THE WB YATES

THE WB YATES – A LITERARY LONDON PUB

We walked from the North Nineteen to The WB Yates – an Irish pub names after the poet W.B. Yeats.

W.B. Yeats was born in Sandymount, Ireland, in 1865. It was Ireland that inspired him but London played a large part in his life. He wrote:

This melancholy London. I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air.

William Butler Yeats is one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. You can find his poetry at: Poetry Archive or Poetry Foundation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.

A pub has been on this site in Fonthill Road since 1872. Other names have included: Edinburgh; Duke of Edinburgh; Red Rita's; N4; Fonthill. The pub has a dual timber frontage.

The WB Yates is one large wooden floored room with a single bar counter and has an attractive glass fanlight. It advertises it has live sports. During our visit, ‘The Masters’ was on the telly with the sound off. The music playing in the background included the Arctic Monkeys and The Cure. We sat at a mid-room table. There are mainly stools but we were able pull up a couple of chairs. Werner had a bottle of Magners and a diet coke. I was on the Sullivan’s Irish Gold  from Kilkenny.

The WB Yeats, 20 Fonthill Road, Finsbury Park, N4 3HU

If you liked this article, there are other London literary pubs listed here.