The Antigallican, Charlton, SE7

About the most basic pub I can recall visiting in recent times, with bare boards, limited furniture and almost zero decoration. The 'U'-shaped bar has a couple of large TV screens for sporting events and a pool table, and that's about it apart from the darkened side room that is presumably used for live music. There is also a hostel above (but heaven only knows what those rooms are like...). Nothing of interest on the beer front, so I made do with the keg Greene King IPA (£3.20) and watched a bit of the London derby football with the lively crowd of locals.

Whilst waiting for friends for our traditional pre-match pint in the nearby Rose of Denmark, I decided to try this place, which is designated as the official away supporters pub. It's a large street corner pub, just down the road from the train station and only a couple of minutes from the away turnstiles at The Valley. The corner entrance leads you into an open plan, bare boarded interior across two levels. The lower level presumably normally houses a pool table, covered and moved into the corner on this visit. There were some sofas along one wall, but otherwise it was completely empty, allowing plenty of vertical drinking space for the rowdy football crowd. A couple of TV screens were dotted around, showing the BBC's early evening programming for some strange reason. I also noted a dartboard, juke box and a few old enamel signs which broke up what is otherwise a fairly bland space. Moving over to the upper level, you reach the horseshoe shaped servery which is notable for a weird bar back which looks a bit like an sinking rowing boat. Some huge paintings of ships dominate the walls and the majority of the seating can be found up here, but it was incredibly cramped on this visit, obviously not representative of a normal evening, but a hindrance to further exploration nonetheless. Loud music played throughout my rather brief stay and I also noted that the pub offers accommodation and hot food. Sadly, although perhaps predictably, there was no ale available, so I ended up with a pint of John Smith's Extra Cold, which didn't impress. Guinness Extra Cold is also available alongside the usual lager options. The staff seemed friendly enough and put up with the typical away fan excesses. A couple of policemen were stationed inside and there were bouncers on the doors. I can't say I enjoyed this visit in any way and even the usually galvanising effect of a pub full of fellow fans did nothing to make me warm to the place. Charlton is a fairly desperate area for good pubs and this one does nothing to buck the trend. Suffice to say, I won't be changing my pre-match meet-up venue next season.

Randomness Guide to London - Antigallican entry

Randomness Guide to London - Antigallican entry

As far as I am aware, this is the only remaining pub to carry such a name, a reminder of the Napoleonic Wars when the feelings towards the French were a little less reserved than they are now (alledgedly). It is surprising that, in these PC times, the name has been allowed to be kept but survive it has. As a pub, the Antigallican is hardly a place to make any great efforts to visit. Most people will only call here as part of a trip to Charlton Athletics Valley football ground a few hundred yards around the corner and on match the pub will show its gratitude for your custom by raising the prices. The pub also doubles up as a budget hotel which sometimes attracts overnighters for the O2 Arena, about half an hour walk away. Aesthetically, this won’t be the best pub you will ever come across with little in the way of décor or architecture to catch the attention. There used to be 2 separate bars but it was all knocked through a couple of years ago to the cavernous interior you now see. The floorspace contains just a minimum of seating whilst a pool table dominates one end with asmattering of sofas around the sides and a few stalls at the horseshoe bar. It should be noted that this is an Ale Free zone so don’t expect too much in the way of an exciting beer range. There is a separate function area, possibly an old ballroom, which houses a dart board, stage area and Big Screen TV.It also has seats that fall apart when you sit on them (hours of fun to be had with this). In short, a functional and handily placed pub but with few merits and unless you know the better options, (of which there are few) you will probably find yourself drawn in. Just leave the French accent at home.