Part 2 - South Hackney to Walthamstow
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| Hackney Central - View from top deck of 55 bus |
As well as visiting Signature Brew for their 5th birthday party, my tap
room trail on Saturday 29 October, 2016, included Redchurch Brewery,
Forest Road Brewing Co, Wild Card Brewery and Pillars Brewery.
After leaving Forest Road Brewing Co (see Part 1) it was soon possible to ride northwards on the top deck of a 55 bus with destination Leyton (Bakers Arms).
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| Clapton Pond |
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| Madina Mosque Trust (Clapton) |
Once past Hackney Central station, the bus continues to Clapton Pond and passes the Clapton Madina Mosque at Lea Bridge roundabout before following the Lea Bridge Road over the river Lea.
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| River Lea, Lea Bridge Road |
At the Markhouse Road stop, I got off the bus at the junction and
walked southwards down Church Road, past the closed Antelope pub and
then right into Wiseman Road.
Signature Brew
Now I could see the
Signature Brew 5th birthday party throng inside Leyton Business Centre. Signature Brew started brewing collaboration beers for musicians in 2011. After crowdfunding, Signature Brew were able to establish a 10 barrel brewery here in 2015. This party was a (free) ticketed event and after giving my name at the gate I went straight to the outside bar.
As well as keg beers, there was a good choice of cask ales on stillage including some guest beers, all at £4 pint. I chose a half pint of Signature Pale, the brewery's flagship beer. Now tt was possible to wander around the temporarily expanded area with my plastic glass.
It was bad timing for catching any music from the high stage - stage diving not recommended!
I ventured inside the brewery itself and went upstairs to the 'Backstage Bar' which has a window looking down at the mash tun.
Only Signature brew keg beers were served here and I chose a half pint of Roadie 'all-night' Session IPA (4.3% ABV) which won Gold in the Small Pack Standard Bitters & Pale Ales category of
SIBA's South East Independent Beer Awards 2016.
A variety of rock memorabilia items adorned the walls of the bar which is lit by overhead lamps. Half casks, painted white inside, form repurposed lamp shades.
Hourly brewery tours were offered during the afternoon and looking down from the bar window I could observe one in progress, led by Tibor.
The
Earl's Serious Sandwiching food truck was doing a good trade just outside the brewery. Thanks to Signature Brew for laying on this party. I look forward to next year's!
Returning to Church Road, you can catch a 58 bus back to Lea Bridge Road and on to Walthamstow Bus Station. From there walk or transfer onto a small
W12 bus towards Woodbine Place (Wanstead). In this direction, the bus is able to drive down the restricted one way part of Orford Road which
passes Walthamstow village shops and pubs. Soon afterwards I rang the
bell to get off in Addison Road.
Turning left into Shernhall Street you soon reach the entrance to Ravenswood Industrial Estate and a sign for Wild Card Brewery at the gateway.
In the main section of the estate you will find
Mother's Ruin Gin Palace (the blue building on the right), Chris Bracey's
God's Own Junkyard with a huge selection of retro signs including many colourful neon signs (further up on the right), Pillars Brewery (the green building on the left) and Wild Card Brewery (further up and around the corner to the left).
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| www.godsownjunkyard.co.uk |
I had time for a quick browse inside the neon wonderland that is God's Own Junkyard. There is a cafe inside with coffee, cakes and seating.
Wild Card Brewery
Wild Card Brewery is obviously a popular destination as the benches and tables outside the brewery were full of people with beers from the brewery or pizzas from the gazebo set up just outside.
Inside the layout is informal with a simple bar at the far end and an area for DJs in another corner. The stylish Wild Card t-shirts and take away Wild Card bottles are on sale.
The brewery vessels can be viewed at the near end of the building.
Beers are reasonably priced with Wild Card cask ales £3.30 pint and keg beers £4.00 pint. Guest beers are £3.80 pint cask and £4.80 pint keg. There were four handpumps for cask ales and my choice was a half pint of Sir Thomas Gardyner - a session IPA by
Brick Brewery and named after a 17th century Peckham orchard owner. Fortunately, I was able to find a place at the end of a bench on one of the shared tables outside and watch as more people arrived from a side gate leading to Summit Road.
Pillars Brewery
Sat 29th October, 2016, was the second day of taproom opening for
Pillars Brewery, previously named Four Pillars Brewery.
Inside, the blackboard over the bar lists only lagers, including Untraditional Lager, a 4.5% ABV session IPL, which was my choice (£2 for 1/2 pint). It seems likely that Pillars Pilsner (4.5% ABV) or Amarillo Fest (5.6% ABV Oktoberfest lager) would have tasted better to me on this occasion.
The branded pint glasses were used for serving pint and half pint measures. The tap room was busy and my glass must have just come out of the dishwasher but the cold lager soon chilled the warm glass.
From a stool at the end of a narrow metal table, I was able to observe the recently painted decor of the main seating area with emphasis on the word 'Untraditional' picked out in orange and aqua letters against a dark blue background. There was music playing but it didn't sound very clear in this room.
After looking around, the reason for the poor sound quality became obvious. There are brewery vessels separating the main bar area from a second area on the other side with DJ equipment and futher seating which is where the music was coming from.
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| Pillars Brewery - DJ area and additional seating at rear |
The
Simatec brewery equipment, manufactured in Vaie, west of Turin, looked new and impressive with various accessories and controls.
For the shortest walk back to Walthamstow Central, I left the estate by the side gate leading to Summit Road and then turned right along Orford Road passing The Nags Head.
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| The Nags Head, 9 Orford Road |
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| The Ancient House |
A little further along at the Church Road junction, it was a pleasant surprise to find The Ancient House, one of several preserved buildings in the
Walthamstow Village Conservation Area.
Church Path is a pedestrian link from Church Lane to St Mary Road which passes behind
Vestry House Museum.
With time to spare I turned south into West Avenue when some street art caught my eye. Subsequent research shows that 'Not all those who wonder are lost' is a work by Lilly Lou and part of a '
Paint Your London' festival. On reaching Orford Road, I turned left and headed back to the Walthamstow village shops seen earlier from the W12 bus.
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| The Queen's Arms on left side of Orford Road |
There was time for a final drink in Walthamstow but neither the
Queen's Arms
or
The Village Pub in Orford Road had the beer I was looking for.
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| Sign to The Castle, Eden Road, Walthamstow Village |
Instead I followed a sign at the junction with Eden Road pointing south to
The Castle.
The walk had been worth it as I was able to enjoy a half pint of Hackney Brewery American Pale Ale in pleasant surroundings.
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| St Mary Road - Street Art by local artist, Mark McClure |
On the way back to Walthamstow Central (Victoria Line) I stopped to get a photo of another piece of street art from the 'Paint Your London' scheme at St Mary Road, approaching the junction with Hoe Street.
With four pubs in Walthamstow Village and the two brewery taprooms at the nearby Ravenswood Industrial Estate, all within easy walking distance, there would seem to be the makings of a good trail, just within this interesting conservation area, for another occasion.
Brodie's Brewery
If the Signature Brew 'Backstage Bar' is not open, an alternative brewery tap room trail would be to substitute it with the
King William IV, 816 High Road, next to
Brodie's Brewery in Leyton. The pub is open daily from 11am (noon on Sundays) and serves the largest range of Brodie's beers.
Note that bus
W16 (towards Chingford Mount) stops on Lea Bridge Road nearby and also stops on Shernall Street (Addison Road stop) conveniently for Wild Card & Pillar Breweries in Ravenswood Industrial Estate.
