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Riviera Centre, Torquay
11-13 April 2025
One of the most prestigious beer competitions in the world.
Units 3-5, Heathfield Industrial Estate, Heathfield Street, Elland, HX5 9AE
Westgate Brewery, Westgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1QT
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This pub has re-opened after a long period of closure in November 2023 - a sister pub to the Tamil Prince - with 2 Purity beers on handpump. Our reporter visited on 02/12/23 with two Purity beers: Mad Goose and Longhorn. The place has been opened out a bit with the addition of an open kitchen servery. They have their own lager, but the barman didn’t know the brewery. The interior was divided into a bar area and a restaurant part. The bar counter looks new.
"The Charles Lamb is re-opening next Thursday as the Tamil Crown and is a sister pub to the Huntingdon Arms which is now called the Tamil Prince. The focus is on Indian food, with seating upstairs, and someone we know nas already booked a table there. Unlike the Tamil Prince however, the blurb says that Cask ales (plural) by Purity will be available."
The following text was written when the pub was the Charles Lamb;
Small street corner local hidden in the south west corner of Islington close to City Road and Upper Street. Despite being a small pub, it still has two distinct rooms, and the leaded windows look original. A lot of work has been put into restoring the pub, from the old wooden flooring, to the etched glass shutters that can be pulled down between the smaller room and the bar. The pub consists of a corner bar in the the main room, with one side of the bar also opening to the smaller room. The smaller room has a gas coal-effect fire, making it very comfortable and cosy for those cold winter evenings.
Established in 1839 as the Prince Albert in what then was Alfred Street, the pub was renamed in honour of Charles Lamb, the late 18th/early 19th century English essayist. Best known for his collected essays entitled 'Essays of Elia', published in 1823, he also provided the name for the road on which the pub stands ("Elia" being the pen-name Lamb used as a contributor to The London Magazine).
One star - A pub interior of special national historic interest
Listed status: Not listed
Corner pub of early 20th Century construction with two-storeys and a ground floor dado of brown tiles (leaded windows indicate it could be inter-war). Inside it still retains two distinct rooms and lots of original fittings. The corner bar retains an old counter, and the bar back faces two sides and has carved brackets holding up the top section. On the left is a good carved wood surround fireplace and a rare three-bay screen with glazing in the top. A doorway leads to a smaller room on the right with a bare wood floor, and with dado that looks old.
Corner pub of early twentieth century construction with two-storeys and a ground floor dado of brown tiles (leaded windows indicate it could be inter-war). Inside it still retains two distinct rooms and lots of original fittings.
The larger bare wood floor corner bar (lost its original corner door) retains an old counter with the front painted light blue (top looks modern). The back fitting faces two sides and has carved brackets holding up the top section - a central section of which is at an angle with a clock on top that has the original name of the pub – Prince Albert – on it. Some lower shelves on the left lost to fridges. Dado panelling could be old but is painted light blue.
On the far left part of the main bar is a good wood surround with carvings fireplace (not used) and a rare three-bay screen with glazing in the top that creates a passage to? There is another hatch through the back of the servery for service to this rear area.
Doorway to the smaller second bar on the right with a bare wood floor; the dado panelling could be old but is painted light blue. Service is through three hatches in the back of the main bar servery and, remarkably, they all still retain their rising windows with etched panels in working condition. Good carved wood surround fireplace but it looks a Victorian reproduction one.
Tamil Crown, London
Lunchtime Meals
Evening Meals
Smoking
Real Ale
Real Heritage Pub
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