The Robin in Crouch Hill has emerged as one of London’s best pubs since it opened in 2023, thanks to its commitment to reasonably priced independent British beers, buzzy jazz nights and eccentric artwork.
Last week its owner, Nick Bailey, opened his second pub: the Mary Wollstonecraft on Stoke Newington Church Street, in what used to be Irish boozer Ryan’s N16. It was the garden that first attracted Bailey to the site, which will come as no surprise to anyone who’s visited The Robin, whose exterior is almost as verdant as that of The Churchill Arms in Kensington.
“I love gardening. I thought it would be a good chance to garden somewhere, and make it into a space that’s beautiful and accessible to everyone,” Bailey tells Broadsheet. He has planted apple, pear and olive trees, jasmine, wisteria, roses, geraniums and begonias in the garden – and it promises to be one of the hits of the summer.
Bailey’s commitment to independent British breweries sees the pub serve a rotating selection of six real ales, four ciders and 12 keg beers. Unlike at The Robin, there are two German beers on offer, too. While his first pub is diminutive, drinkers spilling onto the street in summer, the Mary’s larger size offers “the scope to do things even better”. The ground floor bar is all about the liquids, retaining Bailey’s commitment to drinking-first establishments. That doesn’t mean no food, though – there’s a dining room downstairs, with a kitchen opening in August. When Broadsheet speaks with Bailey, he’s yet to decide on the chef, but says the focus will probably be “seasonal English food”.
On top of the beer and food, expect DJ nights, screenings of World Cup and Arsenal games, wine, pickled eggs and onions – and a varied clientele. Bailey’s ideal pub is “comfortable for every kind of person without pandering to different people”, and he hopes the Mary, like The Robin, will attract a range of punters. “In my head, we’ll have dads [with] their children, at other times mums having a beer or wine. Old men at lunch time, on the weekends all the young professionals that come out to play. For me a good pub is one where every generation, old and young, is sitting side by side.”
As for the name, Bailey says writer and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women left an impression on him at 19. He wanted to name The Robin after her but was warned people wouldn’t be able to pronounce it. Now, a stone’s throw from where she lived and set up a school, it “made more sense”, Bailey says. He’s even commissioned a mural from London-based artist Ian Harper of Wollstonecraft’s life for a wall in the pub.
“I’m really excited to share the space with everyone,” Bailey says, describing his new venture as a “cousin, rather than a sister pub” to The Robin. “A lot of work has gone into it, I just hope people take to it.”
Mary Wollstencraft
181 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0UL
02081497433
Hours:
Mon midday–11pm
Tue & Wed midday–11.30pm
Thu midday–12.30am
Fri & Sat midday–1am
Sun midday–11pm
