The Gloucester, 61 Leighton Road

Thankfully now under new management, this pub has metamorphosed into a great local. The vast beer garden (by London standards) remains and the interior has been cleaned-up but to all intents and purposes the appearance has hardly changed in the five years since we last reviewed it. The changes that have occurred here are invisible yet significant. The locals still apparently drink here, possibly in even greater numbers than before thanks to the conviviality of the new management. Newcomers are made welcome even if they happen to be "closet goths". Forget the overpriced beer and dinky clientele at the nearby Assembly Rooms, there is much more fun to be had here. The beer garden has to be seen to be believed. A beautiful, if slightly faded, mural decorates the walls surrounding the garden. In contrast, the drab tobacco stained interior is typical of many a pub. The blandness is interrupted by a small stage in the back room which has no doubt been the focus of much alchohol fuelled gaelic "entertainment". The Irish landlord is utterly incomprehensible. The only word I could understand was f**k, which he used with alarming regularity. It is a habit which seems to have scared off most of the punters.

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