The Earl Beatty, Motspur Park, New Malden

I was very surprised to find a different guest beer in here today, Bateman's GHA. It wasn't in the greatest shape, but I chose it and hopefully a bit of variation is a thing to come. I asked the barman if it was selling well but it seems the biggest problem is in opening the drinker's eyes to choice as most will not touch anything but Pride. Good marks for trying anyway.

Built in 1938, this is a fairly typical London suburban pub. It’s been pretty well opened up inside, but the Public Bar at the “sharp end” of the pub still retains its separate identity and is still known as the public bar even though you can walk through it to the rest of the pub. The pub has two main features. The first is the portrait of Admiral of the Fleet the Earl Beatty himself, who was First Sea Lord during WW1, in the room at the back that at one time was the only non-smoking area in the pub. Unfortunately part of the portrait is obscured by the settle in front of it, but you can see enough of the Lord of the North Sea, and in particular his RN hat set at his trademark jaunty angle. The other is the “War Room” in the middle of the pub, with its model aircraft suspended from the ceiling and other modelled military scenes in glass cabinets. There is a largish beer garden, with a small children’s area, that is a welcome facility in the summer, as well as for smokers of course. The pub itself has seen better days, and worse ones, and although it is cleaner than it has been in the past, it would benefit from a little tender loving care and some renovation work in one or two places. In particular, the removal of the thousands of cigarette pubs surrounding the entrances would make it appear more welcoming. As Maldenman has said, they usually have a couple of real ales on – at the moment it is the ubiquitous London Pride, and Courage Directors. The menu is the usual pub grub – nothing wrong with that of course – at fairly competitive prices. The quality is OK as well, as long as you’re not looking for anything fancy. The structure and layout of the pub is quite attractive, but it could be made a lot better with some money being spent on it. It is in a prime location right by Motspur Park train station, and with no other pub within a couple of miles it should be a real money spinner, but I’m not sure that it is good enough to be one at the moment. But it’s good for a pint or two, and is a welcome sight when getting off the train. I for one am glad it’s there, even if it’s not the best pub I’ve ever been in.