The Broken Drum, Blackfen, Sidcup

This micro pub, located in a former beauty salon and opened in April 2015, takes its name from a fictional pub mentioned in the novels of Terry Pratchett (A broken drum cannot be beaten). The front windows have been partially obscured with a picture of a drum picked out alongside the pub's name, web address and the words "Gravity fed real ales from the cask". As is the norm for such ventures, the interior is a small single room set up with a notional servery on the rear wall next to a door to the taproom where the beers are indeed poured straight "from the cask". The room is carpeted and has a couple of benches under the front windows, either side of the entrance, and standard tables and chairs through the rest of the room. Each table had a beer towel and mixed beer mats from various local breweries as well as a laminated slip of paper listing tempting traditional bar snacks. The walls are painted white and decorated with some bright contemporary photos, a pump clip collection, a community noticeboard which promoted several other micro pubs, a few local history photos and some Terry Pratchett items including framed beer mats and a Mended Drum pub sign, also lifted from one of his novels. Most striking was an excellent hand drawn map of Kent detailing the county's numerous micro pubs and micro breweries. Shelves in one corner held a collection of Good Beer Guides, CAMRA literature and board games. The pub currently serves three ales which on this visit comprised Gadds No 5, Hop Stuff Renegade IPA and Tonbridge Coppernob. Boards behind the bar detail the current range and give a flavour of some of the beers waiting to come on. I gave the IPA a try and it was in sparkling condition, to the point that I was very tempted to return for another. I was the only customer when I arrived but the place slowly started to fill after a while and I would like to think the locals can sustain such a venture. This was a nice place to enjoy a quiet pint of well kept ale and a good example of the micro pub concept should you be unfamiliar with it. I hope this place becomes a real success, as the immediate area is fairly lacking in decent pubs - something that this place has gone a long way to remedy.

Official site of The Broken Drum - www.thebrokendrum.co.uk

Official site of The Broken Drum - www.thebrokendrum.co.uk