The Earl Beatty, Motspur Park, New Malden

Official site of The Earl Beatty - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of The Earl Beatty - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

The Earl Beatty has had yet another refurbishment, and as well as being branded a Golden Oak Inn rather than John Barras (still Punch of course) this time some fairly dramatic changes have been made. The carpet has gone, to be replaced by modern replacement boarding plus a few flagstones; the dark wood varnish has now been lsrgely replaced by light gastro grey; the retractable panelling that could be used to separate the large main room has gone; both the pool table and the original "Earl Beatty" dartboard have gone; and they still haven't found room to accommodate the portrait of the Earl Beatty that graced the pub for many years. A lot of the more traditional furnishings have been replaced by tall tables accompanied by backless uphostered benches, and many of the normal chairs are painted a distressed grey. All in all the changes have increased the noise levels by removing the carpets, and robbed the pub of its warmth by introducing a largely colourless decor. Big chunky candles were alight on the tables when I visited. As part of the attempt to introduce a more upmarket ambience to the pub, the menu has been updated. The prices still seem very reasonable with, for example, the steak & ale pie coming in at £7.49, and with sandwiches from £3.49 (cheese & pickle) to £5.49 (rump steak, balsamic onion, chutney, horseraddish). There was also a kids' menu. There are now five handpumps, and on re-opening night two were London Pride clipped, with Hogsback TEA, Otter Amber and Navigation Wise Guy on the others. The 10% CAMRA discount still remains, and my pint of Wise Guy was in excellent condition. Although I'm not a fan of modern pub makeovers, and I really don't like what they've done to this pub (but accept that that's just my personal subjective opinion) there are one or two pluses. The pub sign now features a silhouette of the eponymous Earl rather than the Captain Cook lookalike that we had before, and I think everyone who knows this pub will agree that the toilets needed some serious attention. They now seem to be in much better shape, and the trend in recent years has resulted in a more varied ale choice, which I reckon is a good thing.