The Hope, Carshalton

I arrived here today with high hopes given the pedigree of the place. I'm not a stranger to Carshalton and walking up through from the Croydon road I noticed the Racehorse on the left which I had definitely visited as a Courage pub nearly forty years ago. As has been noted before this is a former Charringon's house, I would guess part of the Croydon Page and Overton estate that Bass Charrington bought up in 1954. The description of the pub is simple to me, it's a village local and although Carshalton is part of Greater London it is far more like a village than some of the parts of East London that pretentiously describe themselves as such. There are seven cask ales on offer two of which are permanent, Downton New Forest Ale and Windsor & Eton Knight of the Garter. On my visit the 5 guests were Marble Pint, Brodie's Old Street Pale, Magic Rock Rapture, Red Squirrel London Porter and Clarence & Frederick's Oatmilk Stout. There was also a keykeg font with Brodie's Big Mofo Stout (£6.80) and two others, one with a Magic Rock offering and one with something foreign. I went for the Marble (£3.20) and the Oatmilk Stout (£3.60) both of which were in great nick. From my Spoons bubble the prices were high, but I am more than happy to accept that they are reasonable. This is a fantastic pub that was high on my "Must Visit" list but if it wins the CAMRA pub of the year award it will probably get relegated to a new "Leave it for a few years" list. It's a great place that I would happily return to but somehow it doesn't quite completely do it for me as I prefer more basic town or genuine rural pubs. That is the only very picky thing that stops me scoring it a 10. It is definitely a "must visit" pub.

Before the local community rescued it, The Hope was, by all accounts, something of a den of iniquity. Now it's a reliable source of well-kept, interesting beers, and I often find myself visiting. There are regular beer festivals, which tend to fill the pub to capacity, even into the recently opened conservatory. There is a garden available, although you'd need a bit of summer to venture out. The pub website is informative and will list current and cellared ale, which is handy for trip planning. I daresay most beer lovers in and around London have visited. If you haven't, I'd recommend you give it a go.

The Hope is a small boozer with an L shaped bar area and a small room at the rear where there is a bar billiards table that was covered and out of use. Out the back of the pub is a paved area with some picnic tables and beyond is a huge marquee that I took as being in the pubs beer garden. The twenty or so people present during my recent Saturday afternoon visit made this place feel very busy and the locals around the bar were very vocal in rating the latest addition to the real ale selection. I counted six hand pumps and from a blackboard by the front door I noted the ale choice as Windsor & Eton’s Knight of the Garter, WJ King’s Horsham Best Bitter, Brodies Awesomestow, Kent KGB, Buxton Imperial Black, Gadd’s No 7 Ale and RCH Old Slug Porter (maybe I missed a spout). There are also three real ciders and less interestingly there are four standard draught products. Cheap pub food is available from midday until 15:00 every day. There was no background music playing and I didn’t spot any televisions, but there is a live acoustic night every second and forth Wednesday. This is a decent local and well worth making a detour for as the staff and locals are friendly and the ale well kept.