The Railway, Putney, SW15

Recently refurbished and certainly better for it, the Railway is a JDW on two levels, the upper floor accessed via a wide open stair in the middle of the pub or via a conventional staircase in the rear corner. The rear staircase has a storey height stained glass window depicting trains in a station. The ground floor is a typical 'spoons layout with the bar along a side wall, a slightly raised area to the rear with a few booths. Some local history stuff on the walls including potted biographies of a few local dignitaries from times past. There is a mix of seating including sofas. The front windows fold back to allow in air and light but also traffic noise. The upper floor feels rather sedate, there are large bookcases, framed engineering drawings of locomotives, pictures of steam trains and so on. The layout as the area wraps around the middle stair is such that there are quiet corners, unusual for a JDW. There is another bar up here but you won't get the guest ales, you need to go downstairs for these. Five guests on plus the usual Ruddles, Pride etc and a couple of ciders. I had a pint of Hogs Back England's Glory which I haven't seen before, it was in good condition (£2.45). So seemingly on the up, certainly based on my late afternoon midweek visit anyway, I'd stop by again.

Currently closed for what looks like a significant rip-out/refurb.