CAMRA GREATER LONDON PUB OF THE YEAR 2010

THE HARP, COVENT GARDEN, IS CHAMPION LONDON PUB
— AND NOW JUDGED THE TOP PUB IN THE UK —

(pictures by our webmaster, Mike Flynn - click on any photo for a larger version or see them all on Flickr.com).

After a very close vote the winner of the prestigious CAMRA Greater London Pub of the Year for 2010 is the HARP in Covent Garden, the West London CAMRA Pub of the Year.

This popular Free House is at 47 Chandos Place, WC2N 4HS, directly opposite Charing Cross Police Station.

For the second year in succession the winning pub’s licensee is a woman, the Harp’s landlady is Bridget ‘Binnie’ Walsh.

Binnie, together with Sarah and the rest of the helpful and knowledgeable staff always ensure a warm welcome for all.

The HARP stocks eight Real Ales including regulars from Sambrook’s, Dark Star and Harvey’s as well as several real ciders & perries. For the very latest news on available beers see the HARP’s twitter feed twitter.com/harppub.

The pub is well known for its sausages, which vary daily but include some rare flavours alongside the more usual fare.

The official presentation of the awards for both CAMRA Greater London Pub of the Year and West London CAMRA Pub of the Year was on Thursday 23 September. The pub was packed with regulars and CAMRA members celebrating the award.[photos]

The pub’s website is www.harpcoventgarden.com.

The sixteen CAMRA Regional Pubs of the Year are entered for the CAMRA National Pub of the Year 2010 award.

The HARP has now triumphed again and has been judged Britain’s Best Pub. This is a first for a London pub. The other three finalists were THE TAPS, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire; The BEACON HOTEL, Sedgley, Dudley (the home of Sarah Hughes ales) and the SALUTATION, Ham, Berkeley, Gloucestershire. The final result will be known in February 2011.

CAMRA pubs director Julian Hough said:

The final four are the best of the very best and have been judged on their quality many times by branch members and regional directors. Pubs are judged in a number of areas which include customer service, decor, clientele, value and, of course, their beer and cider.

The second placed pub in the CAMRA Greater London Regional Pub of the Year was the The Olde Mitre, 1 Ely Court, Ely Place EC1N 6SJ in Holborn which is down an alleyway off Hatton Garden near Chancery Lane tube station. As this is a Fuller’s tied house it was an exceptional achievement for the pub to do so well.

There were twelve pubs in the running altogether. The winning pub is selected from each of the Greater London CAMRA branches local Pubs of the Year. The twelve finalists are listed below alphabetically by branch.