The White Hart, Mitcham

This was by some considerable distance the best pub that I visited during my afternoon trip to Mitcham. A pleasant old pub with a number of interconnected areas all around the central bar. The main bar area and immediate surrounds are carpeted but a section to the rear had what looks like a very old original flagged floor, totally at odds with a fully glazed door and side screens of the type you'd expect to see in a Boots store. Regardless, this is a proper pub, with something for everyone due to the layout. There is a pool table, a couple of dartboards (one for serious players and one for chuckers), TV, low key music, somewhere for everyone to sit. Beamed ceilings, clearly some areas very old and others more recent, some exposed brickwork, décor includes amongst the usual photos a number of wooden carved advertisements, there was also a high shelf with plates, bottles and books on top, rather more poignantly there are a few areas with memorials to deceased former regulars which I personally found a bit morbid, there's one thing having a discreet brass plaque to having a large photo montage, there were a few of these. The TV was on, slightly competing with the low level music but it was Derby Day and a lot of punters were avidly checking out the racing from nearby Epsom Downs. The beers were ok, Youngs Bitter, GK London Glory plus a decent Hogs Back TEA. Not a bad pub at all in summary however this is Mitcham, there were a couple of England branded St George crosses on display and amusingly the drink deal of the week was a brandy and babycham for £4. So there you go.

When i visited this pub it was called Hooden on the Green which was a pretty stupid name so i am pleased that it is now back to its original of the White Hart. This pub is situated on a busy crossroads and is opposite the Burn Bullock. Once inside i went in a largish room that was carpeted and seemed fairly comfortable,this room had lots of different drinking areas. There were two real ales on here i had a drink of Greene King IPA which was drinkable but a bit bland the other beer was Ansells bitter. This was a decent enough pub with a nice atmosphere. Pub visited 7/1/2006

Judging by Philip Carter’s photograph from December 2006, this was hitherto clearly a Charrington’s pub, but the signage for that old brewery has now gone. It’s quite an attractive looking pub from the outside, but the interior doesn’t quite live up to the exterior’s promise. But it’s not bad inside. The drinking and seating areas meander around a central bar, with nooks and crannies all over the place. One of them has a pool table in it; another is clearly dedicated to darts; another has some really solid wooden beams, normal seating, as well as another dartboard which would be difficult to use without some furniture re-arrangement. I suspect that the beams here might be more modern affectations as this looks like an extension. There’s also an outside drinking area to the right of the building. The overall appearance is that of a pub attempting to retain and restore its original country pub feel. I didn’t see anything special in the way of ales – I noticed Old Speckled Hen, but I had Young’s Bitter at £2.80 a pint. Thankfully this pub hasn’t been given some fancy upmarket makeover and remains a reasonably decent, if not a special pub.