308a. Sun 25/2/18: The Parcel Yard, London

Beer: Butcombe Rare Breed 3.8%; Fullers London Pride 4.1%

A Sunday evening and we find ourselves in Kings Cross, attracted by a tribute to the late Mark E. Smith and The Fall, up the road, U skinny rats. A decision is taken on the train down to try out Fullers' The Parcel Yard and we’re glad we did.

Housed in a curious roof space above the station itself (where throngs of Japanese and Italian fans of H. Potter are queuing to get themselves pictured in front of a sign saying “Platform 9 ¾”…. weird), the pub is made up of a number of large rooms separated by nicely preserved original wooden panels.  High vaulted ceilings and plenty of glass make it a bright, and despite the size, quite a cosy place. Food looked good (didn’t try it, mind) and a very varied range of beers.

Talk was largely centred around the genius of M.E.S. writing and music which made us eager to finish up quick and get to the venue. Will definitely return when we have more time and are next leaving the capitol.

378a Fri 23/3/18: The Parcel Yard, London

Beer: Sierra Nevada 5%

A second visit to The Parcel Yard in recent weeks. This time, I'm on my own, filling before the train home and trying to finish The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler.

The pub's fairly busy with a mixed clientele; some travelers with luggage, a few after work tipplers and a few groups who look like they may have decided to spend a night's social, here at 'The Yard'. Fair play to them; The Parcel Yard is a Fullers pub, so the beer's decent and the decor and atmosphere probably beats the station pubs at St Pancras and Euston. Not a wholly 'essential pub' - the loos are shabby and on this visit, I'm alarmed by a group of lads, one of whom looks particularly psychotic. He's telling his companions they've got to get their stories straight and look out for their mates. In fairness, members of the group don't look like criminal masterminds or heavy duty thugs, but I pick a place to sit some distance from them.