The Ship York, Rotherhithe, SE16

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The sign outside proclaims it to be a free house, and it had Courage Best and London Pride (£3.40 a pint) on handpump. There was no sign of any food or menus during my Saturday afternoon visit. When you walk past the tatty looking Aardvark pub a few feet away, the sight of the attractive and well maintained exterior of The Ship York is a welcome sight. When I entered I was truck immediately by the “redness” of the pub. I hadn’t detected a cabal of communist sympathisers, but everything that could be coloured red was coloured red – the carpet; the upholstery; lightshades; picture surrounds; beer towels. I suppose it matched the red-painted exterior, and did give the interior a fairly warm feel. The current building looks like an inter-war build to me, but they’ve tried to give it a country pub look; in fact it claims that title on the outside. There are some wooden pillars and false beams, plus some exposed brickwork and a very large open fireplace at the back. It has a pool table, nautical themed prints on the walls, and only normal tables and chairs and a few banquettes for furnishings. A TV was on showing some footy. There were a handle of apparent locals at the bar, exchanging some good natured banter, which is the way pubs should be. Personally I don’t think that it really cuts the mustard as a country pub (difficult to pull that one off in the heart of Rotherhithe) but I like the place anyway. Inside and out it has a cared for appearance, and I would be happy to drop in for another pint if I was in the area.

Large corner local set back off Salter Road. Pride and Bombadier was on tap on our visit. Buses 381 and C10 stops in Salter road and just walk down the slope to Rotherhithe st