The Cherry Tree, South Norwood, SE25

The pub is well described below and the only thing that has changed is just the England flag now adorns the ceiling above the bar. If was pretty lively on arrival about 5.30pm with most of the noise emanating from a couple of blokes playing pool cheered on (if that is the right description) from a small inebriated onlookers. Sitting at the front, there was no action around the dart board. Very bland keg offering. Exotic quaffs in here was the lager and pale ale from Sharp’s! Plenty of mainstream lagers plus a cider and Guinness, which I selected. Wasn’t really planning on kicking off the event with a pint of Guinness on first venture out of the spring sans jacket but you have to work with the hand you are dealt. Some decent music on at a decent volume helped with drowning out the irrational whooping over the continuous pool play. Didn’t look like the hand pumps were not operational because it was too hot (ok there is reported to be some higher temperatures on the way so maybe some cautious advance planning), rather there isn’t a market for it here. Handy for station and CP home games and locals but can’t see any reason for me to return here.

The handpump had a Doom Bar clip on it, but the barmaid/landlady said they don’t sell it during the summer because it goes off too quickly. She said that they should have it back on by September. I doubt whether I’ll make the effort of returning to see whether they do have it on then. Guinness was £2 a half. Something called Pravha Lager was on offer at £3.10 a pint, which I guess must be good value if you like fizzy drinks. There was no sign of food. The pub is the first thing you see as you exit Norwood Junction Station by the Station Rd exit. Red and blue colours dominate here, being the CPFC colours, and with Selhurst Park just down the road. There were also flags of the world strung across the ceiling - perhaps they were the same flags that Pubsignman saw last year. They do like bright colours here, and I guess if you had such a classy decorative feature like an almost complete set of national flags you wouldn't want to discard them just because the world cup was over. There's modern pine panelling on the walls, as well as some CPFC memorabilia. A carpeted and raised area is is by the window and furnished with sofas, small round stools plus standard tables. I spotted a settle or two around the place, but no chairs to be seen. There are TVs of course, as well as a pool table and a dartboard. This pub looks to have been bashed about over the years, presumably by disappointed away fans of teams that have been tonked by Palace. Overall, I didn't really see much to recommend it.

Handily positioned outside the main entrance to Norwood Junction station this pub is popular with commuters and fans of nearby Crystal Palace FC. The building has a nice curved frontage which creates an unusual internal layout. The servery is sited on the rear wall and has a nice curved counter and tongue and groove bar back adorned with various bits of Palace memorabilia including a marvellous signed photo of the old Holmesdale Terrace at Selhurst Park. To the right of the bar is a space set aside for darts, with three pissed women chucking arrows and swearing loudly throughout my stay. Opposite the bar there is a raised seating area which is carpeted and has some sturdy but filthy benches, low stools and sofas plus an upright piano. Over to the left, there is a pool table and jukebox in an area notable for its lovely old wood panelling. The room extends a short way to the rear left in a rather cramped space with room for a couple more tables and drinking podiums. Two entrance porches show off some fine stained glasswork and the walls that aren't panelled have an anglypta covering painted in Palace colours. A few old pictures line the walls, including some amusing sports caricatures, but the decor is dominated by England and Palace flags, posters for sports coverage and flag bunting for the last World Cup (two years ago!). Loud indie and rock tunes blasted out of the jukebox with all of the TV screens turned off on a rare non-sports night. A decent looking garden can be found out the rear left door, with lots of typical garden furniture ideal for overspill on busy match days. The three hand pumps on the bar saw two unclipped and one offering Sharps Doom Bar. I decided to risk a pint of the Doom Bar, only to be told that it was off, so I reluctantly ended up with a pint of John Smiths keg for £3.30. The service was perfunctory at best, with the barmaid giving the impression she'd been trained in Soviet-era Russia. I can imagine this would be a decent pre-match meet-up pub and it's not too bad for commuters wanting a quick pint in passing, but I found the place suffering from some serious neglect which must be off-putting to the casual customer. Grumpy service and no decent beer compounded the problems and whilst it's one of the better traditional pubs in the area, I still can't see me heading back.

The interior is open plan with wooden floorboards and lots of room for vertical drinking which will always be the case on Palace match days.The bar runs along the rear wall and although there are three handpumps,only one was working serving London Pride.You will be in a small minority drinking ale,and the atmosphere is boisterous but not threatening.Two plasma screens will air footie after Palace matches have finished,and there is an extensive garden popular with smokers. There is always a solid police presence around Norwood Junction station and outside the pub and away supporters may well receive friendly advice to consider drinking in the away fan friendly 'spoons on the High Street.On non match days this is just another basic pub in the slightly shabby suburb of South Norwood.

The windows of this pub are adorned with George crosses, Polish flags and a Crystal Palace flag and this décor is taken inside making it impossible not to fathom that this is an Eagles supporter's pub. I spotted a couple of plasma screens which were both off even though there was a Champions League game in progress so maybe only Palace get aired. The music was very loud and there was a party atmosphere with a few drunken regulars enjoying themselves dancing around. There were three hand pumps, but only Pride was available as one ale was off and the other pump was unused. San Miguel was also available along with a standard draught range and I was poured a nice Guinness from the friendly barmaid. I'd probably walk past this place if in the area again as I'm a Bees fan.