The Bear, Camberwell, SE5

Originally the Station Hotel and at one time part of the Jack Beard’s chain, this dates from the late 19th century, the brown faience tiling probably applied later and known as the Bear since around 2012, once a Watney’s pub as evinced by one of their roundels above the sign. The interior is very stripped out, bare boarded floor, plain white walls, ugly bare plasterboard ceiling, utilitarian furniture with décor taking the form of a token snatch of trendy prints and decoratively stacked logs in the fireplace, light coming from hanging sconces with dim filament bulbs, or to be more accurate: bulbs hanging from cheap black plastic flexes. The khazi deserves a special mention: walls of bare pink gypsum plaster, the cubicle diligently fashioned from terribly tatty chipboard panel partitions; why didn’t they save more money and just buy a shower curtain? Back in the bar and the one element of note is the rear shelving to the left-hand side, home to a multitude of racked vinyl LPs and two decks – probably Technics 1200s or similar – presided over by a DJ who resembled a young Princess Anne, her loud music making conversation impossible. Customers are resolutely studenty types, no doubt drawn from the multitude of higher education institutes that crowd the immediate vicinity, all revelling in Freshers’ Week. A single pump was drawing Exmoor Gold at a laughable £6.40 a pint, with a pH of at least 3, served by a vacant barman. The student crowd probably love this place and don’t drink cask beer; I’ll leave them and their cockapoo haircuts to it.

Official site of The Bear - www.thebearcamberwell.com

Official site of The Bear - www.thebearcamberwell.com

Large street corner pub with big front room with a hockey stick shaped bar.Usual distressed interior with minimal décor.16 keg craft beers and 4 handpumps with only Burning Sky -aurora and Siren -Vermont tea party.Dinky rear space for smokers.Good selection of beers and reasonably priced.