It was a sunny lazy weekday and what better to do than a walk through the countryside and visiting some pubs. I set off for my walk from Gordon Hill Station and walked through some housing before hitting hilly fields. The name gives away what the terrain is like. There are some steep paths which are rewarded with downhill slopes. At the far end of Hilly Fields on Clay Hill you arrive out onto a busy road, upon which resides the Rose & Crown (EN2 9AJ). The pub itself is the whole set of buildings in front of you and you have a choice of entering from the road and walking through a beautiful wood seating area with natural beams or going round to the car park in the rear and entering directly into the open bar area. No guessing which is the preferred route.
The pubs interior bends and curves following the movement of the oak beams. There is an upstairs area as well to this pub which looks just as beautiful as the downstairs. The whole pub is full of table seating and setup for dinning. The only area that isn't setup with tables and is very open plan and plain is the bar. To be honest the bar area is a let down compared to the rest of the pub, but the rest of the pub could still do with a bit of tlc to bring it back to its full glory. The pub was empty apart from in the bar area where there were some dog walkers and lads off early from work. On the bar there was an offering of Amstel, 1664, Guinness, Heineken, Strongbow and Birra Moretti. There were also two hand pumps dispensing Pride and Abbot. I instead look into the fridge where there were a small selection of ciders and some bottled ales. I picked a bottle of Theakston XB for £4.50. I actually don't remember having XB before though have seen it around quite a bit in shops so I was pleasantly surprised at the lovely malty taste of the beer.
Whilst sipping my beer and looking around the pub my mind did turn to the history of the building. The pub was built in 1700 and is famous for two things. The first being that it was at one stage owned by the Aunt and Uncle of Dick Turpin. But the other claim to fame is that one of the cottages the pub has extended into was a safe house used by Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators in their plan to blow up the House of Parliament. No doubt this pub being next door, Guy Fawkes may have even drunk in the premises. I finished up my excellent XB and made my way out the bar entrance of the pub, into the car park. There is a playground situated out here to keep the kids entertained during the better weather.
I now set off across Whitewebbs. The sun had come out and the walk through the open fields and then the woodland was beautiful. I stuck to the paths as the trails were muddy. Not many other walkers were out which gave me the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings. The walk to my next stop was around 1 mile and not as hilly, so much easier than the first leg. My next stop was the King and Tinker (EN2 9HJ).
The pub is on a quite busy country road and has a large car park, beer garden and children's play area outside. The pub looks like a very large country pub from the outside though perhaps needing some repairs. Upon walking in through the latched door though you see how well maintained the interior is. You walk through the small porch area and straight into the bar. To the left is a raised snug area with sofa's, a fire, tv and a carpet. To your right are some tables, with one reserved for dog walkers. Beyond this and up a step is a further room with 10 tables which is geared towards dinning.
Hanging all above the bar, from the wood beam ceiling, are drinking jugs in a variety of styles. There are jugs with destinations on them, others shaped like creatures and some just standard branded jugs. On the bar there were 5 hand pumps with 4 currently on, which were: Greene King IPA, Tribute, Wainwrights and Hobgoblin. The keg offering was Carlsberg, Fosters, John Smith, Stella, Aspall's Suffolk, Thatchers Gold, Strongbow Cloudy and Guinness. I went for a pint of the Wainwright's which actually tasted quite watery. I took a seat on the sofa facing the TV which was playing an old black and white movie (though I was unable to make out what). There were 6 older fellas in the bar around 40-50 who were chatting and having a bit of banter with each other. One of the fellas turned out to be the landlord and the girl serving behind the bar was his daughter.
The walk was on a path alongside the road and actually took me past the Tottenham training ground in Bulls Cross. You arrive back into a residential area and opposite a green is the Pied Bull. Again this is a building with character showing its age. The outside area is a bar garden with lots of benches and round the rear is the car park. I struggled to work out where the entrance was but turns out any of the doors I did look at would have led me in. The pub has a low roof in places due to the wood beams (I'm 5'8 and my head was brushing along parts of the ceiling). The floor looks like it was a wood floor which had been varnished previously but through the years the varnish has worn off but also made it difficult to see the actual wood flooring. The pub was split into multiple sections with two front bar areas and a rear bar leading into the car park. The sun was pouring through into the rear and was quite bright, which instantly made my decision to remain in the slightly dimmer front, all the more easier. The front of the bar is a cream white wood panel, with a mahogany wood top. On the walls the cream panels were on the upper half with a painted lower half
The pub is a Greene King so it was no surprise to see Greene King IPA. On the other three taps were Grand Slam, Splendid Tackle and Pied Bull. The Pied Bull appears to just be Greene King house ale packaged up. On keg the options were Peroni, Stella, Fosters, Estrella, Aspalls and Guinness. I selected a pint of the Splendid Tackle by Skinner's for £4.50. The beer was usual fare from Skinner's, middle of the road.
In the pub there were around 14 people, with an even mix of Women and Men, with the average age being 40+. I sat down near the bar and got speaking with some of the locals. We discussed some of the pubs I went to earlier and some of the pubs that used to exist in the area. I enjoyed my chat so stayed on for another beer, though this time went for the Stella. During the course of this pint the sun set and by the time I walked to the bus stop to return back to Enfield Town it had gotten dark and cold.The day had been enjoyable, though not much of a challenging walk it was more to reach some of the more countryside pubs in the boundaries of the M25 and London. The pubs were a pleasant mix and all ones I would visit again.
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