White Swan, Pimlico, SW1

This is now a Punch pub. There were six handpumps on the bar – two were offering London Pride; two were advertising Doom Bar and Broadside but were not available (being conditioned as I recall) another had Young’s Bitter; and the sixth was apparently unused. I didn’t eat, but the menu looked to be typical pubco fair. Judging by the exterior, it looks to be a late Victorian pub, with the trademark swan in relief above the corner bar. Inside it looked every bit a pubco pub. Flooring is mainly bare-boarded with what looks like some pretty old planking, but with some heavy-duty flagstones around the immediate bar area, and a couple of raised carpeted areas. There was the usual mix of seating consisting of normal tables and chairs, some high tables and high stools, some banquettes; and an example of the rarely seen and particularly non user friendly high banquette and high table combination – the sort where there is little chance of your feet reaching the floor and thus are left dangling. Didn’t see any sofas though. Most of the walls are painted magenta, but otherwise nothing special about the decor – mainly bog standard prints presumably bought in job lots by the pubco. There were the usual games machines and one-armed bandits in evidence; the TV monitor was switched off; and there was some music being played a bit too loudly for my taste. But I would prefer not to have to listen to it at all, so I am perhaps not typical, and I suppose other customers might welcome it. It’s a decent enough pub as pubco pubs go. There’s nothing particularly bad about it, but nothing special either, and certainly not worth going out of your way to visit.