The Railway Tavern, Carshalton

A Wednesday night visit before a game at Carshalton Athletic. On a previous visit to the ground I visited this Fuller's pub after the match so decided it was the perfect pub for pre match drinkies. All ale offerings from Fuller’s, the Spring Sprinter was on good form with the other choices being London Pride and Seafarers'. Football being shown live on the 2 large screen tv’s, that had half of the pub (mainly blokes) watching it. The bar was attended by a very friendly bar lady and with the pub being open plan the horseshoe shaped bar can be accessed from all sides. Apart from the 3 of us all of the others punters were certainly locals and regular’s. I like the Railway and in my opinion the ales are better kept here than in the much favoured by everyone else Hope….that pub is not for me as a previous bad beer experience put me off. Definitely worth a visit as it’s also close to the station.

Old-fashioned, side-street local with real ale - an increasingly rare combination in Greater London. The otherwise plainly furnished 'U'-shaped bar is enlivened by a gantry for the branded glassware and bulbous feature lighting, but the furniture is definitely basic. There is also a notional patio area to one side. As a Fuller's house, Pride, Seafarers and Spring Sprinter (£3.60) were available from the two banks of three handpumps.

A stone’s throw from Carshalton Train Station is the Railway Tavern that is a single roomed U-shaped Fullers pub with a local backstreet boozer feel. There is a quiz every Tuesday from 20:00 and I spotted an advertisement for live music that was due to take place on the Saturday evening after my early Friday evening visit a month or so ago. I didn’t see any televisions and there was no background music playing, which was a good thing as the locals in this pub generate enough atmosphere amongst themselves as they sit and chat around the bar. Food is served from noon until 14:00 Monday through to Friday, but there were some rolls sitting on the back bar that were priced at £1 each. Standard draught is available and I counted six hand pumps. Three of these were unused and another two were drawing Pride, I didn’t manage to note what the final hand pump was drawing. To the side of the pub is a long and thin beer garden that houses some picnic tables that are popular with the smokers that enjoy this pub. Originally coming from West London I’m a big fan of Fullers Pubs and I feel no different about this place. If I lived locally this place would probably be my local, which is a feat as there are many good pubs in this area.

This single room Fuller’s pub is, as its name suggests, located just a few hundred yards from Carshalton train station. The room has a simple U shaped layout, with the servery on the back wall and standard seating throughout. The place feels a bit basic but it’s still a fairly comfortable spot for a pint, with a nice carpet, half panelled walls and the obligatory railway memorabilia, which includes framed cigarette cards depicting trains through the ages, an old station phone and the old platform sign from Carshalton station. The front windows have nice etched glass panes which are worth keeping an eye out for, as are those in the front and rear doors which have incorporated the pub’s name in to them. The servery area is quite a basic affair, but there are some nice integral lamps which, when in use, help give the place a cosier feel than it might otherwise have. Music was playing quite loudly during my Friday evening visit, which seemed a bit out of place given the clientele and overall I have found this to be one of the least busy pubs in Carshalton. There is a garden area to the rear with picnic style benches which is full of colourful flowers and has a small but well decorated water feature. Every time I’ve been in here, the same three beers have been on – Fuller’s London Pride and ESB and Gale’s Seafarers. The ESB will now set you back £3.90, but to be fair it is kept in tip-top condition and goes down very easily. It’s a bit of a shame that some of Fuller’s other excellent beers don’t seem to get a look in, but I guess they know what sells. The pub does offer food but the times of availability vary. However, filled rolls are available at all times for a quid. This is a good addition to any crawl around Carshalton, but I’ve always found the place a bit one dimensional – you always know what you’re going to get and it’s never anything that exciting. That said, they do serve up some of the best kept beer in town, so return visits are likely to remain on the cards.

Very much a sports oreientated pub with numerous flat screen TV's around and all were onwith the sound up during our visit. Three Fullers ales were avaialbe whcih were ESB, London Pride and Seafarers. Wasnt too sure of the ESB we had but it might have been affected by what we had been drinking beforehand.

A single roomed pub with a central bar of light wood,squint ended,and with globe lights over. The windows are etched and obscured, with the pub name picked out. It's a comfortable pub with standard traditional seating,half panelled walls, and clearly well looked after and spotlessly clean. There are loads of award certificates displayed proudly around the place. The immaculate interior is matched outside too with an abundance of flowering tubs and baskets, both on the frontage and in the rear walled garden. There is enough railway memorabilia in here to keep an enthusiast happy for a good while, with old steam train engineers drawings, signs, maps and so on. Somewhat curiously for such a small pub, there are a fair few TVs dotted about, none particularly big, and all switched off on my afternoon visit. It's a Fullers pub, Pride, ESB, and the former Gales Seafarers were on. My ESB tasted a little of line cleaner so I returned it and pleased to say the barman pulled a bucket through and replaced my pint without question. A solid clean and tidy pub, well run, I'd have no hesitation in returning. Note however the hours, 12-2:30 through the week then re-opens at 5, all day Saturday and permitted hours Sunday.

Randomness Guide to London - Railway Tavern entry

Randomness Guide to London - Railway Tavern entry

A Fuller's pub – they had Seafarers, London pride and ESB on, but no sign of Discovery or Chiswick. The Seafarers was good, and at a decent price of £2.70 a pint. Sarnies priced less than £3 were also a good bet. The pub looks good from the outside, with numerous well-tended hanging baskets on show. The interior is also clean and comfortable; carpeted throughout, with normal tables and chairs, and some stools. There are no less than five small(ish) TVs spread around the walls of this one-room pub, but thankfully none were on during my weekday lunchtime visit. The walls are adorned, as you would expect, with plenty of railway memorabilia. The inevitable games and fruit machines were also present, but for some reason they weren't imposing enough to detract from the quiet atmosphere of this decent little pub – probably because nobody was playing them and thus they were forced to remain silent. There's also a small beer garden, being used by a handful of smokers during my visit. Basically, it seems to be a decent, well-run little pub. I would be very happy to drop in for a pint if I find myself in Carshalton again.