The Freemasons Arms - Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London, UK
N 51° 33.412 W 000° 10.132
30U E 696253 N 5715552
This pub is on Downshire Hill to the south west of Hampstead Ponds. It is a pleasant looking pub with a rural feel to its exterior and it has one of the best looking signs that I have come across during the short time I have been Waymarking.
Waymark Code: WMFY6A
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/16/2012
Views: 2
The pub sign hangs in a fixed frame,
supported on a post on the boundary line of the pubs forecourt. The background
to the sign is black with the name carved at the base of it and painted in gold.
The main part of the sign is the central part of the Freemason's coat-of-arms.
This is carved from wood and shows great detail in the relief and has fresh,
vibrant colours.
The pub's claim to fame is that "The
Freemasons Arms is also home to the only Skittles Club of it's kind in the
World!". The London Skittles website [visit link tells us:
"The traditional pub game of London
Skittles is played with nine pins. Unlike other forms of alley skittles it is
played not with a ball but a cheese, which is thrown (not rolled) at the pins.
The game, also known as Old English
Skittles, is now played only at the Freemasons Arms in Hampstead. The skittle
alley is tucked away in the pub cellar. With the periodic thud of lignum vitae
on hornbeam emanating from below, tourists stumble upon it as often as the
locals."