Ye Olde London, 42 Ludgate Hill

Ye Olde London, 42 Ludgate Hill, EC4M 7DE

This one has now returned to its former name following a brief stint as an Eerie pub (The Bell Book and Candle). The disembodied moaning noise that used to emanate from the gents has gone and only the gravestones in the small beer garden remain as a reminder of its spooky days. They have even spoilt all the fun by putting up signs on the doors for the gents and ladies toilets, bringing to an end the hilarity of pushing against the fake bookcase with one hand whilst clutching your bladder with the other. Now it’s a case of out with the old and in with the older. As pubs go its nothing special. Its decorated with the same fake old pub paraphernalia and ubiquitous red patterned carpet that the tourists from nearby St Paul’s find irresistible. I liked it better when it was ‘eerie’.

Reviewed by Paul Melton, Oct 2006

Telephone: 020 7248 1852

Nearby pubs: The Cockpit, 7 St. Andrews Hill (140 metres), Rising Sun, 61 Carter Lane (110 metres), Ryans Bar, 56 Carter Lane (70 metres), The Paternoster, 2-4 Queens Head Passage, Paternoster Square (190 metres)

Nearest station: City Thameslink, Zone 1 (130 metres)