This delightfully ordinary public house is attractive but straightforward on the outside, simple and functional on the inside. The door on Horsleydown Lane leads into a classic public bar, with half matchboarded walls and a red lino floor. The dark woodwork, almost black ceiling and open fire, create a warm and cosy atmosphere.
Through a low and narrow gap in the wall, is a long narrow bar, where customers relax and play cards. Again, simply furnished but comfortable. An upright piano, once ubiquitous in a London pub, is a welcome rarity.
Three further rooms; a pool room, a games room with dart board and fruit machines and a comparatively luxurious lounge, complete the lower floor. There's also a dining room upstairs. It doesn't end there, a pleasant patio garden is somehow squeezed between it and the adjacent building.
This is a refreshingly old fashioned pub. What's most astonishing is that it's still divided, each room having its own individual purpose; so much more interesting than open plan. Pubs like this were once commonplace but now are rare. Let's hope this one is left to be itself.
The 'tap room' is a place where brewery employees can sample the fruits of their labour. Breweries often own a pub nearby which is referred to as the brewery tap . The former Anchor Brewery is just a stones throw away on the rivers edge and was bought in 1787 by one of the legends of British brewing, John Courage. The Anchor Tap was his first pub.
paulk, 2008-09-10
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