The Thomas Farley, Thornton Heath

The Thomas Farley is a large three storey corner pub that is on Thornton Heaths main shopping street. Once inside this pub was quite smart and looked well looked after,i sat at a small table which was decent enough. The pub is a greene King tied house and there were two real ales on the bar i had a drink of Greene King IPA which was decent enough but nothing special the other beer was GK Abbot. This is a decent pub that is let down by the beers is has on. I was surprised how empty the pub was on my saturday dinner visit. Pub visited 3/9/2005

The Thomas Farley is a surprisingly attractive Greene King pub on Thornton Heath High Street. A large J shaped bar counter with an impressive bar back including a nice integral clock, serves a similarly shaped room that was clearly once separated into different rooms. The bar counter is lined with large lamps on tall brass pillars and there are several big vases full of colourful fresh flowers which create a very pleasant appearance. A high arched ceiling and marble effect pillars enhance the look and there is a very nice cut-away section of ceiling filled with a decorative floral design, some overhanging plants and a large lamp. There is a good deal of seating throughout including nice U shaped banquettes under the front windows and more regular table and chairs down the side of the room. Brewerania and lots of local photos of old provide plentiful distraction for the eye and a grand staircase on the right hand wall leads to the first floor, although I didn’t get to explore up there. At the rear of the main room there is doorway, above which a long row of trophies are lined, which leads into a pool room with three tables. A banner above the door claims it is the ‘Best pub pool venue’. The pub is named after a local landowner and an inscription on the servery reads “Thomas Farley of good cheer, wit and spirit drank his last ale and bade farewell”. Three hand pumps brought that most dispiriting sight of Greene King IPA triple clipped. I tried a quick half and thought it was kept fairly well, but surely they could shift some Abbot or Old Speckled Hen as well? The barmaid was quite friendly and chatted away to the three customers who were in on my Friday afternoon visit. This is worth a look for the smart interior which has been kept much better than any of the other local pubs, but the lack of beer choice means that it’s not somewhere you’ll want to linger.