Draughts, Eltham, SE9

Situated a few minutes walk from the shopping area, Draughts is the latest incarnation of what was originally the Chequers before becoming a Mexican restaurant called the Cactus Tree. The current building dates from 1904 and the mock Tudor frontage still displays the chequered signage representing its original name. Internally the pub is one knocked through room with plain décor and an over-abundance of St George’s flags (I counted at least 18 – read into that what you will). The pub seems to be a magnet for the local tattoed F-worders trading their limited vocabulary above the ridiculously loud music from the juke box. A big screen was showing football although you could hardly see the screen for the glare and most people seemed to be gathered around the horse racing on a separate TV. One side of the pub had little in the way of furnishings leaving a vast expanse of open floor space. To the side is a functionl patio. On the beer front the place also falls well short of anything interesting with 1 currently unused hand pull (they did used to have Pride but I have never found it on) and the usual run of High Street lagers and kegs. All in all, not much to attract anyone from beyond its target demograph and a poor but sadly typical representation of Eltham’s less appealing pubs.