The Castle, Tooting, SW17

Visited 27/08/24. This is a large Young's venue, probably the longest pub I have ever visited - entrance off main road to back wall can't be far off 100m. Put it this way Usain Bolt would have struggled to do full length under 10 seconds if he had ever considered building a SW London pub into his training schedule. The servery is on the right-hand wall just in front of the entrance. The entire sweep is bare boarded a la a big purchase from Homebase. Lots of seating options and the area the furthest from the front appears to be laid out for diners. There are plenty of ledges and nooks and crannies in what is a linear venue. Upstairs seems to be just conveniences . There is ample outside seating at the side of the venue. Cask options were Original, Special, Hophead & Proper Job. Keg choices were Estrella, Peroni, Camden Hells, Pravda, Aspall, Asahi, Neck Oil, Guinness, Deya Steady Rolling Man and Gipsy Hill Hepcat plus Free Damm. This felt like a pub on an industrial scale. Pleasant yes, lovely no. Would I return if in the area and fancied a Young’s pub beer choice, yes would I make this a destination, no.

As the Castle Inn, this pub dates back to at least 1740 but I suspect that it was rebuilt in the early 20th century. As mentioned, this pub pretty much redefines industrial, savaged to a greater extent only by BrewDog’s maulings. Enormous in depth, there’s a modern floor, then walls are bare brick, a little grey paint or much applied wooden planking, especially to the bar which has a top and front plated with the stuff, along with a tubular steel shelf rack and similar gantry. There’s a huge clock over a disused bare brick fireplace, whilst on high, there’s very extensive, industrial and ugly galvanized ductwork along with huge oversized metal lampshades; furniture is mixed though accessorised. There’s a freestanding cantilevered staircase to the first floor, with glass panels in place of bannisters; in all, it looks like an explosion in a branch of Travis Perkins. Customers were young professional types and trade was brisk, but the overall experience was somewhat overwhelming due to the poor acoustics. I didn’t spot the brewing paraphernalia mentioned by Rex, so perhaps it’s gone. Thereafter, ales amounted to Original, Special and Proper Job at a very expensive £2.80 a half, though good, served by an automated barman. This really isn’t a great pub, me preferring something considerably more traditional. However, it’s better all round than the Long Room and provides a better pub experience than the King’s Head; the obvious choice if in this locality is the Antelope though.

Another big old boozer that has seen better times.Busy enough with Wimbledon -pitbull (good) and Proper Job as guests on cask.

Any former charisma this pub may have had has long since been knocked out of it, now bland and gastrosised lacking in any ambiance whatsoever. Six pumps on the bar but only two on, strangely both Sambrooks in this youngs pub, though the barman was pulling something new through the pipes,I didn't hang around to find out what.

This was my first visit since the latest of this pub's refurbishments, and it has to be said that it's unrecognisable from the last time I was here. It's had a standard Young's refurbishment, which are usually pretty dramatic events and tend to remove any traditional pub character that the pub might have, and this one's no different. We now have a bare-boarded floor of course, massive tall tables with backless benches, and some with tall stools (one enormous specimen had no less than 17 stools accompanying it), armchars and sofas, and banquettes complete with cushions. Normal tables and chairs were very much in the minority here, with only two or three available other than those in the area at the back where all the tables were laid for diners. It's big pub, stretching a long way to the rear. There's stainless steel ducting on the ceiling; and on much of the walls, some surfaces, and the bar counter front are new (or possibly reclaimed) bare scrubbed boards. Everything's ultra modern in here now. I could bang on about the decorative style, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. There's a sizeable garden to one side of the pub, much of it covered. I say "garden", although I couldn't see anything growing in it. I don't suppose that matters to anyone though. One very unusual thing in this pub is the pair of copper brewing tanks behind the servery, labelled "Meantime", thus indicating some sort of arrangement with that brewery. According to the barmaid, it's not possible to but a Meantime beer direct from the tank, as a sign in the pub proclaims, but they did have at least a couple of Meantime beers on tap. Being a Young's pub the usual range is on including something called Wooden Spoon, which apparently had a charity connection with some of the cost going to the Wooden Spoon charity. There were no guest ales on when I visited, but they did have an Aspall's cider on handpump. I didn't see a menu, but they obviously do food as, as well as the aforementioned dining area, there was an open to view kitchen beyond the drinks servery. This one is fair enough if you like pubs that have been modernised to death. Perhaps mid-afternoon on a Monday is not the best time to judge a pub, but when I was in there were a couple of mummies in with babes in arms, enjoying a no doubt well deserved libation - coffee probably. It's not really my sort of pub now, but at least it's still a going concern.

Official site of The Castle - www.castletooting.com

Official site of The Castle - www.castletooting.com