The Leather Bottle, Merton Park, SW19

This one remains pretty much as described by Maldenman, with the sports area remaining on the left – notably with the rarely seen table football – and normal tables and chairs elsewhere in this large, rambling pub. This is a John Barras pub, which makes it part of the Punch Pubco. And it looks the part as well. It looks OK from the outside, occupying a prominent corner site, and being well maintained with numerous hanging baskets. There are a good few picnic benches at the side and in the front, the latter screened from the busy main road by a hedge. But inside it’s fairly tatty. You have tables not cleaned properly after diners have finished, and some of the filthiest upholstery on the banquettes and chairs that I have seen. The TV screens were showing Sky Sports (muted), and some pop music was blaring out. The ales on were Spitfire, GKIPA, and OSH. The food was the usual Punch Pubco stuff. I’ve been in hundreds of pubs like this one, and will no doubt end up in many more, but this is one that I won’t be in any hurry to return to.

This pub is now one large open plan L-shaped space with the bar in the inner corner. There are a couple of raised areas of seating, plus another at the rear forming a "sports" area, with two pool tables, a dartboard and a bar football table. A few screens are dotted about showing a mixture of cricket and Sky News, competing with the music from the juke box. Currently the flags of almost all World Cup countries are hanging from the ceiling, I reckon finding a North Korea flag is proving elusive. There are a few hints of the pub's age and history but not many, some decent stained glass remains in the upper portion of the windows. The seating is generally traditional in style, however the banquette upholstery has seen better days. The general ambience is summed up by the notices declaring CCTV is present and "No hats, Baseball caps or Hoodies". There were however three ales on, nothing too exciting but nevertheless welcome. Young's Special, Deuchers IPA and Old Speckled Hen. £2.85 for YS is not bad. The Leather Bottle has a history of entertainment, hosting jazz back in the 70's (Humphrey Lyttleton played here), blues nights in the 80's then a comedy club in the early 90's. I'm unsure however if anything similar still occurs these days.