Trinity Arms, SW9

A world away from the despondency of Brixton Road, the Trinity Arms is situated in peaceful and dinky Trinity Square, built in 1850, leased by Young & Co in 1885, bought outright in 1911; they may also possibly own the green outside, due to acquisition courtesy of squatters’ rights; today, there’s some fine Young & Co brewery tiling, probably dating from the 1930s. The interior was trendified in 2016, but it’s not nearly as severe as some of Young’s mauling’s; aside from the predictable picture of the Queen Mother on the pull, you can get a glimpse of it on their website, once you’ve navigated the endless pictures of the beer garden, dogs and food that looks like something from the film The Thing. Customers were young trustafarian types, nothing like the dog-clutching models bussed in for the website’s photoshoot, some wearing hired sports’ shirts, punching the air whilst watching an imaginary TV. The acoustics were very poor, rendering the sound of conversation unpleasantly loud. With the Proper Job option banished from Young’s south London pubs, the ale choice amounted to Special and London Original, then new to me, a Frankenbeer cask called Mixed, with a pump clip that was 50:50 Special and London Original; yet another half of Neck Oil reluctantly succumbed to gravity, £3.60 for the privilege. This is quite a decent pub – certainly by the standards of south London – but the cask choice is a bore and it’s clearly better visited early in the week.

Official site of Trinity Arms - www.instagram.com

Official site of Trinity Arms - www.instagram.com

In the mean streets (and ropey pub scene) of Brixton lies this really rather nice little oasis in a neat and secluded little square only a few yards off the main drag. Having made myself look like a wally by trying to get in through various locked doors, I eventually entered round the side. It’s obviously been molested by the Youngs wrecking crew at some point in the last few years, as the U shaped interior lacks intrinsic charm that a building of this stature should warrant. Three casks ales at the island bar, 2x Youngs and Twickenham Grandstand. Outrageously, the cost of two pints was £9.30, though at least the quality of the two I got were very good and superb – I’d have been raging otherwise. Staff were a mixture of schooled and the scatty. With no spare tables inside we schlepped out the back via a heavy glass door that – stupidly, given the traffic of full pints one way – opened inwards into the pub making it near-impossible to get through with more than one pint in hand without summoning assistance. The garden was pretty swish, covered by tentage with an odd open square brick fire. Clientele were mainly on the younger, trustafarian / self-facilitating media node side of things. We witnessed peak Zone1 behaviour, with a loud and pushy girl literally bullying a lad off his table space so she and her pals could take it. Overall, this place doesn’t have enough to warrant big marks but as a haven away from Brixton’s main thoroughfare, it’s ideal for a pre-gig drink.

This rare example of a relatively unspoilt Young's pub certainly looks the part, the half tiled exterior, glorious floral displays, original looking windows complete with the Young's Ram figure etched together with a favourable location at the side of a leafy and tranquil square. If transported here you would have no clue that you were about 250m from the vibrant and noisy centre of Brixton. Inside is an island bar, wood flooring, the bar gantry has a quintet of jazz musician statuettes in full flow. A section of more modern shelving houses a TV which was showing the World Cup football as well as a few books and board games. A wall mounted World Cup chart was meticulously kept up to date. The previous three bar layout is evident, reinforced by the tiled external signs. Seating is reassuringly traditional at tables of varying size including the current fashion of reclaimed dining tables. Not much décor wise, a few obligatory local scenes, always welcome by me old maps, plus a "wall" of postcards from holidaying regulars, it seems a card gets you a free drink on your return, a no-brainer then. Food is served but nothing happening at 5:30 on Saturday. There is a bit of outdoor seating on a front terrace and at the not so-"secret garden" to the rear which was a pleasant spot surrounded by high brick walls. No guest beers, Young's Bitter, Special and London Gold but nonetheless I did take to this traditional pub and would certainly revisit when in Brixton.