Pubs for Saturday

Evening all,

Any London folk got any recommendations for pubs Saturday? In London for the weekend for the AEW wrestling so taking in the mighty reds!

Staying in Clapham and will be walking to Plough Lane from Tooting Broadway, so anything round that end works!

Cheers!

 

It’s been a while since I’ve been but the markets in Tooting have loads of street food vendors and had a craft beer place selling a couple of taps and lots of cans. Some old pubs on the high street but the names escape me. Think it might be a greene king that’s the fanciest with an old elaborate bar.

Clapham wasn’t my favourite though the windmill was nice inside, think that was a youngs.

 

Nice one mate, will check them out!

 

I’ll have a better think tomorrow, one of my books for walks (hidden London) has one for Tooting, so I can have a look and dig it out if you’re spending time round there.

 

Lovely stuff sir, look forward to it!

 

I'm calling in the Earlsfield at side of station, then walk down to The Leather Bottle, doubt I'll get in The Corner Pin as it looks an home pub. Travelling up from Brighton as we'd booked bank holiday weekend away for Mod Weekend.

 

One of my first experiences of beer in London was en route to Plough Lane. It was about 84 and the supporters coach offloaded us at a pub in Merton.

I can’t remember who’s bitter they sold, but it was flat as a fart and tasted of sausages.

 

Do you watch the John Rogers vids on YouTube mate?

 

I don't tend to watch anything on YouTube if I can help it to be honest, so I'm not aware of who John Rogers is.

 

Dug out the book. It's vol 4 of London's Hidden Walks by Stephen Millar. We've literally done every walk now and given our situation, they've been a bit of a godsend given they often take you off the beaten track and very few people are around. Especially at the times we do them! We've not been in the places, just know of them, so I can't say if they are good or not.

So this walk starts at tooting bec and finishes at tooting broadway. It's just under 2 miles (happy to take images of the pages if you want to do it fully and read up if you've the time) and I'll outline a couple of things it mentions.

Pub 1 it mentions is the Wheatsheaf near Tooting Bec station. It was due to be bought by a Supermarket and Sadiq Khan stepped in to save it. It's since been upgraded and is supposedly quite a trendy place with a Victorian facade,

The area used to have a bit of a music hall vibe back in the day, so several of the buildings you see were former halls or picture palaces.

Mirch Masala is Sadiq Khans regular haunt.

The highlights of the walk are probably the two markets side by side. Tooting and Broadway markets. So if you do nothing else, I'd have a nosey round and grab a drink or a bit of food given the huge amount of choices you have in them. There was an italian pasta place I think I heard mentioned in TimeOut but again, I can't vouch personally.

Pub 2 is the Castle, a Youngs which was built in 1832 and had a really elaborate interior (well, it looked elaborate through the windows early in the morning!)

By the time you get to the other tube station, tooting broadway, left of that is a bingo hall. It began as a cinema in the 30's and then became a music hall with acts like Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lee Lewis, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Carmen Miranda and many others. The Bee Gees played their last concert there. It has the most stunning interior were the bingo hall actually is and I recommend you go in. When we went in, an attendant saw we had a guide book and asked us if we wanted to see behind the scenes. So he took us to a locked area upstairs which had the most incredibly elaborate panelling and wooden ceiling. Sadly it was all closed off and in the dark so very few people get to see it, but really nice of the guy to show us and give us a bit of detail.

There are a few pubs and eateries further down that way, a very impressive Library and eventually St Nicholas Church which had a nice facade.

There's a 3 mile walk for Clapham too. Personally, I'm not that fussed with Clapham. Some lovely properties but it's all a bit sanitised. St Johns Hill side has a very long run of bars and eateries. I quite like a bit of edge and decay and Clapham feels a bit too polished, but the last time I went St Johns Hill side, it was decent. But again, I've not been that way often, but I do remember the Windmill having a really nice interior and being very popular. I'd guess it's still a Youngs which has pretty ropey beer. The 'special' really isn't! It's on Clapham Common near the Mount Pond.

But wherever you go, there'll be somewhere to eat or drink. There always is in London, whichever bit you're in.

If you want to ask anything or want more detail, just shout and I'll do my best.

Enjoy, and most importantly... bring home 3 points!