The County Arms, Wandsworth Common, SW18

Overlooking Wandsworth Common and dating from the mid-19th century, this is a very imposing building in the brewers’ Tudor style, so I suspect it may have been rebuilt at a later stage. Wandsworth Common is the mainline for the County, and I walked the main road. The name can be seen in mosaic to the entrance along with some good vestigial etched glass with Art Nouveau leaded stained-glass clerestories. Thereafter there’s a huge, rambling baronial interior which can be seen on Google and their site, appearing to have been toned down a bit since PSM’s review, but still a rather corporate affair, pastel hues with ‘zoned’ furniture and some kilims, décor by way of things such as photos of birds, tits or finches and the like, all to very loud Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name. Customers were few for a Saturday evening at 9.00pm, affluent professional types, a child leaving as is the requirement come this time of night. As usual given the SW postcode, there was London Original (obviously) and Wimbledon Copper Leaf, £3.15 a half and as always, tasting of burnt leaves. This is probably a good bet for the likes of Mother’s Day but it’s a monumental hike to get here and the cask selection was predictably dull; where’s the Proper Job?

Stood at the edge of Wandsworth Common, this is a large Young's pub with a truly impressive facade that is well worth taking in before entering. You pass through a nice porch with a great mosaic tile floor which bears the pub's name into a huge main bar area with a central island servery in an area that would once have comprised a series of separate rooms. The furniture is very high end, with plush banquettes, solid chairs and comfy sofas all looking tempting. Despite having been knocked around a lot, the place still retains a few traditional features, including the dark wood bar counter, smart fireplace to the rear and attractive etched glass partitioning screens. Doors either side of the fireplace lead into a large dining room with rugs over thick floorboards, standard table and chair seating, another nice fireplace and lots of old photos, paintings and the like on the walls. It's quite a nice room to be honest, but I expect it only really gets used by those wanting to try something from the rather pretentious and expensive menu. Beyond is a new extension which is comparatively shallow but very wide and has a conservatory roof in part, plenty more seating and is apparently used for private functions including weddings. There is a beer garden somewhere too, but it was pitch black when we visited, so I didn't explore. On the bar, Youngs Ordinary and Special are joined by permanent guest Wimbledon Common Pale Ale and there was a reasonably decent selection of craft keg and bottled beer. We came here for a beer tasting with Fourpure Brewery (which was excellent by the way - they are touring Young's pubs with these events and I'd thoroughly recommend joining one if you get the chance), so mainly drank cans of their beer, but we did include a half of the Ordinary as part of the tasting, which was a massive disappointment after a couple of tasty craft beers and really was a poor advert for cask ale at this event aimed at craft converts. I really liked this pub, despite the annoying, pretentious makeover that Youngs have given it. It's still a really beautiful building and if you can look past the gentrification, it's still a rewarding place to enjoy a drink or two. It's a shame that it is let down somewhat on that point, but there are still some Fourpure beers in the fridges, so I guess that's what I'll be having if I ever make it back here.

Official site of The County Arms - www.countyarms.co.uk

Official site of The County Arms - www.countyarms.co.uk

This is a large and imposing Young’s house with the usual range on. I enjoyed a particularly good pint of Winter Warmer – at £3.38 a pint. The large horseshoe bar is in the middle of the room, with a black and white tiled splash area around it. The room stretches around to the right of the bar counter, leading to another large separate room at the back, which in turn leads to a conservatory. There is also a garden to the side of the pub, but it really wasn’t garden weather during my visit so didn’t explore it. Furnishings are a mixed bag – some large, solid tables, “tub” chairs, square stools, and normal tables and chairs. There are a couple of decent features remaining – a bit of attractive glasswork plus the name of the pub picked out in mosaic in the entranceway. It was very busy during my late lunchtime New Year’s Day visit, with all the tables and seating occupied mainly by family groups with young children in tow. Just about everybody was either still eating or had recently finished eating. I try to imagine what it might be like in here on a “normal” day, on the assumption that the customer base on New Year’s Day is not typical, and I suspect that it would qualify as “OK”. The staff were struggling to cope today, with table clearing apparently not the top of the priority list. But I would be happy to drop in for another pint if I was passing, although I doubt whether I would go out of my way to visit again.