The Railway Tavern, Carshalton

Traditional old skool boozer of the sort that Fuller's see ashamed to have on their books these days. A single staple-shaped room, fitted with pub carpet, padded bench seating, decal-style frosted windows, maroon and cream colour scheme, a selection of pork pie hats(?) and slightly over loud music. A Sutton United pub, with a scarf up by the bar. Talking of the bar, I presume it has lost its old gantry and now sports an odd-looking brass number with uplighters. Three ales on, Pride, Spring Sprinter and Gales Seafarers (ok). Fairly busy with a convivial atmosphere. No world-beater but a well-utilised and solid local of the genre that is slowly disappearing. 6.5

A Wednesday night visit before a game at Carshalton Athletic. On a previous visit to the ground I visited this Fuller's pub after the match so decided it was the perfect pub for pre match drinkies. All ale offerings from Fuller’s, the Spring Sprinter was on good form with the other choices being London Pride and Seafarers'. Football being shown live on the 2 large screen tv’s, that had half of the pub (mainly blokes) watching it. The bar was attended by a very friendly bar lady and with the pub being open plan the horseshoe shaped bar can be accessed from all sides. Apart from the 3 of us all of the others punters were certainly locals and regular’s. I like the Railway and in my opinion the ales are better kept here than in the much favoured by everyone else Hope….that pub is not for me as a previous bad beer experience put me off. Definitely worth a visit as it’s also close to the station.

Old-fashioned, side-street local with real ale - an increasingly rare combination in Greater London. The otherwise plainly furnished 'U'-shaped bar is enlivened by a gantry for the branded glassware and bulbous feature lighting, but the furniture is definitely basic. There is also a notional patio area to one side. As a Fuller's house, Pride, Seafarers and Spring Sprinter (£3.60) were available from the two banks of three handpumps.

A stone’s throw from Carshalton Train Station is the Railway Tavern that is a single roomed U-shaped Fullers pub with a local backstreet boozer feel. There is a quiz every Tuesday from 20:00 and I spotted an advertisement for live music that was due to take place on the Saturday evening after my early Friday evening visit a month or so ago. I didn’t see any televisions and there was no background music playing, which was a good thing as the locals in this pub generate enough atmosphere amongst themselves as they sit and chat around the bar. Food is served from noon until 14:00 Monday through to Friday, but there were some rolls sitting on the back bar that were priced at £1 each. Standard draught is available and I counted six hand pumps. Three of these were unused and another two were drawing Pride, I didn’t manage to note what the final hand pump was drawing. To the side of the pub is a long and thin beer garden that houses some picnic tables that are popular with the smokers that enjoy this pub. Originally coming from West London I’m a big fan of Fullers Pubs and I feel no different about this place. If I lived locally this place would probably be my local, which is a feat as there are many good pubs in this area.

This single room Fuller’s pub is, as its name suggests, located just a few hundred yards from Carshalton train station. The room has a simple U shaped layout, with the servery on the back wall and standard seating throughout. The place feels a bit basic but it’s still a fairly comfortable spot for a pint, with a nice carpet, half panelled walls and the obligatory railway memorabilia, which includes framed cigarette cards depicting trains through the ages, an old station phone and the old platform sign from Carshalton station. The front windows have nice etched glass panes which are worth keeping an eye out for, as are those in the front and rear doors which have incorporated the pub’s name in to them. The servery area is quite a basic affair, but there are some nice integral lamps which, when in use, help give the place a cosier feel than it might otherwise have. Music was playing quite loudly during my Friday evening visit, which seemed a bit out of place given the clientele and overall I have found this to be one of the least busy pubs in Carshalton. There is a garden area to the rear with picnic style benches which is full of colourful flowers and has a small but well decorated water feature. Every time I’ve been in here, the same three beers have been on – Fuller’s London Pride and ESB and Gale’s Seafarers. The ESB will now set you back £3.90, but to be fair it is kept in tip-top condition and goes down very easily. It’s a bit of a shame that some of Fuller’s other excellent beers don’t seem to get a look in, but I guess they know what sells. The pub does offer food but the times of availability vary. However, filled rolls are available at all times for a quid. This is a good addition to any crawl around Carshalton, but I’ve always found the place a bit one dimensional – you always know what you’re going to get and it’s never anything that exciting. That said, they do serve up some of the best kept beer in town, so return visits are likely to remain on the cards.