The Wellington, Waterloo, SE1

Official site of The Wellington - www.wellingtonhotelwaterloo.co.uk

Official site of The Wellington - www.wellingtonhotelwaterloo.co.uk

This is a very large Fullers pub located roughly halfway between Waterloo and Waterloo East stations. The pub consists of two large, spacious open plan rooms, connected by a wide walkway. The right hand room is a fairly straightforward public bar, with bare floorboards, high panelled walls and the servery along the back wall. The bar has a nice counter boasting some intricate carving and a gold framed, mirrored bar back. A mix of high stools and chairs, banquettes and armchairs serve a variety of different sized tables on a lower level seating area to the far right. Several TV screens were showing muted coverage of a golf tournament and I spotted a few arcade machines around the room, including a golfing game – not sure if there are a lot of golfers drinking in here?! To one side of the bar is a large mural of the Duke of Wellington and above is a pleasant stained glass ceiling feature. Elsewhere, old pictures and plain mirrors dot the walls and there was a replica canon on top of the entrance porch. Over in the left hand room, you find a much grander room which is far more impressive and a big improvement on the plainer public bar. The room has a tiled floor and some lovely wood panelling on the walls including some sections near the entrance with finely worked carved decorations. Through the centre of the room, there is a high vaulted ceiling which depicts Wellington and his troops at one end of the arch, behind the bar, and Napoleon’s forces at the other end, near the front door. It’s an impressive centrepiece for the room and I kept finding my eye’s gaze drawn upwards to it. Tub chairs, sofas and some odd mid-height chairs predominate, with standard seating along the left hand wall where a nice fireplace can also be found. The servery runs along the back wall and has a nice traditional counter and bare brick bar back, with a large brickwork arch as the focal point. There are lots of TV screens in this room too, this time showing a muted football show and, unlike the right hand room, there was no music playing in the background. It’s a Fullers pub, so you kind of know what to expect on the bar. There were four ales available – London Pride, ESB, Seafarers and Red Fox – with the latter costing £4.75 for a pint and being in pretty good shape. The staff here seemed very friendly, which isn’t something you can take for granted with pubs in this sort of Central London location, and there was a busy post-work crowd in, many of whom has spilled out onto the pavements outside. I liked this place, which despite feeling a bit scruffy and neglected in places, still boasts a fine main room with some impressive features. Its location close to two busy train stations makes it ideal for a quick half before setting off on your journey and I’m sure I’ll be stopping off here again sometime soon.