The Shipwrights Arms, London Bridge, SE1

It has taken me five years, but as promised I have returned to the Shipwrights Arms at a quieter time (Monday afternoon) so that I could have a proper look around. Unsurprisingly the décor has changed little since my last visit as this is still a high ceilinged single room with a central bar. There is a nautical theme throughout with some interesting tiling that has been mentioned by previous reviewers. At the rear is a jukebox that was providing some background music for the ten or so other punters present. I noted a rolled up projector screen, but there were no advertisements for any live sporting events. The bar is stocked with standard draught and there are three hand pumps on the front of the bar and another two at the rear. These were drawing Deuchars, Doom Bar, Caledonian’s Flying Scotsman, Bombardier and Adnams Southwold. Food is available from midday until 15:00 and 17:00 until 21:00 during the week and from midday until 16:00 at the weekends. My visit was whilst the kitchen was closed so I didn’t see any menus, but the roast dinners on the specials board were all priced at £10, which is reasonable for the area. Thankfully the service was much friendlier and attentive during this visit so I have increased my rating from a 5 to a 7 accordingly. 14th April 2009 This is a single room high ceilinged pub with a central bar that offers Deuchars, Adnams and Spitfire alongside a premium and standard draught selection. I found the staff to be extremely slow and more concerned with cleaning glasses than serving, which I wouldn’t have minded if they had run out of clean ones but there were plenty. I will revisit this place at a quieter time so that I can have a better look around.

With a striking dark blue painted exterior, this is a high-ceilinged corner pub with a traditional Victorian edifice. The central island bar was serving up three ales, Black Sheep and two from Caledonian, making me wonder if this is an old S&N pub. My half of Deuchars IPA was middling. Other reviews suggested more ales were to be had but I failed to spot them unless they were round the far side and out of sight. The slightly shabby interior has a number of maritime stylings and bric-a-brac. Perhaps the most notable feature is off to the left, where a pretty tiled depiction of the Pool of London is sited on the wall. Assuming it was just the three ales on, then there isn’t a vast amount to mark this out as anything other quick visit material to admire the tiling and bric-a-brac.

Official site of The Shipwright Arms - www.shipwrightsarms.co.uk

Built in 1884, the Shipwrights and has managed to retain much of its traditional style where many of its neighbours seem somewhat contrived and pretentious. Although it is situated close to the station, it seems more of a locals pub than one to attract transient footflow or tourists. The single room interior has a central island bas and high ceilings, paneled windows and a few nautical oddments in keeping with the pub’s name. A few mugs and tankards are aligned on whatever shelf space is available and there are a few old pictures of the area but the pride of place goes to the fine tiled mural depictuing the shipwrights at work. The 2 Big Screens seem to be football orientated with both Sky & ESPN shown and there is a separate function room upstairs. The beer selection is the better end of mainstream (Bombardier, Deuchars, Spitfire and Doom Bar) plus a couple of guests (Black Sheep & Caledonian Flying Scotsman). Quality was fine but as it wasn’t my round I can’t comment on pricing. There is a selection of basic but reasonably priced meals around £7-£9. It isn’t a pub that I generally visit when in the area but is certainly worth popping in although it can get fairly busy at peak times. Also, unlike some of its comopetitors, it does stay open at weekends which is a bonus.

Official site of The Shipwright Arms - www.shipwrightsarms.co.uk

This is a nice, single room traditional pub, just a short walk down Tooley Street from London Bridge station. An island bar dominates the room somewhat, leaving quite narrow spaces in some parts for people to squeeze past when busy. The room is carpeted with cream wallpaper and a nautical theme prevails throughout, as the name might suggest. A drinking shelf along one wall had several small plaques along its length, each bearing a saying such as 'Daily flogging will continue until the crew's morale improves'! Two large screens were on during my late Saturday night visit, both showing Spanish football (Real Madrid vs. Barcelona) to an appreciative crowd and I spotted a juke box as well. I was a little surprised to find a choice of six, admittedly mainstream, ales on offer. The choice was Wells Bombardier, Sharp's Doom Bar, Black Sheep Best, Shep's Spitfire, Adnams Bitter and Deuchars IPA, from which I selected the Doom Bar and found it to be in pretty good shape. Staff dealt well with a large crowd and made sure that the rival football supporters remained well behaved. I'd noticed this pub previously, thanks to the rather striking exterior, but had never ventured inside before. I thought it was a nice, welcoming traditional pub frequented by a varied clientele and certainly worth a look. It's also close to Tower Bridge and the Thames Path, so the chance to make a short detour to check it out should arise on occasion.