mentioning - apart from the fact that they do not have any real ale on. I did have a pleasant chat at the bar with the only other customer in there, and we both agreed that area had gone downhill in recent years. How right he is – this pub is nowhere near as good as it used to be when it was owned by Whitbreads.