By Peter Whyatt and Linus Rees
The Fitzrovia Crawl
Fitzrovia News is organising a week long crawl of all the area’s 46 pubs — and giving a tee-shirt to anyone who drinks in each one.
The start is at the Green Man opposite Great Portland Street station at 7pm on Monday, 28 March, covering the first eight. Bring this printed page with you and look for the rest of us with ours or the full copy of Fitzrovia News.
Then from 7pm to 11pm: Tuesday: pubs 9 to 16, Wednesday: pubs 17 to 24, Thursday: pubs 25 to 32, Friday: pubs 33 to 40, Saturday (from 1 pm) pubs 41 to 46.
We’ve also incorporated Qype and Foursquare geo-location social networks into the Crawl. It’s a bit experimental and we’ve not done it before, but we’re giving it a go. Some of the Foursquare venue addresses are a bit off, with the map markers in the wrong position. We’re hoping the various mayors will put them right.
The Fitzrovia Crawl is the first of its kind in the recent history of Fitzrovia. It has been designed and organised by Mike Pentelow, Fitzrovia News editor and author of the critically-acclaimed book A Pub Crawl Through History: The Ultimate Boozers’ Who’s Who. Mike is also co-author of Characters of Fitzrovia. So you’ll be in a safe pair of hands and won’t get lost.
Mike has also produced a complete guide to every single pub in Fitzrovia which is available free in the latest issue of Fitzrovia News. The guide contains a brief history of each pub thoroughly researched by Mike himself. Each Tuesday on our website we will feature a single pub from the guide for the next 46 weeks.
Please consider making a donation to Fitzrovia News and our charity.
Six days of the crawl
Part 1: Pubs 1 to 8: Meet 7pm Monday, 28 March at the Green Man, 383 Euston Road. The Green Man on Qype and Foursquare
Part 2: Pubs 9 to 16: Meet 7pm Tuesday, 29 March at the Kings Arms, 68 Great Titchfield Street. The Kings Arms on Qype and Foursquare.
Part 3: Pubs 17 to 24: Meet 7pm Wednesday, 30 March at the Duke of York, 47 Rathbone Street. The Duke of York on Qype and Foursquare.
Part 4: Pubs 25 to 32: Meet 7pm Thursday, 31 March at the Grafton Arms, 72 Grafton Way. The Grafton Arms on Qype and Foursquare.
Part 5: Pubs 33 to 40: Meet 7pm Friday, 1 April at The Bar @ TCR, 183 Tottenham Court Road. The Bar @ TCR on Qype and Foursquare.
Part 6: Pubs 41 to 46: Meet 1pm Saturday, 2 April at the Fitzroy Tavern, 16 Charlotte Street. (Please note that today we start at 1pm today not 7pm). The Fitzroy Tavern on Qype and Foursquare.
Full list of pubs on the Fitzrovia Crawl:
1. Green Man, Euston Road (opp Great Portland St station)
2. The Albany, Great Portland St/Euston Road
3. Masons Arms, Devonshire St/Hallam St
4. Stags Head, New Cavendish St/Hallam St
5. Horse & Groom, 128 Great Portland St
6. Yorkshire Grey, Langham St/Middleton Place
7. The George, Great Portland St/Mortimer St
8. The Cock, Great Portland St/Margaret St
9. Kings Arms, Great Titchfield St/Little Riding House St/Wells St
10. Crown & Sceptre, Great Titchfield St/Foley St
11. The Ship, New Cavendish St/Hanson St
12. Green Man, Riding House St/Bourlet Close
13. The Champion, Wells St/Eastcastle St
14. Adam & Eve, Wells St/Adam & Eve Court
15. Blue Posts, Eastcastle St/Newman St
16. Newman Arms, Rathbone St/Newman Passage
17. Duke of York, Rathbone St/Charlotte Place
18. One Tun, 60 Goodge St
19. King & Queen, Cleveland St/Foley St
20. Tower Tavern, Cleveland St/Clipstone St
21. Jet Lag, Cleveland St/Carburton St
22. George & Dragon, Cleveland St/Greenwell St
23. Smugglers Arms, 28 Warren St
24. Prince of Wales Feathers, 8 Warren St
25. Grafton Arms, Grafton Way/Grafton Mews
26. The Lukin, Conway St/Conway Mews
27. Potion, Fitzroy St/Maple St
28. Northumberland Arms, Tottenham Court Rd/Grafton Way
29. The Court, Tottenham Court Rd/Maple St
30. Jeremy Bentham, University St/Huntley St
31. Mortimer Arms, Tottenham Court Rd/Capper St
32. Carpenters Arms, Whitfield St/Howland St
33. The Bar @ TCR, 183 Tottenham Court Rd
34. Marlborough Arms, Torrington Place/Huntley St
35. College Arms, 18 Store St
36. Jack Horner, Tottenham Court Rd/Bayley St
37. Rising Sun, Tottenham Court Rd/Windmill St
38. The Fitzrovia, Goodge St/Whitfield St
39. The Hope, Tottenham St/Whitfield St
40. Northumberland Arms, Goodge St/Charlotte St
41. Fitzroy Tavern, Charlotte St/Windmill St
42. Marquis of Granby, Rathbone St/Percy St
43. The Wheatsheaf, Rathbone Place/Percy Mews
44. Bricklayers Arms, Gresse St/Stephen Mews
45. Bradleys, 42 Hanway St
46. The Tottenham, 6 Oxford St (near Tottenham Court Rd)
Londonist thought our Crawl was the Best Idea For A Mad Pubcrawl Of The Week
Sounds like you will need your drinking hat on for this Fitzrovia crawl! If 8 pubs is a bit much for you (it is for me) check out the Goodge Street Free London Pub crawl on Thelondonpubcrawlco.com webpage. It’s under free crawls. I reckon these guys have picked the best in the area. Check it out http://thelondonpubcrawlco.com/free-pub-crawls/#goodge
Eight pubs too much!? Even though I’m teetotal I’ll be joining the Fitzrovia Crawl with Mike and friends and enjoying what I like to drink. It’s not about getting steamed up but, rather, a social event and urban exploration. Mike likes his beer but he’s also an historian and walking enthusiast and you’ll get to know a lot about the history of Fitzrovia and its pubs as well as enjoy good company.
Londonist also thought our Crawl was pretty, erm, sobering compared to others. “Our efforts seem novice-like compared to the 46-pub Fitzrovia pub crawl” said one commentator and another replied: “That is humbling. And they’ve got a neat hand-drawn map to go with it”, said another. http://londonist.com/2011/03/join-us-on-a-pub-crawl-along-the-east-london-line.php
Linus, assistant editor Fitzrovia News
Just browsing the site after discussing one year since guitarist Diz Disley passed away. I played with Diz in a jazz trio with Wally Fawkes a k a cartoonist Trog. In the 1998 no 80 Fitzrovia News we were both mentioned. I had a band playing in the Green Man pub for 3 years on a Thursday. I was a student at the London Foot Hospital Fitzroy Square for 3 years and still working as a podiatrist today. Ken Colyer , who is the study of the recent excellent biog “Goin Home” by Mike Pointon and Ray Smith, also lived (late 1930s?) in the then decrepit Fitzroy Square house where George Bernard Shaw previously resided. Coincidentally I was a member of Ken’s band in the 70s and 80s. Happy memories of being fortunate to live and study in the area as I was living in the toc h hostel in the square opposite the hospital. Ken Ames