Viva Brighton Issue #69 November 2018

BITS AND PUBS
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PUB: THE IDLE HANDS
The Royal Standard at
59 Queens Road was
recorded as early as 1859,
but its showy façade – it’s
worth taking a good look
at the building from over
the road – dates to the
turn of the last century,
probably 1899, when it was
taken over by a William
Frederick Baker. It gets a
mention in Pevsner’s Architectural
Guide, which praises
the ‘relief decoration to its
shaped gable’. Note the
little cupola on the roof.
It was subsequently run by a
succession of landlords; it’s
a fair bet that the one who
got the least trouble from
his customers was Tommy Farr, who took over
in 1956. Tommy, nicknamed ‘The Tonypandy
Terror’ was the British & Empire heavyweight
boxing champion, who in 1936 took World
Champion Joe Louis the full fifteen rounds.
I imagine Mr Farr ran quite a tight ship, which
can’t be said for the two landlords in charge in
June 2016. The place had become well known as
a hotspot for football-related violence, and when
it was raided by the police that month the pair
were found to be selling illegal smuggled liquor.
The pub was closed down, and only kept its
licence on the condition that the landlords were
banned from running the premises.
It’s since had a complete makeover, and a
change of name. It’s now called ‘Idle Hands’,
and, between the two terracotta hands that
stick out of the doorframe
greeting those who walk
in, you can read ‘…Are
the Devil’s Playthings’.
It’s an independent joint,
which has been running
for four months; walk in
and you’ll soon forget
you’re amid the gritty
bustle of Queens Road.
They’ve given it an early
20th-century look, with
wooden floors, claw-footed
tables, and black-andwhite
photos on the wall,
subtly defaced – Chapman
Bros-style – with pen
marks. There’s the skull of
an ibex wearing a jaunty
cycling cap, and a stuffed
crow above the bar. The menus are carefully
stacked in an elegant 30s sideboard.
On the window is written ‘craft beers, fine wines
and artisan spirits’: it’s clearly now a place which
takes its alcohol very seriously. There’s a menu
board for beer, with prices, strength, and the
slogan ‘we accept cash, cards or blood sacrifices’.
I choose a Redchurch Brick Lane Lager (4.6%,
£4.50) which goes down pretty well: in a more
adventurous frame of mind I would have tried
the whisky-aged cider (6.9%, £5). I’ll get that
next time, to wash down one of their interesting-sounding
‘Cub Burgers’, perhaps the ‘Wolf’
(4oz patty with Swiss cheese, avocado salsa,
lettuce, criolla onions, crispy pork belly and
pineapple salsa, at £9.50).
Alex Leith
Painting by Jay Collins
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