Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Great Northern Railway Tavern Hornsey High St - it's been refurbed.. And is ACE go visit!
I went for a pint at the GNRT last night - mainly cos it was the nearest pub to Hornsey rail station - and it was the most wonderful pub!!!
I've been intrigued for a while due to lovely building and long, rail-related name but wasn't expecting much as it has had a reputation for being an 'old man pub' (no direct offence to old men intended).
It was just stunning and the most wicked pub. There was a fire burning (who'd have thought that would be a welcome sight in MAY, but hey-ho), games, they've got a garden on the go which will be furnished for use when we get a summertime, good choice of lager and none of the nasty crap Fosters/carslberg etc, and a simple menu that looks worth a go though I'll have to eat there another time. They do free gigs, there's wi-fi and the staff were friendly.
When I aske dthe barman explained that the building was refurbed a year ago but that they've only bee running it for the last 2 months. So maybe this is common knowledge but I wanted to make sure becuase the good people of Harringay should be supporting this venture.
Needless to say the building has been beautifually restored, has a glass ceiling to rival the Salisbury, lickable wooden floors and just the right amount of furniture in there to seat lots of people but not overcrowd.
As this weekend is set to be a wash-out, why not go check it out it deserves your custom!
They're on Twitter.
Tags for Forum Posts: choir, great northern railway tavern, pubs
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by cara howard on
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Just wanted to add my support to GNR Tavern. We've been in several times since Tony took over - having never ventured in before, so can only comment on the now.
It's a great space and needs our support. The one thing it has over and above many of the local and Crouch End pubs, is a genuine, friendly welcome.
I'm not an ale drinker, so that wouldn't really affect my choice, but a decent range of wines, good vodka, occasional entertainment and nice bar staff are a must, and it ticks all those boxes for me.
And ladies, don't be put off by all the ale talk, it's not an old man's pub - and without wanting to set the feminist movement back 50 years - the bar staff are very charming and easy on the eye too! So you see, there's something for everyone.
Next test is going with the kids and the beagle...
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Permalink Reply by Just another local on
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I agree with all the positive comments and as always with this forum I choose to accept the minorities nonesense. I popped in with a couple of mates in April and met Tony the barman and was hugely impressed, its always been a wonderful building but to be honest I hadn't been in years. I raved about it to my wife but was shocked to see it closed when I next ventured past and when this happened again I thought it must have gone.
Really pleased to find out that is not the case and will look to make good use of the beer garden over the summer ( I hope).
Shame it can't offer a little of the Tap's range, what a pub that is, but I'm sure it will be far better than usual
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Really great news to hear this after the disappointment of the last couple of years.
Back in the mid 90's we would always end up in 'The Top House' as it was known after a crawl up Turnpike Lane, stopping at Weatherspoons and The White Serpant/Rat and Parrot. Being about the only place that was open late, it would ba absolutely rammed on a Friday/Saturday night. There was the odd occasion when we would leave the pub just as the sun was rising!!
I guess the extended opening hours of other pubs effected business and The Northern entered what we called the 'short change' period. Basically on the few occasions we popped in, you could guarantee to be short-changed! It lost its appeal, and was not particularly welcoming.
The recent refurbishment, and change of clientele seemed a great move, but for some reason the brewery didn't put the right people in charge. We went for lunch (with our young son - how life has changed since the 90's!), and ordered bread and oil starters - the bread was three slices of Sainsburys pre-sliced white bread - the balsamic vinegar was substituted with some kind of sticky drizzle stuff! I tried the pub on three further occasions in the evening with a friend, each time hoping the next time would be better - it wasn't! Poor beer selection; on each of the three occasions I tried to buy either a packet of crisps or peanuts - each time I was told they had just sold the last packet! The landlord seemed more interested in befriending his barstaff than running a pub.
So to hear there's a new landlord with a passion for this pub is such great news - we always said if we won the lottery, we would buy this pub - the potential is immense, and it sounds like Tony is the right man to bring it back to its former heydays (I think i'll give the leaving as the sunrises a miss though!).
I shall be in Saturday night, and look forward to being a much more frequent visitor for ales in the evening, and telling my 4 year old about the great days in the Northern over a Sunday lunch.
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Permalink Reply by Julia Richards-Davies on
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It is a wonderful pub, and has been terribly let down in the past through bad management and poor funding.
However, to hear Tony explain that it is really quiet mid-week and if only more locals would use it really jars, as it WAS being used, every Thursday by a 40-strong LOCAL choir. However, Tony in his wisdom gave us two days' notice, after eight years of us supporting the pub. Sure, over time he may have needed the space and we may have had to move on but to now see it sitting empty of a Thursday instead, as he complains about it not being used is very frustrating. Maybe if he'd supported the local groups that were already using it, perhaps by encouraging us to eat with loyalty offer or discussing ways forward there might indeed be more loyalty. However anyone who has been loyal to the Tophouse over the years was unceromoniously booted out with no debate, slated on websites and generally dismissed as useless gives the new management a bad taste. Combined with the hateful Punch Taverns banner, this may count a long way to the fact that only newcomers are beginning to speak favourably of the place, and the previous users are staying away.
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Interesting to hear some views from the other side.
I popped in Saturday, and must admit I left feeling somewhat disappointed. It just seems like the character of the old Northern has been ripped out and replaced with just another gastro-pub, where two pints and two packets of wasabi nuts leaves you with very little change from £10.
One of the reasons I have always loved this pub is that it was what I always regarded as a 'proper pub' - completely lacking in pretentiousness. It seems to be heading completely the opposite way now - staff wearing co-ordinated 'Keep Calm in Crouch End' T-shirts, with tea towels hanging through their belt-hoops. (Landlord says he is local, but obviously not lacal enough to recognise the difference between Hornsey and Crouch End!)
I'm sure a success can be made of the Northern, and many people will love it, but I tend to agree with Julie, as someone who remembers how it used to be - it's just not the same.
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Permalink Reply by oli haill on
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You can't have everything! While anonymous gastropub-style interior touches and pricing are slightly offputting, it sounds better than it's been in recent years and the building still has lots of the architectural features that makes it special. The pricing is predictable for the area - I suppose if you're gonna make it work you've got to appeal to the middle class masses as the previous approach wasn't working.
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Permalink Reply by Ruth on
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I think it's people that make atmosphere and ambience and it will take time to build something up that more people can warm to. I bet the Salisbury when it was first opened after clearing about the criminals years ago had to start all over. Some locals may return and find their space and be allowed to have their space and new people may come and go. I think it really is a matter of time and also what people want to make of this venue. I;m sorry the choir were told to go and hope that there will be a more welcoming approach for community groups.
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As I've said previously, I'd never been in it until recently having thought it a bit of an old man's pub. It has a lot of original features and is still a beautiful space.
Given it's past and the many unsuccessful attempts at making it work, the difficulty for Tony, or anyone else taking it on is in trying to do something a bit different to break the curse, so appealing to a different demographic could work.
We like it because it doesn't have a pretentious crowd like some of the try hard pubs in the area (or the opposite end of the scale - Weatherspoons gyro cashers...) and you can have a conversation with the people you are with without having to shout over the music (a common problem). We haven't tried the food yet, but plan to as the prices don't seem outrageous and it sounds like good hearty pub food with a focus on quality.
These are all things we used to like about the Maynard, which is still a nice pub that ticks a lot of these boxes a) it's much further out for us now and b) since their refurb the food has taken an altogether pricier and poncy turn for the worst.
I agree with Ruth that atmosphere is about the people and it will take time for the GNRT to find where it sits in terms of who those people are.
Time will tell, but as with all local businesses, it's what we all make it.
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Where to start....
Ok NOOTS, we all had a chat about your 'TopShop' comment and as it turns out, we all agree with you. Anything 'poppy' has been removed from the playlist. I'm sure you'll be happy with what we have done.
JULIA RICHARDS, I'd like to fill you in on a few points as I'm not sure you know all of the facts as far as the choir are concerned.
* The decision to remove choir practice from the agenda was taken TWO months before I joined the company. By the big cheese, not me. Making me a scapegoat isn't very fair.
* It was the job of the old management team to break the news to you but they were too scared of the backlash.
* During the last year or two, at BEST... the pub was taking £300 under what was needed to break even on choir nights.
* We received more complaints than compliments about the choir from people who wanted to spend money. Most common complaint was that it was too intimidating to get to the toilets, especially mid-song.
* I offered the choir a less high profile night, but was turned down flat.
* I called at least 20 other venues in trying to help re-locate you. Nobody was interested sadly.
* If I had a function room that didn't block the toilets there wouldn't of been a problem, at all!
* The pub is only quiet on monday and tuesday evenings, but not for long. Every other evening is busy.
* Many of your members still come to the pub and are not only very apologetic for the bitterness but also very impressed by the changes we have made.
I understand that after 8 years of frequenting the business you must feel a little let down by being evicted from practice nights, but please understand I have been given a 6 month task of turning this business around before it is sold on to developers like others recently in the area much to the disappointment of local people. It’s a simple numbers game and they weren’t adding up. That’s all.
When I was a little boy, my grandfather took me to a pub that allowed children, every saturday night. There were 10p-a-go games machines, a pool table, darts and a family room. We always got chips smothered in vinegar on the way home. The best days of my life. One day my dad told me I couldn't go to said pub anymore as it had been taken over by new management and kids weren't allowed, man I cried like a baby. It wasn't the pub I'd miss, but the old times. Granddad telling me stories about how he fought in war and introducing me to his friends daughters I'd go off and play kiss chase with.... My friends all went there when they turned 18 but I refused. I cut my nose off to spite my face, and I missed out on some good times!
The point is I fully understand that as far as pubs, clubs, breweries etc are concerned, people get romantic about memories. But times change, and people have to follow suit. There are many people out there there that think this place should go back to being 'a proper boozer'..... a time when the men drank on bar stools till the end of the illegal lock-in, you'd feel your feet sticking to the carpets as you made your way to the toilets, horse racing was always on the TV and food was simple, but cheap. I understand this, but this approach has been tried, many times, and it has failed. The pub has to move forward, if it doesn't, it will close, forever. These may of been happy memories for many, but the pub was considered 'rough'. There were gang fights, stabbings, CS canister attacks and a guy died from an overdose in the toilets. Women would seldom come here, and kids weren't permitted.
So with that in mind, I'd like to address DOUG. If you think that the pub has lost it's character then there isn't much I can do to change your mind. The refurbishment has been very considerate to the original features. I have removed the Fosters and football approach not because I'm pretentious, but because it may be the only way to keep this place going. Our pricing structure is actually considered by many to be one of the cheapest around, bar Wetherspoons and the Hornsey Tavern, I often have a pint in both. Wearing T-shirts that say Keep 'Calm in Crouch End' isn't us trying to be Crouch End.... a guy that comes here on a regular basis bought them for us and asked us to try them on, that's all. We always wear our own clothes so as not to appear too branded.
I am here to stay, and negative comments will not put me off my goal, which is trying to save this pub from extinction the only way I know how.... Proper food, proper well kept beer and proper service. The fact that I have a stunning environment in which to do this is a bonus. You can't please everyone, but i'll sure give it a good go!
Tony Lennon
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Thanks for all that Tony. I really hope your succeed, we need to keep such pubs going but without all that crime and nastiness. Things do change and times too but we have lost so many pubs already and it is heartening to see one that is good hands. It is hard, impossible, pleasing everyone but I bet there would be a real outcry if the pub went the same way as so many others.
So, we need to use it or use it and work with you as far as possible.
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