London

A funny thing about Camden is the fact that there are some pubs and bars that no one ever drinks in. And ‘no one’ doesn’t just mean ‘no trendy types’, either; it means literally no one. Ever. Until recently, the Hawley Arms was one such establishment. Located underneath 3a railway bridge, a haven for metalheads in the ’80s it may have been, but that branch of its clientele had long since moved on and its closure in 1997 came as no surprise.

However, a lick of paint later – much later, in fact – and the same pub, now kitted out with the distressed sofas and shades of beige that characterise the modern gastro-boozer, is unquestionably the most fashionable pub in north London. Arrive after eight on a Saturday and the chances are you’ll have to queue for 20 minutes to share your inch of space with Amy Winehouse, MTV’s Alex Zane, Noel Fielding of the Mighty Boosh, or someone out of Razorlight (or the singer’s brother, who pretty much lives there). Kate Moss showed up recently, accompanied by Sadie Frost, Kelly Osbourne and Bobby Gillespie. Liam Gallagher’s been too, albeit just once. The Observer excitedly dubbed it ‘the modern day Met Bar’, while – if you’ll excuse the momentary lapse into gossip column speak – a ‘pal’ tells us that Sarah from Girls Aloud has been pestering her ‘pals’ to take her there. Feature continues

Of course, this kind of turnaround is not unheard of, but there is usually at least some logic behind such a metamorphosis. The Good Mixer
(a more accurate mid-’90s equivalent of the Hawley than the Met Bar), for example, was an equally unattractive watering hole, but handily located within a stone’s throw of several Britpop-related companies, plus it had loads of Kinks songs on the jukebox. Outside of Camden, Shoreditch’s Old Blue Last used to be as rough as they come; its transformation can be attributed to the fact that it is now owned by the hipsters from Vice magazine.

The Hawley, though? Well, the numerous articles written about it in the past six months have tried to attribute the pub’s status to its proximity to both MTV HQ and – somewhat fancifully – the Barfly, no doubt envisioning legions of TV presenters stumbling out of work, getting arseholed, rocking up to the local venue to watch the latest hopefuls rock it up, then going home to shag one another. But the real reason it’s become such a hotspot is… well, actually, there isn’t one.

By way of comparison, take the Proud Galleries, 50 yards up the road. It’s got a later licence, up-and-coming bands on most nights of the week, fashionable decor, more reassuringly pricey drinks and an association with a north London outpost of the already-hip photographic gallery of the same name. On the surface, it has it all and, had you attended during its opening week, you’d have put your house on it becoming the hottest spot in north London. Glamour girls like Jessica Simpson, Kate Moss and, er, Kelly Osbourne crowded the place out and the venue hit the gossip pages when Arctic Monkey Alex Turner was among those turfed out of a Cold War Kids gig which ran past curfew. Now that, as Paris Hilton would say, is hawt.

There’s just one problem: the beautiful people don’t like to feel like they’re being obvious, and don’t like the spots where they’re being beautiful to be so obviously signposted for Joe Public. This is why they shunned Proud Galleries for the nice but ultimately non-descript Hawley Arms. This is also why, now that their new favourite watering hole has been highlighted by lots of not-very-cool periodicals (and us), that they will soon also shun the Hawley in favour of somewhere else. Gawd, who’d be trendy? Far too much like hard work.

Hawley Arms, 2 Castlehaven Rd NW1 (020 7428 5979); Proud Camden, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road NW1 (020 7482 3867).