The Betsey Trotwood, Clerkenwell, London Pub Review

Betsey Trotwood, London

Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by Robert Gale in Pubs

Betsey Trotwood, London

The Betsey Trotwood is a pub located in the Clerkenwell area of London, a short walk from Farringdon Underground Station.

Brief History and Interior

The pub was built in 1865 on top of the world’s first underground railway – the four mile stretch between Faringdon and Paddington – which was completed in 1863.

The Betsey was previously known as The Butcher’s Arms but in 1983 adopted the name Betsey Trotwood. Betsey Trotwood is a character in Charles Dickens’ 1850 novel David Copperfield but I’m not sure why the pub chose this name or if there is any connection.

The interior is modern having recently been renovated and consists of a single wooden room on the ground floor, an upper floor which is used by up and coming comedians, poets and singer songwriters and a basement which is well known music venue that only has room for around 60 people but has played host to Keane, Guilemots, Kate Nash, Editors and KT Tunstall.

Food and Beer

Being owned by Shepherd Neame they sell a good range of the beers including their seasonals such as Late Red, Kent’s Best and Early Bird. As with all Shepherd Neame pubs, the lagers are different to those you’d usually find in a pub and include Oranjeboom, Holsten Export and Asahi Super Dry. The ale was £3.20 which is what you’d expect for London.

Food is prepared daily in house from fresh ingredients and includes soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and pies. The food is available Monday-Friday between 12-3pm and 6-9pm.

Visiting the pub

Like most pubs in the area, the Betsey is closed on Sundays.

More Photos of the Betsey Trotwood

Venue Location

Betsey Trotwood

56 Farringdon Road

London

EC1R 3BL

Tel: 020 7253 4285

www.thebetsey.com

View on Google Street View

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.