Stanley’s of Streatham, SW16

I reckon that this must be one of Streatham’s oldest pubs. This is probably the first pub that I ever heard about, as I recall at a very young age my mother extolling its virtues as a social gathering venue during WWII. But there’s nothing traditional about it now. It’s been completely gutted and opened up, with much of the appearance and character of a ‘spoons high street warehouse conversion about it. Furnishings are mainly normal tables and chairs, but with the obligatory tall tables and stools and a smattering of bucket armchairs. At the rear of the pub, beyond the servery, is a fairly large area containing a couple of pool tables. There were numerous large TVs showing Sky Sports. It’s a pubco chain pub; I’m not sure which one, but it had the trademark glossy colour menus on the tables advertising the usual meal deals such as curry and a drink (on Thursdays of course) for £5.99. This is a fairly charmless pub, not helped by the lack of a decent ale on my visit. There were two handpumps – one unclipped, and the other bearing a Black Sheep Bitter clip at the front and a London Pride clip reversed. But the BSB was “still settling”, which to some extent was just my bad luck, but I always think that with a bit of stock control management these gaps in availability can be avoided. I suppose it might be worth poking your head in if passing on the offchance that there is some real ale on if that is what you like to drink.