Viva Brighton Issue #84 February 2020

BITS AND PUBS
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PUB: ISLINGWORD INN
It’s the night of the latest showdown
between Crystal Palace
and the Albion and I have
two questions for the young
landlord at the Islingword Inn.
Are they showing the game?
If so, does he mind if we get
some fish & chips and eat them
there?
His response is: yes, of course
the football’s on; and no, we
can’t bring food in, because
they have their own menu.
Pizzas. We decide to stay.
The Islingword is that
fine-looking classical pile on the
corner of Islingword Road and
Queens Park Road, diagonally
opposite the Pepper Pot. I’ve
been digging into its history: it
was designed and planning-approved
in 1866, but there’s no
record of it being in operation
– as The Beaufort Hotel – until
1881. In its heyday it must have
been a rather grand place to sup
a pint, a cut above the smaller
establishments incorporated
into the terraces on Hanover
hill below.
The facade still looks impressive
today – somebody’s
recently given it a slate-grey
paint job – but the interior has
got a rather tatty feel about it.
It looks like several different
designers, with divergent senses
of taste, have had a go: there
are ceramic plates on the wall,
old pictures on the ceiling of
the pool room, neon signage,
a suit of armour, and a rather
nice 50s-chic painted mural of
Hanover buildings.
The pool table’s free, and what’s
more it’s free (as in you don’t
have to pay) but we’re after
more sedentary pursuits while
we’re waiting for kick-off. We
opt, instead, to play one of the
many board games stacked
high in a cubby-hole by the
door. Have I Got News for You
fills in a pleasant half an hour,
even though the egg timer has
gone missing and we can’t find
the rules. The pizzas, it must
be said, are a bit disappointing:
frozen affairs cooked in a
mini-oven behind the bar.
No matter, they’ve got Laine
beer on tap – Ripper and
Source giving options either
side of the 4.5% mark – and as
kick-off approaches, the place
fills up with an enthusiastic
bunch of Brighton fans, who fill
the space behind us. Just before
kick-off a big screen whirrs
down, cutting us off from the
pool players beyond, and we
settle into the match. It’s a
cracking game, and a cracking
atmosphere, and I earmark the
place for future visits, when I
want to enjoy watching Albion
games in raucous company. Or
England games, for that matter:
I bet there was beer on the ceiling
during the World Cup.
Alex Leith
Illustration by Jay Collins
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