The Gardeners Arms, Mitcham

They still have real ale in here - Doom Bar at a very reasonable £3 a pint. It was in good condition as well, with the barmaid/landlady drawing off some that must have been in the pipes before pulling my pint. I didn't see any sign of food. There's some nice old exterior tiling around the entrances, but otherwise nothing of heritage value that I could see. There's a central island bar, a trio of tall tables/tall stools in the window recess, with normal tables and chairs (not many - five or six tables perhaps) elsewhere. The front bar area is bare-boarded, but the area at the rear area past the servery is carpeted. The ceiling has false black beams in an attempt at brewer's rustic, and all the walls are painted green - dark green up to dado level and light green above that. I didn't get the feeling that this was an "Irish" pub though, until I noticed an old framed advert for travel to Tipperary and some Gaelic football stuff on one of the walls at the back. However there were a couple of TVs on (Sky Sports is advertised), one showing the horse racing and the other tuned to some pop music station. There are a few photos on the walls, but for me the most unusual bit of decor in here was the framed full text of Barrack Obama's first presidential acceptance speech. This is an ordinary, apparently locals', boozer. There's nothing special about it, which is a good thing in a funny sort of way. I felt comfortable sitting in here, and my pint of Doom Bar was in surprisingly good condition.

The Gardeners Arms is a small basic pub that is situated just north of the town centre. Once inside i went in a room at the front which was fairly small and basic,this room was very busy with older locals and it had a very lively atmosphere. There were no real ales on here and i had a drink of keg Courage best which was drinkable but a little too cold. This is definatly a locals pub and most people would probably feel a bit uneasy in here,having said that i was happy enough i here but i am easily pleased. Pub visited 7/1/2006