Date of Meeting: 2nd March 2025
Location of Meeting:
The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK
Attendees:
"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)
Apologies:
"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) is still waiting.
Toast:
Paul Thomas Miller (The Entire Canon) gave the following toast:
The cheetah's in the bushes
The gibbon's on the lawn
The swamp adder is in the safe
Your love will keep me warm
Touch me, Watson, touch me
Old Roylott is distracted
The bed is bolted to the floor
(This last line is redacted).
Or, as a video you can see it here:
Presentation:
Paul Thomas Miller (The Entire Canon) presented the following paper about pubs:
The Alpha Inn
By Paul Thomas Miller
As it is the most Christmassy day of the year, I decided to spend 1st March 2025 in search of the most Christmassy pub in The Canon - The Alpha Inn. Having gone through all of my books on Canonical locations, I found a total of four contenders.
The first is The Museum Tavern. William S Baring-Gould’s Annotated Sherlock Holmes (1967) suggests that this was first proposed by Christopher Morley, although no citation is given. Since then, it has appeared in many other books - as a statement of fact -that this is correct.
In On the Scent (1984), Arthur M. Axelrad mentioned both of these, but also suggested a third contender – The Old Crown Public House. His reasoning seems to be that other people have suggested this pub, although he gives no indication who.
Finally, there is my own suggestion which can be found in my book Finding Sherlock Holmes (2023) – The Bloomsbury Tavern.
These four pubs are all handily close to each other and visiting them in the order stated allowed me to meander my way from the museum towards Tottenham Court Road tube station. If I simply walked past each pub, this route would have taken me nine minutes – a perfect stroll. I did not simply walk past each pub, though, so it took me a whole lovely afternoon.
The first thing to do with each pub is check that it existed at the time of the BLUE. Chronologists have placed BLUE as early as 1887 (William S. Baring-Gould) and as late as 1890 (Jay Finley Christ). We should, then, only consider pubs which existed around 1887-1890.
Then we need to check that the contenders match the description in The Canon of The Alpha Inn. From Henry Baker, we get the following:
“There are a few of us who frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to receive a bird at Christmas.”
From this we can see that the pub must be near to the British Museum, where Henry works, and that it should have been under the ownership of a Mr Windigate around the time of this case.
Next, we get a description of the route Holmes and Watson took to the Inn from Baker Street:
“Our footfalls rang out crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord.”
Watson is not clear whether he means that it took them quarter of an hour from Baker Street or Oxford Street to get to the pub. With the average walking speed of a human being 3 miles per hour, and the journey taking them just fifteen minutes, the walking route to this pub ought to be less than a mile from wherever Watson is starting his timer. Baker Street is about 2 miles from the Museum, so is the unlikely option. It is more likely that he refers to the time from Oxford Street – about two-thirds of a mile from the Museum. We are, then, looking for a pub roughly 0.75 miles from the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street.
There is also a suggestion here that the pub had at least two entrances – one to the public bar and one to the private bar.
The pub should also be in Bloomsbury, on a corner and on a street which leads to Holborn.
Here are my findings:
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA
As stated above, this identification seems to be attributed to Christopher Morley. In Sherlock Holmes London Walks #3: Trafalgar Square to Euston (1993), Antony J Richards suggests that this pub was, at one time, actually called The Alpha Inn, but I can find no supporting evidence for this claim. I suspect he was good-naturedly “playing the game”.
Age of Pub: Correct.
This pub has existed on the same spot since 1723, but the current building only dates back to 1855. It was originally named The Dog and Duck but changed its name to The Museum Tavern in 1759.
Location: Incorrect.
It is situated on a corner in Bloomsbury, but as it is set well back from both New Oxford Street and Southampton Row, it cannot be said to be on “one of the streets which runs down into Holborn”. It is a seventeen-minute walk from the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street.
The aspects of The Museum Tavern which seem to recommend it are that it is the closest pub to the British Museum, and it is on a corner. Indeed, the Museum Tavern is directly opposite the British Museum. However, I would suggest that this proximity to the Museum counts against it.
Consider Baker’s first words on the subject: “There are a few of us who frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in the Museum itself during the day, you understand.” That quick follow-up about being in the Museum during the day comes across as rather defensive, doesn’t it? When we consider that Holmes had already deduced Henry Baker was a slave to drink, that defensive follow-up almost seems like an admission of guilt.
If we might, then, assume that occasionally Baker and his chums would slip out of work for an illicit pint or two, would we really expect him to frequent a pub that is in direct view of the Museum? It would only be a matter of time before they were caught out. To my mind, the pub’s proximity to the Museum counts against it, rather than for.
Landlord Name: Incorrect.
At the time of the case, The Museum Tavern was run by Charles John Coombs.
Private Bar: Correct.
The Museum Tavern definitely did have a private and public bar system once. You can still see the old doors are marked “Saloon Bar” and “Private Bar”.
Goose Club: Incorrect.
While it is possible the practice has ceased in the last 125 years, the bemused bartender informed me that they have no idea what a goose club is, let alone operate one today.
Other notes:
I tried the Museum Tavern Ale here. It was easily the best beer I had that day. However, the toilets were the most difficult to locate of all four pubs I visited.
The Plough, 27 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH
Gavin Brend’s main reason for originally suggesting this pub was an observation that The Plough is a common name for the constellation Ursa Major. He also noted that the brightest star in this constellation is called Alpha. His suggestion is that Watson took inspiration from this when creating the fake name of “The Alpha Inn”. It is worth noting, though, that every constellation’s brightest star is designated “alpha”, its second brightest is “beta”, and so forth. There is nothing special about The Plough having an alpha star. Nevertheless, the name of a constellation may well have brought the naming of stars to Watson’s mind.
Age of Pub: Correct.
This pub has been at the same address since 1855 under the same name.
Location: Incorrect.
It is situated on a corner in Bloomsbury, but, as it is in the middle of a back street, it cannot be said to be on “one of the streets which runs down into Holborn”. It is an eighteen-minute walk from the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street.
Landlord Name: Incorrect.
At the time of the case it was run by Thomas John Taylor.
Private Bar: Likely Correct.
There were two separate entrances to The Plough which did suggest a private/public bar set up in the past. This setup is a rare thing these days, so it is not surprising to see it transformed, like most pubs, into one larger public bar today.
Goose Club: Incorrect.
While it is possible the practice has ceased in the last 125 years, the bemused bartender informed me that they have no idea what a goose club is, let alone operate one today.
Other Notes:
I had a Green King IPA here. It was alright. Not amazing though. But the toilets were very easy to find.
The Old Crown Public House, 33 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1BH
It is unclear why this pub was nominated as a potential Alpha Inn. No doubt, the explanation exists somewhere, but I was unable to locate it.
Age of Pub: Correct.
The Old Crown was rebuilt on this spot in 1850. It seems that there has been a pub on this spot since 1751.
Location: Correct.
It is situated on a corner in Bloomsbury on “one of the streets which runs down into Holborn” – New Oxford Street. It is an eighteen-minute walk from the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street.
Landlord Name: Incorrect.
At the time of the case it was run by William Chapman.
Private Bar: Incorrect.
While it did once have two entrances, The Old Crown is (and was) a tiny pub. It is difficult to imagine it ever having had a two bar setup.
Goose Club: Incorrect.
While it is possible the practice has ceased in the last 125 years, the bemused bartender informed me that they have no idea what a goose club is, let alone operate one today.
Other notes:
I had a Rivertown IPA here. It was horrible. And the toilets, while easy to find, were in a horrible state.
When I set out on this journey, I was expecting to rule in favour of The Old Crown being the correct Alpha Inn. But having visited it, it just seems too small and too horrible to be a genuine contender. Also, they didn’t take cash, so it is difficult to imagine how Holmes would have paid in a pre-chip-and-pin era.
The Bloomsbury Tavern, 236 Shaftesbury Avenue, Holborn, WC2H 8EG
I selected The Bloomsbury Tavern as the Alpha Inn when I was writing Finding Sherlock Holmes largely because the route Holmes and Watson took from Baker Street to the pub, combined with the need to be on road leading to Holborn. The only reason I opted for this one over The Old Crown, was that it was slightly closer to Oxford Street and was, therefore, a tiny bit closer to the fifteen-minute walk Watson described.
Age of Pub: Correct.
The pub has been here since 1856, although Holmes and Watson would have known it as The Black Lion up until 1905, when it was renamed The Bloomsbury Tavern.
Location: The Correctest.
It is situated on a corner in Bloomsbury on “one of the streets which runs down into Holborn” – New Oxford Street. It is a seventeen-minute walk from the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street.
Landlord Name: Incorrect.
At the time of the case, it was run by Jason Naish.
Private Bar: Probably Correct.
The Bloomsbury does have several entrances (although they are not all in use today) and it is easy to imagine how the bar area may once have been divided into private and public areas.
Goose Club: Incorrect.
While it is possible the practice has ceased in the last 125 years, the bemused bartender informed me that they have no idea what a goose club is, let alone operate one today.
Other notes:
I had a Shepherd’s Neame Master Brew here, which was easily my second favourite beer of the day. I did not use the toilets here, but I could easily see where they were located.
So where does this leave us in terms of identifying The Alpha Inn.
All four pubs qualify in age, we can ignore this evidence in our selection.
There does not seem to be any clue in the landlord names of any of the four pubs – none of them resemble or are reminiscent of “Windigate”. This isn’t terribly surprising - Watson changed the name of the pub in his account, so he probably changed the name of the landlord too.
Goose clubs seem to have been abandoned in this area of London, so we can also discount this evidence.
All four pubs are near enough to a fifteen minute walk from Oxford Street to make quibbling about the differences unworthwhile.
And all four pubs are on corners, as per the text.
The main evidence available to make our choice, then, is that of location.
The Museum Tavern, despite its frequent selection by Holmesians, most definitely cannot be The Alpha Inn. It is nowhere close to being on “one of the streets which runs down into Holborn”. Nor would Henry Baker have described it as “near” the Museum. He’d have described it as “right bang bloody opposite and practically abutting” the Museum.
The Plough, while more likely than The Museum Tavern, is also not on a street to Holborn.
So, only two of the pubs are in the correct location - The Old Crown and The Bloomsbury Tavern.
The Old Crown may be ruled out by simply being far too small to house either a two bar system or enough clients and storage to support a 24 member goose club. It is also horrible.
It pains me to seem so inflexible, then, but I believe my selection of The Bloomsbury Tavern (née The Black Lion) in Finding Sherlock is the best of the four choices. And it was the nicest one to be in too, which is a bonus.
Any Other Business:
"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) thought people might like a list of all the references to The Alpha Inn's real identity he found when researching this presentation. So here it is:
Finding Sherlock Holmes by Paul Thomas Miller, Belanger Books, 2023
The Bloomsbury Tavern, 236 Shaftesbury Avenue, Holborn, WC2H 8EG - Located by following the route Watson and Holmes took to it from Baker Street.
Sherlock Holmes London Walks, #3, Trafalgar Square to Euston by Antony J Richards, Irregular Special Railway Company, 1993
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - Identified as being previously named “The Alpha Inn” (I can find no evidence that this is true) and being near the Museum.
Sherlock Holmes in London, Charles Viney, Phoebe Phillips Editions, 1989
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - No explanation given. But it does include a photograph of The Museum Tavern in 1890.
Sherlock Holmes’s London, Tsukasa Kobayashi, Akane Higashiyama, Masaharu Uemara, Chronicle Books, 1984
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - No explanation given
On the Scent, Arthur M AxelRad, The Bullpup Press, 1984
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - Other people have suggested it.
The Plough, 27 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH - Other people have suggested it.
The Old Crown Public House, 33 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1BH - Other people have suggested it.
Sherlock’s London Today, Gunnar E Sundin, Sherlock’s Bookshop, 1985
The Plough, 27 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH - No reason given
The London of Sherlock Holmes, Thomas Bruce Wheeler, MX “Publishing”, 2011
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - It’s near the Museum.
For The Sake of the Game, David L Hammer, Gasogene Press, 1986
(Reprinted in A Deep Game: The Travelers’ Companion to The London of Sherlock Holmes, David L Hammer, Gasogene Books, 2002)
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - Corner location near the museum.
The Plough, 27 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH - Corner location near the museum. Hammer favours this one for the internal ambience.
Sherlock Holmes’s London, Rose Shepherd, Cico Books, 2015
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - Prime contender amongst Sherlockians
The Oxford Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, ACD (Edited by Richard Lancing Green), Oxford University Press, 1993
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - Near the museum.
The Plough, 27 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH - Near the museum. Green also notes that the brightest star in the constellation The Plough is called Alpha.
The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, William S Baring Gould, Clarkson N Potter Inc, 1967
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA - Christopher Morley claimed it.
The Plough, 27 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH - Gavin Brend claimed it to be, noting the “alpha” connection with constellations.
The New Annoted Sherlock Holmes, Leslie S Klinger,
The Museum Tavern, 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA
Christopher Morley claimed it.
The Plough, 27 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH
Some Holmesians have claimed it to be, noting the “alpha” connection with constellations.
- A note in the Baker Street Journal for October 1957 records that The Sherlock Holmes Society of London visited an Inn in Museum Street on 18th June 1957 which they considered to be The Alpha Inn. Presumably this was The Museum Tavern.
- In “The Empty House-Warming Weekend: London, 15-16 January, 1994 By Francine And Wayne Swift” from BSJ March 1994, there is a report thatat The Museum Tavern “Heather Owen sat on the bar and proved once and for all that this is the “Alpha Inn.””
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