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I’ve discovered the most child-friendly pub in London – with bowling, a huge slide, ice cream van and scavenger hunts
TAKING your kid to a pub can be a fraught experience, especially in London where there is rarely outdoor space.
But Brewdog’s mammoth brewhouse at Waterloo station bucks that trend entirely, with a space that was designed as much for kids as it was for adults.
The Sun’s Head of Travel (Digital), Caroline McGuire took her son and his friend to try out Brewdog’s huge pub at London Waterloo station[/caption] The huge venue is stuffed full of child-friendly activities, including a massive slide[/caption]A mum friend and I visited the craft beer bar and restaurant, with its 60 taps of draught beer and on-site microbrewery, over the autumn half term with our two five year olds.
The pub had laid on a Halloween special, with free meals for kids and a scavenger hunt, and as a result it was packed with plenty of other frazzled parents enjoying a pint after a morning of tourist attractions.
We started off with an hour of duckpin bowling, as Brewdog has five quarter-sized bowling lanes that you can book in advance.
Much like normal bowling, you can enter your names and take it in turns to bowl for a strike, but our kids ran roughshod over the rulebook and took over every slot on the gameboard.
Not that we were at all fussed, in fact, as we were able to order pints to our lane it gave us a welcome 60 minutes of ‘peace’ to sip our beers.
Next up was our meal, with more beer for the adults of course.
While I enjoyed a plant-based chicken burger and my friend had the pizza, our kids enjoyed free mac n cheese and chicken nugget meals, thanks to the half term deal that offered free children’s food with a bowling booking.
Free food included tokens to the in-house ice cream van too, which serves up crowd-pleaser sundaes, shakes and standard scoop-in-a-cones to both small and big kids.
They were also handed scavenger hunt activity sheets, with clues hidden around the pub that eventually spelled the answer to the game, for which they were rewarded with a sizeable bag of sweets each.
Burning off all that sugar is usually an issue in a pub, but Brewdog has a massive helter skelter-style indoor slide, that runs from the top floor to the bottom.
When Brewdog launched their Waterloo venue, they crowned it the UK’s biggest bar – but for two years that put the likes of me off.
Now, I’ve visited I know we’ll definitely be back if we’re even 20 minutes from Waterloo on a family day out.
The best free London attractions for kids aged 3-6 years old
Meet ferrets, bunnies, alpacas and more traditional farm animals at Vauxhall City Farm in Vauxhall and Mudchute Farm and Park in Docklands.
Check out the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum in Kensington, or one of the many other animal exhibits that are popular with people of all ages.
‘Hope’ the blue whale skeleton is on show in the main hall and you can even find out more about her life, like where she swam and what she ate. Get your free ticket online.
The Young V&A in East London’s Bethnal Green. A newly opened museum aimed at kids up to age 14, using artifacts from the main V&A’s collection.
Horniman Museum and Gardens near Dulwich in South East London, a a family-friendly museum and gardens in South London.
After browsing the galleries of natural history artifacts, visitors can get up close and personal with goats, sheep, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and alpacas on the Animal Walk.
Visit the Museum of London Docklands to find out how the docks transformed London and made it what it is today.
It also has a fantastic Mudlarks gallery soft play area aimed at kids up to eight years old – but entry to that will cost you £3.
See the world’s oldest dinosaur sculptures at Crystal Palace Park in South East London, which were unveiled by natural history artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins in 1854.
Ride the singing lift at Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank – the glass-fronted lift carries visitors up and down six floors and will sing you all the way up… and back down again.
Be awed by the creations at the Lego store in Leicester Square, have fun making your own model too with the free blocks available. Just be prepared to queue to get inside.
Splash in rock pools and balance on wobbly bridges at Tumbling Bay playground – nestled within the heart of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.
England’s path to World Cup 2026 becomes clear with qualifying pots confirmed and chance of tricky meeting with rivals
ENGLAND are set to be among the top seeds for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after securing their return to Nations League A.
But new boss Thomas Tuchel could potentially face a nightmare encounter with a Home Nations rival as he prepares to guide the Three Lions to the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
After a successful Nations League campaign under interim boss Lee Carsley, England have since been placed into qualifying Pot 1.
Each of the Nations League quarter-finalists have also earned an automatic spot in Pot 1.
That means Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Euro winners Spain will be among the highest-seeded teams.
They have been joined by the four next highest ranking sides in the Fifa Men’s world list: England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.
So, for now, England will avoid being grouped with all of the listed sides in Pot 1, as no two teams from the same pot can end up in the same group.
However, Tuchel faces being placed in the same qualifying group with some of England’s closest rivals.
Wales will be in Pot 2 after topping their Nations League group to earn promotion to League A.
And England could also be grouped with one of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland in Pot 3.
What are the World Cup European Qualifying pots?
Pot 1
- Spain
- Germany
- Portugal
- France
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Croatia
- England
- Belgium
- Switzerland
- Austria
Pot 2
- Ukraine
- Sweden
- Turkey
- Wales
- Hungary
- Serbia
- Poland
- Greece
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Czech Republic
- Norway
Pot 3
- Scotland
- Slovenia
- Republic of Ireland
- Albania
- North Macedonia
- Georgia
- Finland
- Iceland
- Northern Ireland
- Montenegro
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Israel
Pot 4
- Bulgaria
- Luxembourg
- Kosovo
- Belarus
- Armenia
- Kazakhstan
- Azerbaijan
- Estonia
- Cyprus
- Faroe Islands
- Latvia
- Lithuania
Pot 5
- Moldova
- Malta
- Andorra
- Gibraltar
- Liechtenstein
- San Marino
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This means the Three Lions could face any of their rival Home Nations teams in the qualifying group stage.
Carsley successfully led them back into the Nations League’s top tier with two convincing victories, over Greece and Ireland, in his final games in charge.
England won their group in League B which means they are promoted automatically to League A and are not involved in the next stage of the Nations League.
By finishing top of Group B2, England are extremely likely to have a World Cup play-off spot banked, with the same situation facing Group B4 winners Wales.
The Three Lions will be among those drawn into 12 groups of four or five teams on December 13.
Following England’s 5-0 win over Ireland, Tuchel has avoided a promotion play-off as his first assignment.
This means he will embark on a fresh Qualifying campaign for the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026.
How do the 2026 World Cup European Qualifiers work?
A total of 16 Uefa nations will compete at the tournament – an increase of three from the previous edition in 2022.
The European Qualifiers are scheduled to begin in March 2025 and end with the play-offs precisely a year later.
Teams will play each other home and away.
Nations drawn in groups of five will start Qualifying in March and sides drawn in groups of four start their campaigns in September.
All groups conclude in November 2025.
The 12 group winners qualify directly, with the four remaining berths determined by play-offs involving the 12 group runners-up.
Due to the Nations League play-offs in March, it means only four groups will be complete as of December 13.
Forgotten England stars could benefit from Tuchel appointment
WITH Thomas Tuchel announced as the next England manager, a few forgotten stars might be hopeful of a return to the international set up.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager usually uses a 3-4-3 formation.
That could provide an opening for Mason Mount, who’s not been involved in the England set-up since the World Cup in 2022.
The now Manchester United star enjoyed his most successful spell under Tuchel while the pair were at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel could also offer lifelines to other previously capped players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Eric Dier.
RLC has excelled since his move to AC Milan and with England struggling to find a partner for Rice, he could be the surprise answer.
Meanwhile, Dier played for Tuchel at Bayern Munich as part of a back-three last season.
The defender did enough to convince the club to make his loan move permanent after he had fallen out of favour at Tottenham.
Click here to see the full England XI who could play under Tuchel.