The Wattenden Arms, Kenley

Croydon is one of London's biggest boroughs, but despite this, and the fact that it's on the periphery of Greater London, this is the only truly rural pub it can lay claim to. It's best reached by car, although if you're feeling energetic it can be walked cross-country from bus stops near Coulsdon Common to the West or Whyteleafe to the East. The pub is also close to a section of the London Loop long distance path and both Coulsdon and Kenley Commons, so walkers (and their dogs) are a part of their target market. Once you've arrived, you find yourself in a fairly typical countryside pub with an L shaped layout which sees the bar area to the front and a well defined dining area over on the left hand side and to the rear. The dark wood servery has a pillar dividing it about two-thirds of the way down, presumably where a dividing wall once separated the bar from the restaurant. There is a U-shaped padded banquette with Union Jack scatter cushions and low stools opposite the bar, whilst a small seating area to the right offers a couple more tables in front of a small fireplace with a TV screen above, not in use on this visit. The dining room area is filled with lots of standard tables and chairs and had a TV screen showing The Great British Bake-Off. The whole pub has an attractive grapevine frieze running around it and the light fittings are set in large decorative roses which look very impressive. There are quite a lot of aviation themed photos on the walls, many of which relate to the nearby Kenley Aerodrome which you can go and walk around nowadays. A large propeller looks grand suspended from one of the beams in the restaurant. There are five handpulls on the bar, one of which was out of action whilst another was dispensing a real cider, leaving three for Harvey's Best, St Austell Tribute (£3.05) and Greene King IPA. The Tribute was in pretty good condition and went down nicely after a long uphill slog to get here from Whyteleafe. The barmaid and waitressing staff were all very friendly and enjoyed some good banter with their customers. Food comes courtesy of the Stonegate group's usual menu and seemed very popular with pretty much everyone in the pub eating except me. Whilst I don't doubt that the pub is a shadow of its former self, I'm not sure it's quite the disaster that the previous review paints it to be and whilst visiting mid-week probably helped, I wouldn't be adverse to a return visit, just so long as someone's prepared to drive me there next time.