One Line at a Time: The Central LineA Station-by-Station Pub Crawl Through London
The Central line is London at its most extreme.
It stretches from near-rural Essex to the city's loudest crossroads, cutting straight through commuter suburbia, tourist overload, financial power, and hard-earned neighbourhood pride. It is long, relentless, and full of contrast - which makes it the perfect line to drink properly.
One Line at a Time: The Central Line is not a checklist of pubs, and it's not a challenge crawl. It's a thoughtful, station-by-station guide to drinking your way across London's most demanding Tube line - knowing when to linger, when to move on, and when one pint is enough.
Each chapter covers a single station, from West Ruislip to Epping, exploring:
What the pubs are actually like
What to drink - and what to avoid
When the area works best
How each stop fits into the rhythm of the line
Along the way, the book shows you how the Central line really behaves:
Quiet suburban starts where routine rules
Overwhelming central stretches that reward discipline
East London neighbourhoods where pubs feel owned, not rented
A final run that feels earned rather than exhausted
The final chapters pull back further, offering:
Smart mini-crawl routes and shortcuts
How to handle stations with few pubs
When to drink the line (days, seasons, weather, crowd psychology)
And what the Central line reveals about London itself
Written in a calm, observant style, this book is for readers who want more than loud nights and forced routes. It's for people who enjoy pubs as places, not just pit stops - and who understand that a good crawl is about rhythm, awareness, and knowing when to stop.
This is London, one station at a time.
And this is its longest line, done properly.
