The Windsor Castle, Maida Vale

I visited this pub with a group of 6 friends as part of a Bank Holiday stroll around the lovely Maida Vale area, and on first impressions we liked it very much �the bar staff were friendly, the interior charming and quaint. Sadly this impression was ruined as quickly as it was created: as we settled with our drinks, one friend who had a camera took a couple of photos of the group. At this stage, the landlord, who appeared to be very drunk, staggered into the bar area and informed us in an aggressive manner �this is a heterosexual New Zealand pub�, and stared at us menacingly before returning to the back of the pub. I really don't know what prompted this - among my friends there were two gay men, however it appeared more as if the landlord for some reason took an instant dislike to all of us. Anyway, once we realised he wasn�t joking, we decided to take our drinks outside, recover from the shock and move on to another pub. However I�m sure most would agree that such abusive and offensive behaviour is not something that should ever be tolerated, and hence it�s not a case of �if you don�t like it, leave�. To add insult to injury, one of our group went back in to ask the landlord what we did to provoke such a comment, and for his trouble he was called an �Australian c**t� and told to f**k off. So there you have it folks � unless you enjoy homophobia and racism, I�d strongly advise you to avoid this place!

4 May 2005 11:52