The Mayflower, Rotherhithe, SE16

This is a Greene King pub, and when I was in there on Monday lunchtime only the usual suspects were on. There used to be a pub called The Ship on this site, and more recently it was call The Spread Eagle until the 60s. To my mind this is a very attractive pub. It’s tucked away down a backstreet behind Rotherhithe tube station, so is not the sort of place that you are likely to stumble upon by accident. It has a narrow frontage, but inside seems larger than it ought to be, and leads to some decking overhanging the river at the back. It has also avoided the temptation to modernise itself with the sort of unsympathetic makeover that we have seen happen to so many other traditional pubs. It retains all the nooks and crannies that give it its unique atmosphere, crammed with settles, and normal tables and chairs, and the witty epithets remain on just about all the flat surfaces. Both the exterior and interior featured in several episodes of “The Brief” legal series. Much of the decor is maritime based of course, but I did spot a couple of muskets hanging from the ceiling, alongside what looks like a ship’s spar. Nonetheless, it has gone upmarket, and it’s no longer the traditional backstreet locals’ pub that it once was. The food menu is on a blackboard, offering such favourites as broccoli and Swiss cheese quiche for £10.50; cod and chips for £11.50 - any American tourist worth his or her salt would expect fish and chips to be on the menu. The beer isn’t cheap either – GKIPA at £3.20 a pint is not particularly good for a very ordinary beer. This is now a tourist destination pub, playing on its historical association with the fact that the original Mayflower was built a few hundred yards to the East, before setting sail for the new world in 1620. It’s worth a visit because of its attractive interior and superb riverside setting, but don’t expect a traditional backstreet local, or cheap beer or food!