A stroll around the heritage pubs of Maida Vale

Maida Vale is a well off residential area in north west London known for its streets of mansion blocks. It’s also home to Little Venice, the canal basin on the Regents Canal famous for multiple narrowboats and waterside cafes and pubs. What the area is less well known for is its collection of exceptional Victorian heritage pubs. This short walk takes in four pubs, all well worth a visit to see the extravagant steps brewers and entrepreneurs took to ensure their pub outdid their neighbours in style and elegance.

Harry Redfern’s Carlisle Legacy: the ‘model pubs’ of the State Management Scheme

One of the key proposals of the Carlisle State Management Scheme was to reconstruct existing pubs and build new pubs to an ideal agreed by the various interests behind alcohol reduction. The scheme needed an architect and the person chosen was Harry Redfern, who was to oversee the programme until the early 1940s. Redfern’s pubs were revolutionary and became a huge influence on the ‘improved pubs’ movement that was taking off across the country in the inter-war period.

My top five pub discoveries in 2021

It was a late start to pub travelling this year with Covid restrictions keeping pubs closed until April. Even then it was only outdoor opening, and it wasn’t until 17th May that pubs were allowed to open inside. Even so, I managed to get to quite a few pubs I had not visited before. Most were very good and it really was quite hard selecting just five of the best. They are listed in chronological order of my visit, not by preference. Kirkstile Inn, Loweswater This pub had been on my must-visit list for a long time but despite several…

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