The Smugglers Inn, Coulsdon

A cheery little one-room pub near to Woodmansterne Station, heavily decorated with assorted bric-a-brac. There are some benches at the front for outdoor drinkers. A friendly barman, a few locals enjoying the afternoon sun and a decent pint almost persuaded me to stay, but the incredibly-considerate bus stop in the front of the pub called me on. Ales on were Surrey Hills Ranmore, Parkway Where's Polly and Doom Bar. A bit suburban but one of the better pubs in the area.

Facebook page of The Smugglers Inn - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Smugglers Inn - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Smugglers Inn - www.smugglersinncoulsdon.co.uk

Official site of The Smugglers Inn - www.smugglersinncoulsdon.co.uk

Located a short distance from the centre of Coulsdon, this is a pleasant single room, traditional pub with a nautical theme. The interior has a lot of dark wood including the exposed floorboards, ceiling beams and nicely styled servery on the back wall. There are two padded bench booths on the left hand wall, banquettes under the front windows, broken midway by a protruding section of wall, and standard tables and chairs in the centre of the room. A couple of TV screens were showing a live Chelsea fixture, which might have helped to account for the large number of customers in attendance on my recent mid-week visit. The room has been decorated with a vast amount of eclectic items, much of which merits closer inspection. My attention was caught by, among other things, some lovely old sherry bottles in the front windows, a vast collection of trophies on the left hand side of the room, various pots, kettles, tankards and the like suspended from the beams, some nice brewery mirrors, a large Smugglers Inn 3-D mural on the right hand wall, lots of breweriana and various random items such as old radios, bull horns, glassware and much more. A corridor to the left of the bar leads to the toilets and has framed cigarette cards, enamel advertisements and a road sign (Delavel Road, Paddington) on display. Although the commentary from the football was audible, the buzz generated by a decent crowd meant that it wasn't really a distraction and conversation easily prevailed. There were three hand pumps in operation, dispensing Theakston Black Bull Bitter, Hepworth Sussex and Courage Best. A friendly barman served me a good pint of the Sussex although the majority of customer seemed to be drinking mainstream lager brands. This was a most welcome part of an otherwise dispiriting crawl around Coulsdon. I found the place to be welcoming, cosy and a good place to relax over a well kept ale or two. It doesn't really have the mass appeal of somewhere like the Pembroke, but for me it is the best pub in town.