Bricklayers Arms, Beckenham

Certainly one of Beckenhams better pubs, unfortunately it was afflicted by more of the same wedding party that had filled out the White Horse just up the street, the bar was several deep, I did manage to get a pint of Proper Job, a beer that seems is a fixture here, a shame it was uncomfortably full at the time of my visit but I saw enough to like.

Official site of Bricklayers Arms - bricklayersarms.co

Official site of Bricklayers Arms - bricklayersarms.co

The Bricklayers Arms is a small looking pub that is situated at the far end of Beckenhams high street. Once inside there is a smallish single room which is wrapped around the bar on three sides,the bar faces on entry,the floor is bare boarded,the seating is bench type and small stools. There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of St Austell Proper Job,which went down very well,the other real ales were St Austell Tribute and Youngs Special. There were TVs showing the Scotland v Wales rugby game. The pub was fairly busy with drinkers on my Saturday dinner visit. I quite liked this pub. Pub visited 18/3/2017

This friendly local's pub in the heart of Beckenham has found its way into the Good Beer Guide in recent years, usurping the longer-term entrants at the other end of town. The pub has a horseshoe shaped interior, wrapping around a centrally positioned servery. The room has nice old floorboards, half panelled walls and old lattice windows. Banquette seating to the left of the entrance offers the comfiest spot to sit, with just a single table and some low stools to the front right and a couple of tables and chairs down either side of the bar. There was a roaring fireplace under a large plain mirror to the right of the entrance, which was most welcome on a bitterly cold evening, and there was a TV screen in this corner which was turned off in favour of quiet music from a radio station, although live sport was heavily promoted. The most notable feature on entering is the full size model of Spiderman, who can be seen climbing the right hand wall, although I didn't have it in me to try and figure out why. There's a small patio area to the left of the pub, accessed by a side door, with some benches, whilst a few other outdoor seating options can be found to the front of the pub. Behind the servery there is a small back room with a couple more small tables in a carpeted area with a dartboard. Various CAMRA magazines and flyers for local events were dotted around the pub and live music was promoted as well. There were four ales on handpull when I arrived - Youngs Special, Bath Gem and the St Austell duo of Tribute and Proper Job, whilst a real cider occupied the final pump. The Proper Job was £3.30 once the barmaid pointed out that I could get a 50p discount with a CAMRA membership card and it was in excellent shape, certainly worthy of its current GBG listing. The barmaid seemed pretty friendly and the locals were a pleasant and chatty bunch. Beckenham doesn't have a great deal going for it on the pub front, so the renaissance of this pleasant boozer is a great boon for the town. It has a couple of odd quirks that might displease the traditionalist and perhaps lacks enough seating during busier times, but I really enjoyed my visit here and wouldn't hesitate to pop in again.