Lord Nelson, Sutton

This is a very basic Young’s pub with Special and Bitter (£2.80 a pint) on. The exterior still has some attractive and very distinctive green tiling in place, reminiscent of The Alma at Wandsworth. Inside it’s now a single room affair, although the doors labelled as Public Bar and Saloon Bar, testify to its erstwhile multi-room layout. It’s the sort of backstreet boozer that would probably also have had a jug and bottle bar. There were a couple of TVs on showing the Man U v Liverpool game, and there were a few groups of drinkers at the bar enjoying the afternoon. Possibly not Liverpool supporters then. Furnishings were standard issue normal tables and chairs, and I didn’t spot anything noteworthy in the way of decor. But there were a couple of unusual things I noted – firstly a decent sized fish tank (not that unusual, but quite interesting) and a parrot in a cage at the back. Now that is unusual, and is the first living parrot (it looked a bit like a cockatiel, but I’m no expert) I’ve seen in a pub, although there is a late parrot in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It showed understandable disdain for the match being shown. This is a basic backstreet locals’ boozer. It’s not worth going out of your way to find, but OK for a swift one. I would guess that this is a jolly place to spend some time if you were able to get in with the locals.