Another trip away in the cause of football, this time a trip to deepest Surrey which did at least enable us to make a visit to a frequent CAMRA Pub of the Year award winner and one or two other decent pubs. If only the football could have delivered the goods....
The Thameslink train pulled into Carshalton railway station about an hour after leaving St Pancras, dropping us off before continuing on its journey to Brighton. Ah, it's just a commuter town, I'd thought. Indeed it is, being home of many of those, but other claims to fame include the fact that several of the members of Mud, including singer Les Gray, were born here, whilst former Prime Minister John Major and singer Cliff Richard also have local links. With a historic village centre complete with a couple of ponds, Carshalton is also home to the Institute of Refrigeration as well as several good pubs, two of which we managed to call in on a flying visit before going to see FC Halifax Town take on Sutton United a couple of miles up the road.
The first one we visited was the Railway Tavern, which not surprisingly was close to the station where we alighted. Down the ramp, then left, under the railway bridge and we were there. We walked in via an unusually high step into a quiet, spotlessly clean pub. A few generally older guys were sat around, chatting, whilst a friendly girl was looking after proceedings behind the bar. We ordered a pint of London Pride each, which was up to the usual standard without being anything outstanding (NBSS 3). As we were finishing our drinks the girl asked if we would like another one but we explained that we were on limited time as we had another pub to do and then had to get over to Sutton for the football to see our team take on the hosts. She then told us of a crawl around 9 good pubs in Carshalton which were all close to each other. Sounds like an excuse to go back, particularly if they are as friendly as this one....
It was not much further than we'd walked from the station to the next pub. Turn left and left again and not long after there it is. This is the Hope, which I had been wanting to visit for some time. And why would I want to visit a pub in the heart of Surrey's commuter belt? Well because it has been CAMRA National Pub of the Year or thereabouts several times and various friends with connections in the area had spoken highly of it.
To be honest, it didn't look anything special from the outside (opening image). Double-fronted, redbrick, Brewer's Tudor, but as I have learnt over the years you can't judge a pub by its cover. A familiar face emerged from within to flash v-signs as I was trying to take a picture. Town, or at least some of them, were in town. We walked in and several of the usual suspects had taken root in a corner of the pub, there were some of the guys based down South along with others who had set off from Halifax a couple of hours before us and were already several pints in as reflected in their collective cheery demeanour.
I looked around, to be honest it was rather unassuming and ordinary. But it was busy and there was a happy, chatty, lively, and friendly atmosphere. We went to get a beer, not too many on the board, not necessarily a bad thing. I went for a pint of bitter from Gravesend's Iron Pier brewery which was fine but, like other beers of theirs I have tried, it was nothing out of the ordinary (NBSS 3). The staff were doing a cracking job behind the bar with everyone served quickly so far as I could tell. I needed the loo which were at the back of what turned out to be a pretty Tardis-like pub. Most tables were occupied, people were happy and smiling, and ok, there were some football fans in there that may have swelled the numbers, but probably not by too many. A quick pint before we left, this time it was Knight of the Garter from the Windsor & Eton brewery, a Southern take on a blonde with plenty of malt in the bill (NBSS 3), and it was time to sort an Uber to take us to the VBS Stadium, otherwise known as Gander Green Lane, the home of Sutton United. As regards the Hope, it certainly has something about it and like the Railway I would be more than happy to visit again when I have more time to fully appreciate it. One for next season maybe.
Our Uber-XL did the normal thing you would expect when it arrived and waited in the car park at the side of the pub, which we hadn't realised at first as we waited on the road at the front of the pub for the stragglers to emerge from within. Eventually we twigged and shortly afterwards we were on our way to Sutton, arriving a few minutes later with a little drama to follow as one of our number struggled to clamber out from the back row of the taxi with those outside offering advice amidst the sniggers. With the captive freed, we walked the short distance to the away entrance, which was situated at the edge of some playing fields. It was my first visit to the ground which two years earlier had hosted League Two football before the club was relegated back to the National League after two seasons. A modest. low-level ground which was all standing for away fans, with a long stand running down the side of the pitch providing some cover. Town had won here 3-0 last year, but there was to be no repeat this time. A shocking first half performance saw two goals conceded to a Sutton side that had only won twice this season. It was a slightly better performance after the break with Town pressing forward more. A penalty was awarded which raised hope, as if scored it could have changed the course of the game. But it was missed - the 5th time out of 7 this season - and so Town came away with nothing and extended their number of games without a win to 5, the final score being Sutton United 2, FC Halifax Town 0. Not a good day at the football.
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| It started well but moments later the penalty was saved |
And then we went to Croydon....
There is a railway station, West Sutton, just up the road from the football ground, so we headed there to start our journey to West Croydon where we were stopping for the night. There was a quick change at the main Sutton station, and about 25 minutes later we arrived at our destination. We followed Google Maps for about 10 minutes to our Travelodge, which was situated in one of many of the tall tower blocks that dominate this part of the town centre. This was my first visit to Croydon save for a couple of visits with work many years ago. With a population of around 195,000 for the town, the wider borough of Croydon has around 409,000 residents, making it the most populous of the London boroughs with one of the largest commercial and retailing centres in the capital. It grew up as a market town in the Middle Ages with the production of charcoal, leather, and brewing all significant, and when the railways came in the 19th century it became a commuter town for the rapidly-expanding capital. In the 20th century, car manufacturing, and metalworking were important. It was also home to Croydon Airport, which was the main international airport for the country in the inter-war years before Heathrow and Gatwick came along, finally closing in 1959. Another interesting transport-related fact is that the borough is home to the only tram network in the South of England, and their rumble through the streets was a frequent feature of our short stay here.
We were not far from the old town centre and probably in daylight we would have been able to appreciate the place more, but the streets and pubs of the town were now in Saturday night mode. None more so than the George, a busy Wetherspoons a couple of minutes walk from the hotel, where the seats outside were fully occupied. Inside it was similarly busy, a typical Spoons with the usual kind of characters enjoying themselves. Beerwise, we opted for pints of Oakham Inferno, hardly an exciting choice but better than the usual Ruddles/Greene King IPA/Doom Bar/Old Speckled Hen fare that you get in Spoons. OK, but no cigar (NBSS 2.5).
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| The George, Croydon - typical Spoons |
It was about 5 minutes walk from the George to the next pub in the Good Beer Guide which, on the face of it, had more to offer. The Green Dragon, situated on the High Street is a Stonegate-owned pub offering up to 7 beers on hand pump. It is an attractive building, situated in a prominent position on a street corner, with a road leading off mysteriously to the side. Inside it was lively, big TV screens dominating, a youngish crowd but friendly enough. I ordered a pint of Rising Giant, a 4% triple-hopped American Pale Ale brewed by the Long Man brewery based in Polegate near Brighton which was pretty decent (NBSS 3). The pub though was slightly disappointing, with the sound level set to shout and the tables sticky in the absence of beer mats.
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| This is the Green Dragon in Croydon |
The next pub though was a cracker. It was just over 5 minutes walk away, down a slight incline, and then straight on and under a flyover and we arrived at the Royal Standard, which turned out to be a wonderful and welcoming neighbourhood pub. We walked in to this seemingly small pub where a group of locals were sat at the bar chatting away cheerily amongst themselves and the lady who was serving. On the bar were several Fullers beers in this former Fullers house which is now run by Admiral Taverns. I went however for a pint of Harvey's Sussex Bitter which seems to be a regular visitor to London's pubs these days. It was another decent pint (NBSS 3) but I have to say I was missing a clean blonde or a hazy pale which would have been no problem back home.
We sat with our pints in a room to the side of the main bar, enjoying the atmosphere of this friendly and unassuming pub which a visit to the toilets revealed had a few other nooks and crannies with additional seating. There is also apparently an outside beer garden across the road and beneath the flyover. A second pint here beckoned and this time I went for a pint of London Pride, which turned out to be the best pint of the day (NBSS 3.5). The Royal Standard, with the hum of conversation as its soundtrack, was the best pub we went in on our visit to Croydon.
We called in one more pub after re-tracing our steps back to the High Street, where after a short distance we came to the Spread Eagle, a large Grade ll-listed pub housed in a former bank opposite Croydon Town Hall. The exterior boasts many historical featured but inside it was a typical town centre pub which could have been anywhere in the country. The hand pumped beers were from Fullers, and I have to say my London Pride was pretty ordinary (NBSS 2.5). Food beckoned and so we headed back out on to the High Street and after about 5 minutes we came to Aachi's Indian Cuisine, where we each had a delicious and good value curry to bring the evening to a conclusion. A few doors away we'd passed a pub called the Crown & Pepper which was doing a roaring trade and is mentioned by David Jesudason in his book Desi Pubs. Here they sell Indian & Chinese food alongside pulling pints although according to CAMRA the hand pumps have now been removed.
The following morning we were up early to catch the train, this time from East Croydon which was just around the corner from the Travelodge. Leaving what seemed for a Sunday morning to be a very busy station we travelled through to London Bridge before transferring to the underground to get tover o Kings Cross. After a leisurely cup of tea in the Parcel Yard we caught the train back up north after, despite the football, another excellent weekend away....
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