The British Oak, Blackheath, SE3

This is a traditional, two bar local's pub that feels a bit off the beaten track but is clearly an important amenity to the local community. You enter into the small front bar - an L-shaped, bare boarded Public Bar space with limited chair and high stool seating options around the perimeter and a very large servery with a nice panelled counter and attractive etched glass bar back, sadly diminished by some unsightly Pieminister branding. The walls are a bit plain, despite efforts to decorate them with brewery mirrors, old enamel adverts, a clock and more pie related branding. In places, the plaster has been stripped away to reveal patches of bare brick in a seemingly deliberate attempt to stylise the room. In true Public Bar fashion, there's a juke box and slot machine to the left and a dartboard to the right. There's no connecting door to the larger rear bar, which was hosting live music in the form of an open mic night when I arrived, so a quick trip outside was required to check out this packed room - a sharp contrast to the one bloke sat in the front bar. The rear room is a much nicer space with some lovely two-thirds height panelling and lincrusta covered uppers. There's some great breweriana on display plus paintings, gig posters and a distressing amount of signs making clear the pub's policy on drug use. The Pieminister branding suddenly made sense when I spotted a pie counter to the right of the servery, which has the same counter as the front bar, but a more modern and dull bar back. Seating is plentiful and a makeshift performance area had been created for the plucky musicians, along the right-hand wall. This place made it into a recent edition of the Good Beer Guide and still offers two cask options across four handpulls, with the choice on this visit being between Harvey's Sussex Best and Sharps Twin Coast. The Sussex Best was in good nick and definitely still GBG worthy, although I believe they have since dropped out of the Guide. The staff were all very nice and there was a great atmosphere in the back room thanks to the music and a busy, appreciative crowd. This is a nice example of a traditional, two bar, suburban boozer that feels like it's trapped in a bit of a time warp. The beer was well-kept, if nothing out of the ordinary and there were enough traditional features to make the place worth a quick look, despite the modern intrusions. Glad I made it out to this one and undoubtedly a good pub to have on your doorstep if you live in these parts. Date of visit - 22nd October 2024

This is a mid-19th century pub with as mentioned, an impressive first floor veranda and CAMRA heritage rating of *. Aside from some attractive etched glass and pretty surround to the bar back, the interior is a rather basic affair up front, with modern boarding, pale grey wainscoting, white thereon up, a little bare brick with some modern lighting fixtures. However, it’s the rear saloon to this two-room format which gets CAMRA’s juices flowing, with interwar years panelling, viewable on their and the pub’s website; there’s a jukebox and dartboard, serving a local crowd of mixed age. There were multiple accolades mounted above the picture rail, attesting to years of quality cellarmanship, but with two unused pumps (on a Friday) then Hardy & Hanson’s Bitter (advertised as ‘Only £3.40 a pint’) then Sussex Best at £2.75 and ok, nothing special so I don’t know what justifies its inclusion in the 2024 GBG. This isn’t the most exciting place and is obviously more enjoyed by the locals; the nearby Royal Standard isn’t my idea of a perfect pub, but I marginally preferred it to this place, the only thing close to a traditional locals’ boozer in SE3.

The British Oak has now managed to make the latest Good Beer Guide. It's quite an impressive looking pub from the outside with an attractive veranda to the front. Inside, there are a couple of rooms. The public bar to the front left was empty apart from one solitary bloke sat at the end of the bar. Instead, I chose the saloon bar, which has a separate entrance. This was much busier and is quite spacious. There was a reasonable crowd of locals in. A few more were sat in the garden to the rear, despite it being cold and dark. The beer range was not up to much. Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter is the regular beer. The guest was Butcombe Best. Keg options included Adnams Mosaic, Jubel Beer Cut With Peach & Greene King Level Head. Fizzy ciders were Adnams Wild Wave & Sandford Orchards Devon Red. Having never tried it before, I went for the Jubel. Probably quite a refreshing drink to have during the summer, but I'm not convinced of its merits on a cold autumn night.