Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
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boakandbailey.bsky.social
Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray)
@boakandbailey.bsky.social
2.4K followers 450 following 1.9K posts
In Bristol. Beer blogging in the UK since 2007. Also wrote some books about beer and pubs. Header image shows a detail from the cover of one. Won't repost if you don't use alt text. Find us at boakandbailey.com
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boakandbailey.bsky.social
The Princess Alexandra, Canning Town – a post-war Courage pub with some original features.
The gable end of a modernist pub that looks a bit like a normal house. The sign says The Alex. A gilded cockerel, the logo of Courage brewery, on a window. A sign on a door, in serif lettering: Town Bar.
November 17, 2025 at 7:10 AM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
We should go to the pub next to the Fuller's brewery, we said. That'll have a good vibe at knocking off time on Friday afternoon. Sure enough, the bar is lined with lads in Asahi fleeces affectionately bantering. Pride is (Klaxon) drinking well.
A portrait the late Her Majesty the Queen on the wall of a pub.
November 14, 2025 at 5:11 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Ian Nairn has drawn us to The Three Kings, a chain pub in Earl's Court: “It would need a firm resolution to resist the call of the entrance in North End Road... A splendid volute, all wood and glass, draws you into the recesses...”
A splendid volute entrance to a pub. Curved glass that looks like Captain Nemo's submarine. The interior of the pub with the curving volute entrance.
November 14, 2025 at 1:53 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Every Pub in Bristol number 318: The Den & Terrace, off Whiteladies Road. We've never even noticed this one before but it's been here for years and in this guise since about 2021. Studenty basement bar with garden.
The interior of a bar with board games, photo wall and various coloured lights.
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Incredibly perfect Bass at The Star in Bath. But, pubs, we know you wanted to wait until November, but it is time to crack and light the cosy open fires you keep boasting about.
A pint of bass on a round pub table with a red leather top.
October 26, 2025 at 12:47 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Every pub in Bristol number 317: The Greyhound, Fishponds – newly reopened; young crowd. 🍺🍻
The bright green and dark red exterior of a Victorian pub with the name painted above the door. A glass of Schlenkerla Rauchbier with a bottle next to it.
October 18, 2025 at 4:16 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Progress is being made at Bristol's newest brewery. A bit of Gill Sans, perhaps hinting at a traditionalist streak..?
A sign for Unwin’s Brewery above an industrial unit in a railway arch.
October 16, 2025 at 10:15 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
A new Geoffrey Fletcher book has been added to our collection – ‘London’s River’ from 1966. Here's a bit on the pubs of Greenwich.
The Trafalgar, sketched loosely in black and white – a big pub with balconies facing out over the Thames. “Before 1954 [The Cutty Sark] was named The Union. It is a free house and dates from about 1805, occupying the site of an ancient beer house known as The Green Man. The bar is old-fashioned, wooden-panelled and inviting, and if you want to enjoy a whitebait supper (a Greenwich tradition), the bow-windowed dining-room upstairs provides this in a plain, honest style, and draught Guinness, too... If your mood is for something grand, The Trafalgar is your tavern. Its recent restoration, after years of neglect, cost a fortune, and besides being a business proposition, was an act of piety for The Trafalgar is one of the great historic taverns of the nineteenth century and architecturally one of the most important in London.
October 15, 2025 at 6:16 AM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Pubs must try new ideas to draw in customers.
An A board outside a pub warning people to drive slowly because kittens are playing outside the pub and around it.
October 9, 2025 at 5:15 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
MORNING! Here's this week's round up of interesting writing about beer and pubs, this time with a few new-to-us voices. 🍻🍺

boakandbailey.com/2025/10/news...
A Victorian corner pub, The Golden Lion, in Fishponds, Bristol.
October 4, 2025 at 7:10 AM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
A very posh man appreciating a pint in a 1970s pub. Nigel Fitzhugh doing something with wort in a small brewing kettle.
October 3, 2025 at 6:12 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
The George & Dragon right now.
Pumps for cask dark mild and cask golden mild. What a time to be alive.
September 27, 2025 at 6:14 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Relatable.
September 24, 2025 at 5:08 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Not sure we've ever been threatened by a beer before.
A beer can (Triple H by L'ermitage) which says "You ever tried to pick up your teeth with a bunch of broken fingers?"
September 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
We are in Liège where one of the few bars open on a Monday afternoon has the most bonkers greebling.
A pink and turquoise wall with mosaic tiles, an old TV containing two small stuffed owls. There are mirrors, chunks of metal, gauges, dials...
September 22, 2025 at 12:02 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
In a great London pub we've never visited before. Such greebling!
A stained glass window with what we think might be Elvis Presley. A sign that says: No sexists, no racists, no fascists.
September 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Via a check in on the wild hops that cover the bank of the Avon at Sparke Evans park.
Freshly picked hops in the palm of a hand, with a bank of green hops behind.
September 20, 2025 at 3:19 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Oktoberfest at Lost & Grounded. 🍻🍺
A handled mug of golden Festbier. Hops strung along the roof of a marquee.
September 20, 2025 at 3:18 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Aldi not really trying with its Oktoberfest range.
A bag of Currywurst flavour crisps.
September 18, 2025 at 4:59 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
The artist and musician @darrenhayman.bsky.social is painting British birds on British beer mats. Such a great idea.

darrenhaymanart.com
A blue finch painted on a yellow Double Diamond beer mat. A goldfinch painted on a Webster's bitter beer mat.
September 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Drapers.
The corner of a pub with an old lampshade and a vintage railway poster of Bristol.
September 6, 2025 at 3:02 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
We made it to The Salutation at Ham last night – a long-time wishlist pub that is a pain to get to if you don't drive. It is indeed a very good pub. You can read @lilywaite.bsky.social’s article about it here:

www.pelliclemag.com/home/2022/5/...
A corner of a pub with carpet, well-worn, wooden furniture, and a wooden bar.
August 31, 2025 at 6:11 AM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
The cosy King's Head for a pint of Yorkshire bitter on, erm, one of the warmer days of the year. 🍻🍺
The interior of a pub with wooden panelling, William Morris wallpaper, an old fashioned lamp with a shade, and some cosy corners.
August 24, 2025 at 1:23 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Flood proof pub garden tables. They're evolving.
A garden table with benches with a traditional wooden top and then legs made of metal cages full of stones. The River Avon is in the background.
August 23, 2025 at 3:06 PM
boakandbailey.bsky.social
Wye Valley Butty Bach comes with a recipe on the glass.
A beer glass with a representation of the spec sheet for a beer. It includes the details that the beer is made with mostly mild malt, and a little wheat malt.
August 20, 2025 at 9:56 PM