Skehans, Nunhead, SE14

Having made a visit to the excellent Chai's Garden Thai restaurant which is located in a former stable block in this pub's beer garden, it seemed daft not to have a quick look in the pub itself before departing. It's a nice Victorian street corner pub, originally known as the Duke of Connaught before changing it's name to McConnells and then Skehans, reflecting the Irish ownership over the years. The pub is bare boarded with a typical L shaped interior, offering button backed banquettes, standard chairs and low stools as seating options throughout. The windows are frosted and have the pub's name inset into them, whilst the walls are covered with the usual range of Irish themed memorabilia including Guinness signs, horse racing items and old black and white photographs including some to the rear showing Croke Park and other Irish sporting venues. The servery is quite nice and traditional in appearance, despite an unusual 'Swiss Cottage' style bar back, and has a few old artefacts including bottles and battered cases stacked up on the canopy. There are also numerous musical instruments dotted around the room and the pub puts on regular live music, with a local musician belting them out in the front left corner during our stay. A TV screen is hung in one corner of the room, turned off on this visit, and there is a book swap, pool table and juke box to appeal to various customer groups. The garden is very well kept and has a nice shelter at one end, as well as the aforementioned restaurant with its high gabled roof and odd décor that includes a stuffed owl, old organ and a large candelabra among other things. Service here was very good and the food was well received by everyone in our large party. Just the two rather predicable ales on handpull unfortunately - Fuller's London Pride and Sharp's Doom Bar. The Doom Bar was actually kept very well but after three pints of it I was more than happy to move on elsewhere. This is a shame as I found the staff and locals very welcoming and I would like to think they could swap one of these for something a little more interesting (perhaps from the local Brockley Brewery?). I would certainly recommend this pub for the food or for anyone looking for decent live music in the area, and I quite liked the fact that it seemed to be well looked after with a good customer base and community feel to it. However, the lack of interesting beers would put me off making this a regular watering hole.

Luckily it has started doing real since the previous poster’s visit. They had Spitfire and London Pride on during my visit. I saw a sign advertising Thai food in the evenings, and Sunday roasts for £6.50. Also advertised were quiz nights on Sundays, and live music on Saturdays. The building looks like a late Victorian edifice to me, but inside the only thing left from that time are the cornices on the ceiling, which gives a clue as to the original multi-room layout of the pub. But it’s not too bad for all that, and a darn sight better than its near neighbours. Seating is green upholstered banquettes, small stools, and normal chairs, as well as a mix of small round, and rectangular tables. There’s a lot of bric-a-brac around the place, some pretty tatty, but some interesting nonetheless. On the bar gantry there’s all manner of stuff, including model elephants, jugs, paraffin lamps, etc, etc, and behind the bar counter there are what looks like three large model Swiss cottage fronts. Very strange. There was a TV on showing some daytime TV rubbish. It’s not a brilliant pub, but it did have a couple of real ales on, which is a bit of a result in this part of the world, and the Pride I had was OK. It’s not worth going out of your way to visit, but alright for a pint if you happen to be nearby.