The Duke of Hamilton, Hampstead, NW3

Once, around the late 1980s, the landlord served me a pint from the slops tray. Thankfully he has gone so it seemed time to pay another visit. The pub seemed to have been cleaned up a bit, and it's got really quite a nice interior. My pint (forgotten what it was) was good and probably the cheapest in NW3. The Duke claims to be one of the last boozers in Hampstead and they're not wrong there. It also claims to be one of the oldest pubs in London; dating from 1762, this is utter cobblers - the White Bear across the road is about 60 years older and some of the pubs in Hampstead, Highgate and Kilburn date back to the mid-14th century; this pub doesn't even come close to being the oldest pub in the area, let alone London. During my mid-week crawl, every pub in Hampstead was full if not packed and yet this place had four dreary duffers in, one of whom couldn't seem to stop saying "c**t!" every other word - this is very much a locals' pub; women were conspicuous by their absence. Aesthetically this is a nice pub, but the customers who come here and have seemingly lost the will to live, make it a dreary and depressing affair. It's not just that there are better pubs in the area, rather it's that every pub in the area is better. I'd give this place 6 if it had some atmosphere and joy, but the customers reduce it to a 3.

Def a locals local.Friendly pub with a decent selection of 4 beers on my visit.

Describing itself as “Hampstead’s last remaining local”, the Duke of Hamilton is a traditional Victorian style pub with carpets, banquettes and a long bar counter that has, pleasingly, retained its gantry with its stained glass advertising panels. Situated off Heath Street, its set back and elevated from street level, up a few steps, with a largish front terrace and a burgundy painted frontage dominated by windows. There has apparently been an inn on the site since 1721 and, although you probably wouldn’t think so, the current building is over 200 years old. A recent vigorous local, campaign pleasingly prevented the pub from being closed for ever and replaced by flats. Now under new management, it’s essentially the same pub as previously, but somewhat spruced up – in particular a new carpet is very noticeable - and with a much wider beer range, specifically much less of an emphasis on Fullers beers. The pub produces its own newsletter – “The North Londoner” – and, in the first issue of this, readily available on each table, we learn that the pub has won the Best London Pub of the Year award for 2011 from Fancyapint.com. We also learn that the pub trades as part of a pub group – The Three Boozers – which may be a statement of intent since, at this moment in time, it appears that there’s only two - this one, plus The Barnsbury ( in Islington ). Décor consists of old photos of the local area and sporting memorabilia, including a framed England rugby shirt autographed by the 2003 World Cup Winning Team. Pub management appear very active. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are Curry Night and Winter Stew Night respectively. Monday is Ale Club day with all real ales at £ 2.50p all day and evening. A downstairs cellar bar screens sports fixtures. There’s now an outside drinking area at the back as well as the front. 6 beers were on – Fullers London Pride ( still the biggest seller apparently ), plus beers from Butts, Brodies, Cottage and Redemption ( 2). All beers sampled were in good form – particularly the Redemption Hopspur. Formerly a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular and an award winner, it’s not in the 2012 CAMRA Good Beer Guide – presumably due to the change in management – but, based on my visit, it’s a strong contender for the 2013 edition. With the wider beer range, this is now an even more attractive proposition than previously