The Wheatsheaf, Thornton Heath

The well-known London Road venue is to shut on Sunday after being sold by owners Stonegate Pubs.The company has yet to comment but the listed building is to be refurbished before being reopened under a new guise.

This is an 18th century coaching inn which although much modified over the years, still retains something of a traditional feel thanks to its pleasing dark wood panelled interior. The pub is sited opposite Thornton Heath Pond, which would have made it an ideal stop off for those wanting to water their horses, although the pond was filled in back in the 1950’s and is now a busy roundabout. Although the pub has distinctly different areas, all partitioning walls have been removed creating a single room in an elongated horseshoe shape that runs around a central servery. The left hand side houses a smart lounge bar with plenty of dark wood which combined with low level lighting makes for a cosy feel which was spoiled somewhat by the presence of a huge screen showing the day’s live football. There’s a decent raised area directly opposite the servery with a good mix of seating and lots of old pictures on the walls. Beyond the bar at the rear of the room is perhaps the nicest area. This carpeted space has some attractive patterned wall panels and a wide fireplace above which there are a lot of photos of what I took to be the pub’s regular customers. Some limited partitioning screens with stained glass panes mark out the end of this section of the pub, with a public bar beyond containing two pool tables and a dartboard. Further TV screens were showing a different football match. As part of the Stonegate chain, the pub serves up some reasonably priced, if somewhat generic, food. There are a couple of hand pumps but only the one beer on – Fuller’s London Pride at £2.50 a pint. I had a half and thought it was kept well enough. A sign behind the bar was advertising a different ale which I failed to note, but I seem to recall that it was a more interesting choice than Pride but sadly no longer available on my visit. I think this pub is worth a look for some parts of the interior but doesn’t do enough to merit a longer stay. A better ale selection would help but I suspect there simply isn’t the demand for it. Now that there are just the two pubs left on the Pond, this place is definitely the one to choose if you have to make that choice, but given the time, I’d head to West Croydon or even to the centre of Thornton Heath instead.