The Star, Wallington

One of the few surviving pubs in Wallington, the Star is a large Craft Union boozer close to the station, with sizable front and rear bars. A porch leads into the main front bar, which is bare boarded and has the servery in the middle of the back wall. There is some low wood panelling with plain and wallpapered uppers around the room and large windows to the front. The bar has a grey painted tongue and groove counter and plain bar back devoid of any points of interest, whilst over to the right there is a raised, carpeted seating area with some tables and chairs that looked like the best bet for a seat in this part of the pub. Passing beyond the bar, you move through to what would've once been a separate rear bar, but is now opened out somewhat, into a large, bare boarded space dominated by two pool tables, leaving enough room for some high tables and stools around the perimeter. There's an impressive raised ceiling with a skylight here, which ensures it's a lot brighter than it might otherwise have been, and the room has been liberally decorated with Crystal Palace shirts, flags, scarves and so forth. The walls have nice, near full height panels which look a lot better than those in the front room, and things are rounded out with a dartboard and some slot machines. To the right is a screened off seating area with a long banquette down the end wall and a door to the rear that leads out to the beer garden. Lots of muted TV screens were showing a live non-league football fixture with dull pop tunes playing in the background. Despite having three hand pumps on the bar, two were unclipped and one had a turned Doom Bar clip, leaving me at the mercy of the keg range, from which I tried the Brixton Reliance Pale. My pint was served by a barmaid who wasn't in the slightest bit interested in serving me, but I fared much better with the friendly locals who were happy to chat with a stranger. This pub has been knocked about a bit but retains enough of a notional two bar layout to at least feel like it's catering for a range of customers. I felt quite comfortable here but would've preferred some cask ale and any form of acknowledgement of my existence from the bar staff, which means I'd be more inclined to use the nearby Wetherspoons in the future. Date of visit - 6th May 2024

Facebook page of The Star - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Star - www.craftunionpubs.com

Facebook page of The Star - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Star - www.craftunionpubs.com

Large pub with a knocked-through C-shaped interior, which looks to have had a recent exterior makeover. Enter to the old top bar which is a geezers hang out - two pool tables, darts and tellies with sport. The rear area is more comfortable with some pretty tiled flooring, third length blue painted wood panelling and a raised carpeted seating area. Toilets were surprisingly clean and out back is a decent little seating area with astroturf and three beach hut style booths. Three ales on all under 3 quid a pop - GK IPA, Doom Bar and Youngs Bitter, the latter of which tasted musty, unfortunately. It serves a purpose and if the beer was better it'd be worth a quick look.