The Cavern, Raynes Park, SW20

This is a pretty unusual live music pub handily located just a couple of minutes from Raynes Park station. You enter through a fairly unremarkable porch into a terracotta tile floored room with exposed brick walls, dark ceiling, muted lighting and venetian blinds drawn in the front windows, creating a dark, but warm feel inside, ideal for live music. The servery is opposite the entrance and has a brick fronted counter, dark wood canopy lined with blackboards sporting illustrations of old beer brands and a guitar shaped Budweiser neon light sign, and a simple bar back with a cool Arrol's Pale Ale mirror as a centrepiece. A mix of low and high stool seating fills the space opposite, and there are a couple of banquettes to the front and left, including on a carpeted, raised seating area in one of the front corners. Moving past the right-hand end of the bar, the room runs back a short way, where a couple of pews can be found, although the presence of dog bowls and two pub dogs suggests the area is generally reserved for the pub's canine regulars. Walls have been decorated with loads of photos of musicians from the 60s and 70s, as well as guitars, gold discs, a pub mirror, an unused TV screen, various hats and a couple of drum kits perched above the porch and bar. To the front right is a stage for live music and the room is configured quite favourably for viewing, with just one obstructing pillar in the middle of the floor. Perhaps the room's most distinctive feature is the red phone box next to the entrance although music fans will get more milage from the tables with tickets and gig posters inlaid in their surfaces. Hard Rock tunes from the pub's core demographic era were playing in the background and there's a small patio garden out the front and compact games room with a pool table to the rear. The pub has made it into recent editions of the Good Beer guide and had three cask options on the go when I arrived - Wainwright's Amber, Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold and Wimbledon Copperleaf at £5.70 a pint. The latter was in decent enough condition and whilst there were no other customers in on this mid-week, late afternoon visit, the pub dogs provided ample company. I thought this was quite a quirky establishment that worked well enough as a pub and looked to be well set up for hosting the numerous live music nights that seem to be their bread and butter. This isn't a particularly well pubbed part of the city, so it's good to have a solid venue such as this to rely on - I'd happily return when next in the area. Date of visit - 28th November 2024

The Cavern looked nothing like I had imagined it as I approached on our Saturday evening visit. In fact, the whole of Raynes Park seemed dead. The last time I was here, I'd visited the Raynes Park Tavern (still going) and the Edward Rayne (now closed) and I recall the area being quite lively. The pretty exterior of the Cavern belies the noisy nature of the interior when live music is on. We arrived just as a Deep Purple/Rainbow tribute act was about to start. The place was packed with loads of ageing rockers. But there was a good atmosphere. This pub has made its way into the Good Beer Guide, by way of its choice of 3 ales. Sharp's Doom Bar & Wimbledon Common are the regular ales. The guest beer for our visit was Ossett White Rat. My Common was in good condition and was much welcomed after a lengthy journey here via the closed Wimbledon Brewery Tap. There is plenty of music memorabilia and posters to admire on the walls. However, I think I would have preferred to have visited on a much quieter day, without the noise (I'm not a particular fan of extremely loud music) and the crowds.

Official site of The Cavern - www.thecavernfreehouse.co.uk

Official site of The Cavern - www.thecavernfreehouse.co.uk

Even though this is one of my local pubs, it’s a year or so since I’ve been in here. This pub was converted from a couple of shops 20 or so years ago, but it doesn’t have the constrained and characterless interiors that some conversions display. The bar counter is straight in front of you, with a couple of raised to the sides of the pub. The overriding theme here is classic rock and pop, with photographs of some of the greats covering every inch of the walls. I spotted Bob Marley and Gene Vincent, but most were of the Beatles and the Stones. They’ve now got two ales on – Pride and Doom Bar, with the latter being in excellent nick. There were no sparklers in use either, so I guess it has improved somewhat since the previous reviewer’s experience. This a decent enough little pub, not a classic must visit place, but definitely worthy of a vist if you’re in Raynes Park for some reason.