Old Sergeant, Wandsworth, SW18

This is a Young’s house it seems, but with three handpumps on the bar they had Wadworth 6X; Special; and “Old Sarge” (£3.40 a pint) on. The latter ale was branded as a Christmas ale, and at 4.8% it had a bit of poke, and tasted pretty good as well. The inside of the pub has been modernised to some extent – there are sofas, light coloured bare boards on the floor – but the customer base when I was in during mid afternoon on a Wednesday appeared to be the sort of people who want a traditional pub, and by their presence to a large extent force it to be one. As we all know, a pub is made by its customers. I guess I was in too late to see any menus, but the distinct aroma of fried food was still present, so clearly food is available at lunchtime. There are TVs (on but muted during my visit) at both ends of the room, and I also spotted a games machine which thankfully nobody had bothered to switch on, or perhaps, even more thankfully, it was broken. Despite the apparent attempts to move upmarket, this struck me as a traditional locals’ pub. I would be happy to visit again.

Now a single room with a central horseshoe bar, fireplaces on each end wall. The original two entrance doors can be seen in the photos. Generally traditional seating where available with the majority of the floor being open, however I suspect this had been rearranged to provide standing room for the England World Cup game later on. TVs were present on each end wall. Wooden polished floor, a few generally military themed prints, there were a few tired looking novels and such on a shelf plus unusually a pin board where regulars could leave business cards. One of these advertises "Sensuous massage for ladies of taste and also minor bicycle repairs". Stairs rise to another area available for private hire. There is a walled garden to the side with a large overhead heater a bit like a donner kebab grill that won't do too much for the pub's carbon footprint. Youngs beers, Ordinary, Special and London Gold on, but the Gold was rather cold I thought. Not a bad spot for a quick pint though.

Nice pub, sells real ale, Youngs. Has a garden out the back. Will be closing for refurbishment soon, was told it wasn't going to change too much. Visit now just in case.