The Plumbers Arms, SW1

In my honest opinion a fairly bang average pub in Belgravia run by Greene King with the brewery’s identikit look very obvious both inside and out. Four handpumps the bar with the usual Abbott, IPA and a best bitter from the GK stable badged for the pub. The forth was reversed but looked like it had been Yardbird. Went for the GK IPA which was very average, so well in keeping with the pub. Only real point of interest here is it’s backstory with an infamous incident in the 1970’s involving a local neighbour, something the pub management seems happy to celebrate, given the name of their function room and their badged ale.

This is a late Georgian pub, famous for being the place into which the blood-soaked Lady Lucan stumbled, having been attacked by her husband Lord Lucan, who had just murdered the nanny by mistake; yup, it’s that type of area. Despite being in a very desirable residential location, it’s closed at weekends, meaning that it depends on office workers and tourists for custom; clearly the more discerning locals drink elsewhere. The interior is typical identikit Greene King, so I can’t be bothered to describe it as it’s recently well covered by BF. Ales: one pump reversed, Abbot, GK IPA and something called Gangly Ghoul which was utterly sour; I didn’t attempt another sip and made for the door. This is by no means a great pub, but it’s worth a stab.

Greene King tied house,with some outside seating to the front and quite a small interior.There is a jumble of furniture types,sofas,high tables,dining tables but with little order and looking worn.The bar runs along the left hand wall and the only charming spot is beyond the bar ,down a slope to a small red leather bench seat in front of an unused fireplace with a good mirror above and at the bottom of the steps leading to the first floor dining area called the Lucan Suite.However the presence of a flatscreen here may impact the atmosphere when it's switched on. There are a lot of Lucan references here but seemingly for the titillation of tourists.The internal paint scheme of grey and light blue does help a little,the muzak was decent,but the main body of the pub is featureless. There are 4 handpumps but only one operational with GK IPA,the Abbott was settling.So I swerved onto keg Beavertown Gamma Ray (£6.50) ,which along with their Neck Oil seemed a much better option than the single cask ale.The food is from the corporate GK menu,not overly expensive for the area but totally bland ,food service rubbish. In such an upmarket location it is surprising to see such a sloppy operation with a lack of care.It could be some much better if only it could escape the dead hand of Greene King ownership.

Official site of Plumbers Arms - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of Plumbers Arms - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Another nondescript pub with weak real ale. Point off for serving a pint instead of a half.

Yet another Taylor Walker town pub, this one is not a good example for the firm. The staff are very inefficient, the regulars mostly unwelcoming. A health and safety hazard is presented by iron racks suspended over the bar, which caused a certain amount of amusement yet obtained no apology (just a lot of tutting from the barman) when one of our number leant forward and cut his head on one. Two ales on – I had a pint of Skinners which was OK but overpriced for the area. The atmosphere wasn't a happy one, so I doubt we'll be lead back anytime soon.

This is a small L-shaped Taylor Walker branded outlet with boarded flooring, lots of dark stained wood and Lincrusta ceilings at two heights, painted cream and red. Mixed seating with the usual high tables in the windows, swirly wallpaper, fireplace on the end wall and a recessed bit of shelving housing a few old hardbacks, notably a selection of Dickens novels. This pub was the place that Countess Lucan escaped to back in November 1974, having been attacked by Lord Lucan who had also murdered the family nanny a few doors along. No such drama during my visit thankfully, a few eating from the standard Taylor Walker menu, beers were Pride, Woodforde's Wherry and Harvey's Sussex Best with one pump being reversed clipped. I had the Wherry, this came to £3.42 with a CAMRA card discount of 10%, not sure if all TW branded pubs are doing this now. Music played, too loud for an afternoon while a news channel rolled by on mute. There is an upstairs room available for hire. A fairly indifferent place as such chain pubs tend to be, my beer was a little towards flat and the service casual, ok for a quick pint, there is a partitioned off bit of pavement to the front with a couple of ledges but no seating.

I found myself in the Taylor Walker branded Plumbers Arms late on Friday night when the pub was busy with a lively crowd who were all talking above the dance music that was playing. There is a large plasma screen that was showing muted rolling news, not that anyone was watching it. The bar is located on the left hand wall and two of the four hand pumps were off leaving Beartown Brewery’s Ginger Beer and Okells Aile as the cask options. There is also a standard draught selection and I’m pretty sure that I spotted a Peroni font. The Taylor Walker Great British Pub Menu is present here and the kitchen is open daily until 20:00. There are a few TW branded pubs in this area and they are all basically the same. I wouldn’t walk past one of the other ones to get to this one.