The Ship, Wandsworth, SW18

With its prime riverside location, I was expecting to find a very busy pub when I popped in on a recent Saturday afternoon, but upon entering through the side door, my first impression was that the place was closed. The pleasant looking bar was completely empty and I had to exit the building and re-enter through the rear door into a conservatory style room with a few big tables and a wood burner in the middle, which was still fairly empty, but at least had staff behind the bar. The beer choice was Young's Ordinary, Special and London Gold plus Sambrook's Wandle and Junction (the latter priced at an eye watering £3.45 a pint). My pint of Junction was okay, although not as nice as others sampled in the area that day. The room was a little scruffy and unappealing (especially compared to the cosier looking empty room in the other bar), so I decided to sit outside, passing a barbecue area which was doing a roaring trade, on my way. There is a very large decked area running all the way to the riverside with lots of benches and even an outdoor bar. The views were a bit of a disappointment, with little in the way of interest visible from this part of the river, whilst a large cement works tower dominates the vista in the opposite direction. There were stacks of people sat out there, despite the overcast weather, most of whom were enjoying bottles of wine and food from the aforementioned barbecue. There was a regular menu as well, which I considered ordering from, but as with the drinks, the prices were excessive so I gave it a miss. A separate room in the pub seemed to have been set aside purely for diners, although the décor was again not the nicest and I'm not sure I'd fancy eating in there. I can't quite put my finger on what it was that I disliked about this pub, but it didn't really do it for me and I was quite happy to finish my pint and look for somewhere else to spend my time.

Randomness Guide to London - Ship entry

Randomness Guide to London - Ship entry