The Wheatsheaf, Epsom

After visits to Horton Park Golf Club and the Eight Bells, The Wheatsheaf was marginally the better of the 3 pubs and bars I tried in Ewell last night. Ewell doesn't seem to be a particularly exciting place for drinkers. This is a community pub with a fairly standard set of real ales. The 3 regular ales are St Austell Tribute, Young's Ordinary & Surrey Hills Shere Drop. Ranmore from Surrey Hills was also on. My Tribute was fairly pleasant. Customers were from more of an elderly generation, some accompanied by their dogs. The barman seemed to be quite a friendly chap. There are 2 rooms, one adjacent to the bar itself and another set off to the right-hand side as you enter. Both had TVs showing a World Cup football match.

A proper old school boozer,with pleasing etched glass to the front and inside in a large draught excluding screen by the front door.There is a large banquette below the front window warmed by a log burner,while the bar has some signage for the Isleworth Brewery and a side window marked Bottles and Jugs.Sky Sports and free Wifi in here.Through an arch is a side section with a small banquette pertched on a raised area giving access to the loos ,this looks like a stage but not used as such these days.The furniture here is trad but sparse but does include a darts board.The window in this section has internal shutters,and with prints of Ewell Village from yesteryear the overall feel is very authentic if slightly jaded. There are four handpumps drawing on my visit Doom Bar,Youngs Bitter,Ringwood Best Bitter and Hammerpot Pale Ale (clear but past its best) .There was a friendly welcome from the barmaid and a good atmosphere generated by the regulars. This is probably the best pub in the Village,although the competition is hardly fierce and lots of other pubs have closed since the millenium.Compared with the days of my youth when it was possible to sup a gallon on the Village crawl,this is just one of four survivors nowadays.Hardly a destination pub but worth visiting if passing.

Official site of the Wheatsheaf - www.wheatsheafewell.co.uk

Official site of the Wheatsheaf - www.wheatsheafewell.co.uk

Effectively one space but the area with the dartboard and games machines is semi-seperated by an arched opening. A comfortable traditional pub, carpeted and with cushioned banquettes and standard chairs and small stools. Matching fireplaces on each side wall but the fires were not lit at the time although they could have done with being on a miserable day. There are various prints and pictures on the white roughcast walls including the indenture and I also spotted an old map of Surrey and a bridle. Some wood panelling and tied back curtains to the bay windows. The beer selection was identical to that described below but the Doom Bar is now £3.10 thanks to the Chancellor. It is a pleasant pub with seemingly a good bunch of regulars who clearly all know one another but I certainly agree about the radio especially the adverts.

They had Doom Bar; Young’s Bitter; and Bombardier on. I went for the Doom Bar which tasted fine, and at the reasonably standard price of £3 a pint. This pub still has something of an olde worlde feel about it, remaining pretty much unchanged since my first visit some 20 years or so ago. You have the main bar in front of you as you enter, dominated by an exposed brickwork pillar in the middle of the room, and a smaller room to the right reached through an archway. Furnishings are quite traditional, consisting of red upholstered banquettes, normal tables and chairs, and stools at the bar of course. The walls have a fair bit of decor on them, being mainly prints and the like, but with pride of place seemingly occupied by a large framed indenture warrant of all things. There’s a dartboard in the small room, and some decent looking bits of cut glass about the place, including a “bottles and jugs” pane near the toilets. It looks like the real deal, but I could be wrong – in any case it’s undoubtedly been re-sited at some stage. This is quite a reasonable pub, but what largely spoiled it for me was Radio Jackie blaring out of the speakers. I wonder how many customers really want to listen to the radio when in the pub? I’ll probably give it another go when I’m next in the area, and hope that I don’t have to put up with radio noise again.