There’s no beer garden, but revamped Lady Mildmay is CAMRA’s pub of the summer
Lady Mildmay in Newington Green. Picture: Steve Hall - Credit: Archant
A Newington Green boozer has been named the best summer pub in north London – even though it doesn’t have a beer garden!
The Lady Mildmay in 2007 - when it was called the Nobody Inn. Picture: Ewan Munro/Flickr/Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 2.0 - Credit: Archant
The Lady Mildmay, in Mildmay Park, has been given the “pub of the season” award by Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) north London branch.
It comes just 18 months after the pub was given a complete revamp after a series of owners and name changes – it has previously been known as The Clarendon, The Nobody Inn and The Dissenting Academy.
But under its Lady Mildmay guise, the pub is worthy of Newington’s Green’s newly thriving pub scene, with successes such as The Alma and the Newington Green Cellars just around the corner.
General manager Gary Raisbeck said: “Being named the best pub in north London is fantastic. We’ve only been open for a year-and-a-half, but we’re watching it soar. It feels like the prize for our hard work.
“I think we listen very carefully to what our customers say. If a regular says we don’t like this, or don’t like that, we want to meet their expectations.
The Lady Mildmay in 2012, when it was open as The Dissenting Academy. Picture: Ewan Munro/Flickr/Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 2.0 - Credit: Archant
“We’ve turned it very much into a local community pub. We have a Mediterranean menu, which is a bit different, but we are definitely not a restaurant. It’s an old fashioned pub with a focus on food.”
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Of the pub’s summer award, Gary added: “We are seen by many as a winter pub – it’s very cosy, warm, welcoming and we light the fire. Unfortunately, we don’t have anywhere to sit outside in the summer but thankfully we have loyal regulars.”
John Cryne, chairman of north London CAMRA, explained a pub doesn’t have to have a plush beer garden to win the summer award – appropriate given recent weather.
He said: “We look at pubs which have raised their game, where previously they weren’t doing as well as they could be. That can be making the pub look nice and improving the quality of the beer – and our members feel that’s the case at the Lady Mildmay.
“The award is almost like ‘most improved in north London’. The Lady Mildmay has shown it has come on leaps and bounds.
“Another advantage stocking beers from local breweries, like Hammerton [in the Roman Way Industrial Estate]. There’s a renaissance in brewing and it’s good the pub supports that.”
