John Sturgis

London

Freelance Content Writer at Freelance

Journalist, editor, copywriter, ghost. Centrist dad takes on media, books, food, wine, nature, London, West Ham

Articles

My ancient local pub is now a Browns Brasserie - I wish they had left it alone

1 week ago | yahoo.com | John Sturgis

It’s 25 years this month since I first visited the Cherry Tree in Southgate, north London. In May 2000, my wife and I viewed a number of nearby houses and we headed there afterwards for drinks while we discussed what we’d just seen. Discussions were fruitful: we settled on one, an Edwardian terrace in nearby Palmers Green. We lived there for 17 years before relocating even closer to the Cherry Tree, which, as a result, for the past eight years has been my local.
My ancient local pub is now a Browns Brasserie

1 week ago | telegraph.co.uk | John Sturgis

But there are wrong notes, quite a few wrong notes: a cocktail, supposedly a strawberry daiquiri, is so jammy with so little zing that it feels like it has been poured from a can, and inexplicably comes with an orange slice which has been dried as if for potpourri; a glass of rosé comes at room temperature; a mixed seafood platter is all squid and no scallop, padded out with padron peppers. Overall though, it's honestly not bad. But neither is it good.
Why Londoners still love Ally Pally

1 week ago | spectator.co.uk | John Sturgis

It was conceived as a ‘people’s palace’ – and, as it turns 150 this week, Alexandra Palace continues to fulfil this brief admirably. There is something for everyone, and it’s not too sniffy about who ‘everyone’ describes. Hence the annual mayhem around the winter darts tournament, when everywhere between Muswell Hill and Wood Green is crawling with groups of very drunk men dressed as Smurfs, monks or the cast of Scooby Doo. The Royal Opera House this isn’t.
I've been to 3,000 pubs to find the perfect seaside pint spot - here are the country's best you MUST visit

4 weeks ago | dailymail.co.uk | John Sturgis

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside, as the old song goes. But better yet, with a cold beer in hand at a British pub. I’ve long been a fan of the UK’s unique pub culture and, wherever I go in the country, I always make sure I check out the local locals. I’m particularly fond of pubs by the sea - on beaches or clifftops, next to harbours or marinas, on estuaries or wharves, where you can combine those two very British recreations of hoping the weather holds and supping a pint.
What I learnt about humanity when my cat went missing for a week

1 month ago | msn.com | John Sturgis

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What I learnt about humanity when my cat went missing for a week

1 month ago | yahoo.com | John Sturgis

Our cat went missing the other day. We didn’t realise it immediately, but it turned out that none of us had seen Caspar since Thursday early evening – and now it was Friday night. He is a fluffy white cat with heterochromia or “David Bowie” eyes: one blue, one amber. In the 20 months we’ve had him I don’t think he’s strayed more than 100 yards from our door. But now he was nowhere to be seen. I walked, then cycled up and down our street, looking and calling for him.
What I learnt about humanity when my cat went missing for a week

1 month ago | telegraph.co.uk | John Sturgis |Pete Wedderburn |Christopher Howse |Rosa Silverman

Unpleasant behaviourHe caterwauled all the way home. On arrival, the first sign of recognition came when he met our dogs. He started preening around them. Preening around us would take a little longer. He had been gone exactly a week, had visibly lost weight, and his coat was stained with motor oil, presumably from slinking under cars. Pictures of him home safely were shared with the many people who had helped us - with champagne emojis. An hour after I had learnt he was safe, my phone rang.
Recollections of a 1980s indie kid

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | John Sturgis

It is the evening of Monday 23 September 1985. A band called the June Brides are playing a free gig in the bar of Manchester Polytechnic’s Students Union, the Mandela Building (of course) on Oxford Road. I find myself among the audience of freshers’ week first-year undergraduates. I am 18, a small-town boy who’s been living in a big city for just 48 hours. The place is half empty, the audience awkward.
Help, my historic local pub has turned into a brasserie

1 month ago | telegraph.co.uk | John Sturgis

After 330 years, Ye Olde Cherry Tree in north London has closed its doors - another pub felled by £5 pints and rising costs across the UKMy local pub has closed down, to be converted into a brasserie. Ye Olde Cherry Tree in Southgate, north London had been trading since 1695 but today it's covered in scaffolding. It's unclear what building work is going on behind that scaffolding - it's Grade II listed so presumably there are some constraints.
Should Sepp Blatter really be prosecuted?

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | John Sturgis

It is ten years since Sepp Blatter finally lost control of football’s world governing body, Fifa. But despite his retirement and advanced years – he has just celebrated his 89th birthday – Blatter has not been able to bow out quietly. In a few days, on Tuesday, Blatter will be in court, in Basel, in his native Switzerland, to hear verdicts on allegations of fraud.