London Stone, Staines Town, Staines Upon Thames

Branded as a "Craft beer and ale house" this place has had a modern and eccentric makeover. A long vaguely J-shaped room, the bar is on the back wall facing the entrance. The counter front is faced with various different coloured wooden planks while the counter top is metal, there is a feature wall made up of old distressed doors, the central area of flooring is chequered metal plate. Some stools are made from old Meantime kegs cut in half; there is a lot of grey paint. A huge TV screen was showing tennis muted, meanwhile a funky soundtrack played slightly too loudly for a pub with three customers mid-afternoon. There are five handpumps, one with a cider, Weston's Twist, the others were Hog's Back Hog IPA, Windsor & Eton Guardsman, Samuel Adams Blonde Ambition and Shepherd Neame Goldings Ale. The young barman was friendly and offered tasters as well as a choice of jug or straight glass. I had the Hog IPA which was in good shape and decent value at £3.60. Outdoor seating is available in a small courtyard to one side where the old Hobgoblin pub sign still hangs, you can see into the cellar from here too. This place isn't traditional by any means but it wasn't a bad spot, the beer was good. It's the sort of place I can imagine getting loud and busy in the evening though, one to time a visit to I think.

I drove passed the HOB-GOB the other day, and it looks boarded-up and closed down! But how long for...?! It's ideally situated for Staines town centre, and in particular the 'Vue' cinema complex, walking distance over the nearby stream (...or is that a river..)? Was a bit of a 'heavy metal' bar in its day! :o(