The Ship, Wandsworth, SW18

Close to the Thames but next door to an aggregates wharf this has the look and feel of a proper pub.The battleship grey doesn't mean it's gastro,there are two seperate rooms with the smaller corner room very charming.There is bench seating in dark red leather,some good etched glass and a woodburner in a recess while the flooring is in dark wood.The island bar is in a lighter wood and the muzak was at a sensible volume.To the other side of the pub is a seperate conservatory,which looks much more like a dining area,while outside there is a burger shack on the way to seating overlooking the river.There is another seating patio on the opposite side of the building. There is a pub snack menu in the smaller side room,while the 5 handpumps were drawing Youngs Bitter and Special,St Austell Proper Job,Truman's Bow Bells and Five Points XPA (first pint out was a little dusky,£5.20). I enjoyed my visit,it's one of the better Thames Path pubs and I could invision a revisit for the three guest ales rather than the Youngs rubbish.

Slightly hidden away from the beaten track, as with most pubs in the area this is a Youngs pub, it has two rooms which have a modern feel but manages to maintain comfortable pubby ambiance, wood boarded flooring, a mix of seating including leather clad benches, small circular tables and stools as well some bar stools. Five handles on the bar providing the expected Youngs duo of Ordinary and Special, as well as Sambrooks Wandle and more pleasingly Purity Bunny Hop and Adnams Mosaic, the Mosaic was fine,not so the price at 4.95 a pint. Price aside I found it a nice pub with a better than expected beer selection, I would look in again.

I did find a very busy pub, well from the point of view of the outside section at least, and the large external decking area was rammed with the after work crowd and the outside bar that serves this area was several deep. Fortunately this left the two internal rooms considerably less busy, especially the front one, and I got served without problem before joining the suits outside. Have always visited on fine weather days when the main asset of this pub (the outside space by the river) can be fully utilised and I do wonder what it would be like in deepest winter when it cannot as I would agree with the previous comments that, with the exception of the small front room, the rest of the internal space is lacking in character and doesn’t have a lot going for it. The same three ales in the form of Youngs Special and Bitter and Sambrook’s Wandle were available across the five pumps. So the same beer offerings as available in the Youngs owned Waterfront further along the Thames path despite its shortcomings I will always prefer to supp a pint here than the sterile glass palace along the river.