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#1 |
6.15pm - 7.15pm |
Manor Arms - A traditional pub just off the High Street and just off the radar of the younger crowd that throng the main street of a weekend. It's a friendly place and offers a pretty decent range of beer on the hand pumps. It's small size (even with the tent out the back in the beer garden) but the atmosphere is jovial and the beer is good and you can't say fairer than that. |
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#2 |
7.15pm - 8.00pm |
Bread & Roses - As its name signifies, the Bread and Roses has strong links with socialism, and it's owned by the trade union-backed Workers Beer Company. But working class style it isn't, if images of flat caps and northern club comics come to mind, you're in for a disappointment. This place is very 21st century and cool - and upmarket. There may be three hand pumps offering traditional ales, but there's also a good wine list and an impressive array of spirits if you're in a cocktail mood. The food is pretty swish and reasonably priced and there's live music at weekends. |
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#3 |
8.00pm - 8.45pm |
The Stonhouse - Hidden in the back streets away from Clapham High Street et al, this is a bit more upmarket than your average pub. Decent beer, a very modern interior - love the cast aluminium barstools with lions claw feet - a slightly compact but leafy beer garden, what more do you need? |
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#4 |
8.45pm - 9.30pm |
The Sun - Like Marmite, you'll love or hate this one. The crowds that gather to enjoy sun and lager here (in the beer garden and the side-road) testify to its popularity with the young of Clapham and beyond. Inside and out, it's a pleasant spot, with a large bright main bar. The yard bar only opens occasionally, whilst the upstairs bar is usually open evenings - also bright and airy, and sports real (gas) fires in winter. There's a pleasant artiness about the place and a curious fresco upstairs. |
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#5 |
9.30pm - 10.15pm |
Prince Of Wales - This is one of those pubs that induces atmosphere by hanging an extraordinary range of tat from the ceiling. The Prince of Wales is still a busy little boozer that's neither too down-market nor too pretentious. Just how many pubs sport a buffalo's head on the wall? On our last visit we spotted some new ales on hand pumps, though the Hoegaarden always proves too strong a pull in the summer, and the Guinness in winter so the ale remains untried. |
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#6 |
10.15pm - 11.00pm |
Rose & Crown - We had our fears for this one. The long standing landlord and landlady had waved farewell and we thought they would take all the charm of their idiosyncratic real ale mecca with them. However, despite the changes in décor (out go the privacy of the old booths, in come some more tables and chairs and some enlarged photos of Ye Olde Clapham) there's still the essence of the old pub here. The beers still have the regularly rotating guests of old (as well as Greene King and decently kept), to entice any passing ale fans in, but devotees to fizzy beer will find themselves well-catered for. The pub grub still seems good value, whilst an eye cast at the wine-list was a temptation hard to resist. As far as we can see the old claim of the Rose & Crown being "Clapham's only traditional pub" still has a certain truth in it. |
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#7 |
11.00pm - 1.00am |
The Alexandra - is only 10 seconds walk (crawl) away from Clapham Common tube, so convenient for getting home, though for those who want more, Clapham High Street is nearby, with bars and clubs open most of the night. |
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