A pub at hand

I’ve popped in three times since Saturday to the Friend at Hand just off Russell Square in Bloomsbury (it’s been a busy week). The Young’s bitter has been good and not too expensive for central London. But before this becomes a habit, I’ve no plans to be back in the area until the New Year. Shame.

The Betjeman Arms in the restored St Pancras station has become my usual regular in this area. Appropriately, since Betjeman visited Cornwall and is buried there in St Enedoc’s church, there’s always a Sharp’s from Rock available. This is is an expensive gastro-pub, but it always has a pleasant buzz and was fun tonight with Arsenal fans gathering before the Champions League fixture. We have Betjeman to thank in large part for the survival of St Pancras station and the rehabilitation of this style of high Victorian architecture.