Clarkshaws Taproom, SW9

You can’t do a crawl around certain parts of London without having to divert inside a railway arch for some overpriced craft beer at some point, and so it was on a recent walk from Camberwell to Brixton, where I found myself in this tiny arch under Loughborough Junction station. I say ‘in’ the arch, but it’s actually so tiny that there’s nowhere to sit inside and the ‘bar’ has been moved to the front of the arch, perhaps a relic of the Covid era, so that you can’t even stand inside either. Now, customers are relegated to a few chairs, mid-height stools and hard benches on the cobbled pavement outside, with just the one long canteen table between them all. It’s not a great space, especially on the cold November night that I visited, with parked cars obscuring your view of the neighbouring blocks of flats whilst loud music pumps out of the Clutch Guru’s garage a couple of arches further down the line. The venue’s one saving grace was the barmaid, who was really friendly and welcoming, talking me through the limited draught options - an APA, a Lager and a Golden Ale called Gorgon’s Alive - before coming outside with me to wipe the table down and then popping out later to check I was enjoying my beer. It turned out to be a fairly mediocre pint, and at £5.00, hardly represented value for money. Another member of staff ran a few pints down to the Clutch Guru guys as their shift came to an end for the day, which I thought was a nice touch. I can’t real;y recommend this place based on their current set-up and would imagine that the cramped pavement space would still be an unappealing place to drink even on a warm summer’s day. If they can get the interior opened up again, this might be worth a look, but if you want decent craft beer in a comfortable railway arch, the nearby Friendship Adventure Brewery is a far more satisfying option.