{"id":5130,"date":"2025-01-27T23:14:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T23:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5130"},"modified":"2025-01-27T23:14:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T23:14:17","slug":"deptford-and-its-neighbours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/01\/27\/deptford-and-its-neighbours\/","title":{"rendered":"Deptford and its neighbours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Peckham has recently gained a reputation for \u00fcber-cool craft beer bars while, a few miles east, Greenwich has many very busy historic pubs. What about the area in between? Deptford\u2019s pubs are still well known for being the origin of a couple of famous bands in the late 1970s but what of their real ale 45 years later? I set out on a walk to see if cask ale is in dire straits or if pubs are still feeling the cost-of-living and post-Covid squeeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first stop on my walk from New Cross to Greenwich via Deptford was the Shirker\u2019s Rest<\/a><\/strong>, a micropub about five minutes\u2019 walk from New Cross Gate station. It was launched as recently as 2022 and rapidly achieved Good Beer Guide status. The bar has four handpumps for cask ale, usually featuring unusual breweries and often from London. I had Elusive Brewing\u2019s Bayside California Common and Oregon Trail American IPA, along with Quetzal, a green hopped red ale from Moot Brew Co.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Not as small as many micropubs, it\u2019s still on the cosy side and, as its name suggests, it\u2019s a comfortable place to while away a couple of hours watching the rest of the world go by, albeit slowly as it\u2019s bang in the middle of the grinding traffic of the New Cross A2 one-way system! The d\u00e9cor is quirkily modern with dark green walls, a varied selection of seating and must be one of the few pubs to have polystyrene tiles on the ceiling (presumably a hangover from the building\u2019s previous use).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shirker\u2019s Rest has been praised by 2023 Beer Writer of the Year, David Jesudason, for being an inclusive pub where a diverse mix of locals along with some students create a communal atmosphere. It\u2019s handy for students, being directly opposite Goldsmith\u2019s University, and, perhaps not coincidentally, hosts an art gallery that shares the additional seating space upstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Shirker\u2019s Rest I headed towards New Cross past the Marquis of Granby<\/a><\/strong>. This corner pub has been painted with a huge pastoral mural of remote mountains, which, according to a sign in the window, is designed to calm road rage outbreaks at this busy junction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing along New Cross Road, the Amersham Arms<\/a><\/strong>, opposite New Cross station, doesn\u2019t offer any real ale (keg only on my visit, anyway) but is worth a look, at least from the outside, for its iconic classic London boozer appearance, particularly the \u2018Take Courage\u2019 sign across the frontage. A few decades ago, this slogan could be found attached to many London pubs. The famous London brewery is long gone, although Courage Best and Directors (brewed who knows where) seem to pop up on occasion in random pubs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Deptford side of the pub is also covered in a huge mural. Rather than have the Marquis of Granby\u2019s soothing effect, this one is likely to raise the blood pressure, of CAMRA members at least. In a sign of the times, it extols drinkers to \u2018taste the soul of Madri\u2019: that exotic \u2018Spanish\u2019 lager brewed in Tadcaster. Madri drinkers are very much the target market of the pub now, assuming they\u2019re the young, hip things Molson Coors are chasing. The Amersham Arms Is known primarily as a performance space with music into the early hours most days and legendary comedy nights (Sundays and Mondays) which have nurtured many now famous stand-up comedians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further towards Deptford is the Royal Albert<\/a><\/strong>. This pub was given the classic Antic treatment in the eclectic pub chain\u2019s heyday: mismatched antique furniture, esoteric background music, velvety fringed lampshades. The Chesterfield banquettes that are now artfully ragged were probably already distressed, if not traumatised, when the pub was transformed from a gritty live music venue in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A distressed Chesterfield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pub was transferred from Antic to Portobello Brewery in 2020 and features their beers, along with well-chosen guests. I had a good pint of Five Points Best. It remains a fantastic pub with a mellow atmosphere although perhaps there\u2019s a little more emphasis on the food compared to my previous visits. We were asked on entry if we would be dining but were given an equally warm welcome as drinkers. The food does look good, cooked in the open kitchen to the right of the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jam Circus<\/a><\/strong> was previously an Antic pub called the Job Centre because, before conversion into a pub, it was, well, a job centre! I\u2019m not sure why it has the new name (spelled out in a classic loopy 1970s font). I neither spotted any jam nor a circus inside. It\u2019s a great big open space, like a Wetherspoons designed by hipsters. Contrary to some reports, it serves real ale. I had a Black Sheep Pathmaker and a Sharp\u2019s Sea Fury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrying on along Deptford High Street, under the railway bridge and crossing Creek Road, brought me to the highlight of the afternoon, the Dog & Bell<\/a><\/strong>. This pub has steadily gained semi-legendary status among south London real ale drinkers and pub connoisseurs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tucked away on an estate between the busy Rotherhithe-Greenwich road and the Thames, after turning into Prince Street it\u2019s impossible to miss the bright red frontage. A huge stack of empty casks at the end of the street emphasises that the Dog & Bell turns over a prodigious amount of real ale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s more red inside in the left-hand bar with its red carpet matching the rest of the d\u00e9cor. I was amazed to read that this side bar was only added to the pub in 2022 but it integrates with the rest of the pub like it\u2019s been here a century. That might explain its curiously luxurious ambience, with mirrors behind and still more soft red furnishings. It\u2019s a world away from the Jam Circus\u2019s austerity. As was noted by beer bloggers Boak and Bailey, it\u2019s as if you\u2019ve wandered through a space-time wormhole from Deptford into an upmarket Mayfair pub by mistake. Unlike a West End nightspot, it has a bar billiards table. Give me that over roulette any day! There\u2019s a conservatory and outside drinking area at the back. It even holds an annual sausage festival which goes to prove the pub has virtually everything a CAMRA member might want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the real ale, there\u2019s five handpumps, with Fuller\u2019s London Pride on regularly and four changing beers from the likes of Purity, Iron Pier, Salcombe and Larkins. I stuck to the excellent Redemption Big Chief.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bar billiards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Over Deptford Creek, maritime Greenwich has plenty of pubs in its historic centre. I headed instead for a pub close to Greenwich station, slightly away from the Saturday night crowds by the river. The Morden Arms<\/a><\/strong> is well known for having neither a pub sign nor its name on the outside. Dating from a similar period to the Amersham Arms, it\u2019s also an imposing Victorian building and looked spectacular when lit in the dark (sign or not).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Inside, the pub has been opened out to form one large room. The open plan space is regularly used to stage live music, for which the pub has gained a reputation. Unlike the Amersham Arms, this music pub does a good selection of real ale from the likes of Mighty Oak, Forest Road and Iron Pier. I had a pint of the latter\u2019s Wealdway IPA. (practical tip; despite reports that the pub only takes cash, I was able to pay by card on my visit).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The corner by the fireplace looked like it had been set up in expectation of the arrival of a live band but the nearby station was calling me. The part of south-east London I\u2019d travelled through has been referred to in the past as a beer desert; I felt like I\u2019d found more than a few oases.
Mike Clarke<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: sad news for anyone who fancies pie and mash before a visit to the Dog & Bell. Manze\u2019s in Deptford High Street closed on 25 January after 100 years. The owner is retiring and no-one in the family wants to take over. The owner is a relative of Michael Manze who once had a chain of 13 pie and mash shops across London. The shop, 204 Deptford High Street, is Grade II-listed but there is no information as to what will happen to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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