Walking the River Pinn

The river Pinn runs from Pinner to the Grand Union Canal at Cowley, 12 miles in all. Pinner is classic 'Metroland', a sterile suburban high street and an old village green, church and a couple of 17th C. pubs.

The route from there runs through an amazingly long stretch of interlinked playing fields, meadows and woodland. Parts of the walk are very badly signposted and there are two major diversions, RAF Hillingdon and Brunel University.

We stopped for a pint at the Red Lion Hotel, a splendid looking Fullers pub overlooking Hillingdon Hill. Not a great selection of beers on offer, in fact one of the worst selections i've seen in a while, Carling, Stella, Strongbow, Guinness and three real ales! but then maybe i've been spoiled?

And then on to the finish at Cowley, according to most of the posts on BITE, a chav lager drinking paradise! didn't hang around to find out, got the train to Paddington and had a cheap pint in 'Cads', all the pints are 1.90!!!

Piss Poor Pints in Paddington!

The pubs just off Praed Street in Paddington are a strange brew! Maybe its because of their proximity to the railway station that makes them on the whole, characterless, soulless and bland.
The first, the 'Rob Roy', as you may have guessed a scottish theme pub, was virtually empty at 5.30pm on a Friday. I had a pint of Holsten Export which tasted slightly sour, the barman replaced it with another that tasted slightly better but I ended up leaving half of it and moving on.
The next one was 'The Sir Alexander Fleming', full off white van drivers and staff from the nearby hospital. Ordered a pint of Grolsch which was flat, asked the barmaid to top it up or replace it and she replied "it's my first day, what do you expect". Drank up and left.
Lastly, visted the 'Fountains Abbey', another characterless pub serving bad beer. The only interesting thing about this pub is the lovely green tiled victorian fireplace.
I've heard that the 'Royal Exchange' on Sale Place is a gem of a place, must try.