The Bridges, Dartford

Spectacularly situated beneath a towering viaduct, the Bridges gets its name not from the brick behemoth that towers overhead but from the owner of the pub itself, former world heavyweight wrestling champion Wayne Bridges. Before assuming its current title it was called the Sun and had been since it was built in 1875 although a previous pub is thought to have occupied the site even though maps from 1865 show no signs any buildings here. This is a place that I have passed many times without venturing inside, surprising given that it does look very enticing from the outside. Internally it immediately strikes the visitor as a charming pub, packed solid with a huge collection of brasses, coppers, pots, pans and curios plus several old local photos with an emphasis on the local fire brigade. The L-shaped bar is broken up my a few divides and there is a small room tacked onto one side containing a dart board. To one side of the pub, where there once stood stables that housed horses for the local fire brigade, is a pleasant garden beside the River Darent. The 4 handpumps had an interesting selection of ales including Naylors Autumn Ale (£3), Dark Star Over The Moon, Harveys Best and Kents Best from the local Millis Brewery. Unfortunately the quality of my pint was poor, bordering on undrinkable which begs the question, would you complain to the landlord that his beer was crap knowing that he has previously upended the likes of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks? I perservered with what I was had and left after 1 pint which is a shame as the pub does have so much going for it. I had hoped this would be a one off but reports elsewhere suggest this is an ongoing issue. I would hate to mark a pub down for consistently poor ales, especially when it shows support for its local microbrewery and if nothing else, it has implanted a desire, or even a need, to return when hopefully the quality will be better and I can look at hiking up the rating a couple of points.