Wellington, New Malden

There are three handpumps on the bar – two clipped with Bombardier (£3.20 a pint), with the third unused. There was no sign of food, or menus, at 4.00 PM on Saturday afternoon. There were only half a dozen or so punters in watching the Chelsea v Everton game on the relatively small TV screen suspended from the ceiling. Watching this match was a bit odd – I came in with the half-time analysis in German, plus the surreal experience of adverts in German blasting out at half-time; followed by the second half-commentary in English. I’m not sure how that works. The pub itself is a pretty standard main road affair, although it does have a garden containing some picnic benches. The bar counter is in the middle of the room, in a standard horseshoe shape. The pub is carpeted throughout, and furnishings are mainly normal tables, chairs, settles and upholstered benches, although there are a couple of tall tables/stools at the back. The room opens up to right and the back of the bar counter with more seating, which in turn leads to what might be regarded as a fairly large “sports room” at the back, containing two pool tables and a dartboard. There were a handful of old black and white of Kingston-upon-Thames of old on the walls, but otherwise there’s no decor of note. The usual fruit and games machines are present as well. In essence this is an ordinary pub with nothing particularly good or bad about it. It’s not worth going out of your way to find, but OK for a pint if you’re walking along Kingston Rd on a cold December day.