Comments on: The FT Top 25 Pubs of the 00s No 4: The Calthorpe Arms https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms Lollards in the high church of low culture Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:53:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 By: Steve Mannion https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-708600 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:53:13 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-708600 Never noticed a smell like that whenever I’ve been there, as skanky as the toilets may be (far from the worst in town tho).

I still think the food quality/value ratio is this pub’s greatest attribute. They served me a massive lamb and apricot pie once, at 9.30pm of all times.

I was told that many a Welshperson from over the road would gather there for a big singalong on Tuesday nights too but never caught this.

]]>
By: Pete Baran https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-708597 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:29:41 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-708597 When did you last go there vickim57, as the toilets have been substantially refurbed and are actually some of the best in London now!

]]>
By: vickim57 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-708595 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:23:51 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-708595 Of all the London pubs that smell of wee, this one is one of the worst, in my opinion. Whereas in the old days – a couple of years ago – I used to enjoy going there, now I tell people to steer clear. It’s entirely the wee smell that puts me off. That’s how bad it is. If they could fix that I would go back, because it is a nice, relaxed place.

One feature that people haven’t mentioned is the occasional Welsh male voice choir moment, as people come from the Welsh Centre over the road for a drink, and sometimes burst into song. That could be a deal breaker/maker for some.

]]>
By: Tom https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-702053 Thu, 27 May 2010 15:29:57 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-702053 Yes I always feel I’ve earned my pint when it’s at the Calthorpe, earned in a rather pathetic “put one foot in front of another” sense I grant you.

#6 I am still always surprised by this!! It’s like Tangrams or something – b-but they’re in DIFFERENT BITS oh wait.

]]>
By: Pete Baran https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-702050 Thu, 27 May 2010 15:24:50 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-702050 Which may explain why I like the Pakenham a little bit more, as it is two minutes further away and I work a little closer to the Calthorpe than Kat. (Actually at the moment, I work a lot closer to both than I did – I can get to the Calthorpe in about six minutes from here. Now there’s an idea!)

]]>
By: Elisha Sessions https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-702048 Thu, 27 May 2010 15:15:52 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-702048 The last time I was at the Calthorpe was in fact with Kat, and indeed we did walk ca. 25 minutes to get there despite not having come from Kat’s office! If a proper walk is the commonest preamble to a Calthorpe pint it may explain why there is just something so mysteriously refreshing about the beers there.

]]>
By: rosie https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701896 Wed, 26 May 2010 20:35:14 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701896 Grays Inn Road, yes? Didn’t know it in the 00s. Knew it and loved it in the 80s, one of the best inner-ish London pubs to know.

]]>
By: marna https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701854 Wed, 26 May 2010 16:35:39 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701854 My beef with the toilets was always not the grimness of them, exactly, but the gentle seeping of stale wee smell out and towards my table.

]]>
By: srh logged out https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701831 Wed, 26 May 2010 14:30:56 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701831 TBH I do not get the mankiness of the toilets as being such an awful issue? They’re OK? Perhaps it has been out of bog roll occasionally, well so have plenty of places – it’s definitely not the norm. They are definitely not worse than any university loo, they are better than loos in other much loved pubs e.g Lord John Russell, Pillars of Hercules, the Imperial up nine billion bl00dy flights of bl00dy stairs…

]]>
By: a tanned rested and unlogged lørd sükråt wötsît https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701791 Wed, 26 May 2010 12:00:16 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701791 I note with distaste that the Calthorpe has no BUSH hanging up outside, unlike actual real proper hostelries of yore.

]]>
By: Kat but logged out innit https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701790 Wed, 26 May 2010 11:59:27 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701790 I love the Calthorpe – the fact that it’s a good 25 mins walk from the office is a PLUS point when there’s a lovely pint of Ordinary that you have EARNED waiting for you at the end. There’s always somewhere to sit and the staff & clientele are friendly (to the point of helping out on a random query as to who won Eurovision the year after Lordi <– check out my topical anecdote woohoo).

]]>
By: Hazel https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701787 Wed, 26 May 2010 11:46:37 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701787 I have been thinking about this and it’s occurred to me the Calthorpe is a proper aesthetic divider; I actually like my pubs cramped into old buildings, with comfortably divided areas and snugs in which to embed oneself to ensure a cosy descent into ruin, which I think almost certainly is me being a Hobbit but isn’t an uncommon opinion. This is partly because I consider the ideal number of people at a pub gathering to be no more than five and the best number to be three but the Calthorpe felt echo-ey and self-consciously unbusy, not in the sense of a lack of patrons but in the sense of too much space. My rabid affection for the Carpenters Arms, against all apparent logic, is probably the sort of thing a lot of people who like the Calthorpe would find utterly appalling.

The things I’m not willing to forgive the Calthorpe for are probably largely things other people think are great, utter menkiness of the loos aside. I’m not quite in the ‘MUST HAVE FARM MACHINERY ON THE CEILING’ league of pub rockism (although bonus points if it has farm machinery on the ceiling, obv) but somewhere as open/harshly lit/uncluttered as the Calthorpe may feel lovely to some people, where it unnerves me. Rather than feeling unpretentious, it makes me feel very exposed and as though I’m under scrutiny, well out of my comfort zone.

]]>
By: CarsmileSteve https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701784 Wed, 26 May 2010 11:30:54 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701784 (thank you formatting fairies)

the lamb can feel a bit up its own snobscreen (less so these days i think, and it was the quietest i’ve ever seen it last night), and the packenham has maybe had one restyling too many, although, of the three it’s the most interesting for beer.

it took me aaaaaages to work out how that bit of east bloomsbury (west clerkenwell? south kings cross?) fitted together so for a while i didn’t realise the closeness of the three pubs and still don’t automatically connect them in my head…

]]>
By: Matt DC https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701782 Wed, 26 May 2010 11:23:08 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701782 It’s not that far from King’s Cross either but the walk is a bit grim. Approaching it from Chancery Lane or Russell Square is a delight though.

]]>
By: Matt DC https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701781 Wed, 26 May 2010 11:21:14 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701781 The Lamb is better than the Calthorpe but it can be uncomfortingly rammed. The Calthorpe can get rammed as well but you’re safe in the knowledge it’ll empty out a bit by 7.30. Also it does a cracking roast.

I have never known it to be cold, it always feels cosy and comfortable to me as long as you don’t sit near the door and the upstairs can be tremendous for big gatherings. The toilets were absolutely bogging but since refurbishment they are fine.

]]>
By: Pete https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701777 Wed, 26 May 2010 10:47:47 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701777 My relationship with the Calthorpe is one of approval tempered with the knowledge that its ordinariness really should not make it exceptional. As someone who rarely eats in the pub I cannot really comment on the food, but I have generally had a nice time there. Perhaps my view is also skewed a touch by it being a pub which made me miss a flight.

BUT – here is my BUT with the Calthorpe. I think the Pakenham is a better pub and it is two minutes away. I also think the Lamb is on the whole a better pub and it is three minutes away. Both of those can be packed or overly sporty in the way the Calthorpe can’t, but this drags it down in my opinion.

]]>
By: Katie, logged out https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701774 Wed, 26 May 2010 10:30:33 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701774 Awww, I’m firmly on the side of the Calthorpe-lovers, if for no other reason than that the telly in there is small and unintrusive, and the foopball-watchers of a Sunday afternoon are usually non-rowdy old giffers who are delighted that you support SPURS and will reminisce with you about the good old days in N22 etc etc etc :)

]]>
By: Hazel https://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/05/the-ft-top-25-pubs-of-the-00s-no-4-the-calthorpe-arms/comment-page-1#comment-701772 Wed, 26 May 2010 10:19:39 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18827#comment-701772 Blimes, say what you really think, self. I almost feel a bit bad.

(Also! There are lots of pubs I like! I just haven’t written about any of them! I am not a pub-hata, for the record)

]]>