Sextons, Thames Ditton

Opposite the golf course & close to Esher train station(Sandown racecourse). Up to 6 real ales. The pub has a large garden at the back, a pool table & a dartboard.Meals served.

Many years ago this was an excellent and highly popular tenanted house. As of last night, the eight hand pumps in two banks were sporting Hobgoblin (@£3.40), Doombar, London Pride, Young's Bitter, and Ringwood Fortyniner clips, although the Fortyniner evidently wasn't on as my Hobgoblin rather surprisingly came out of that pump. This was a Friday night on which there was a small assortment of customers at the bar, some youngsters playing pool, and some more in the garden. As I was looking round taking things in, the barman thrust a copy of the Sun towards me in a friendly way. A customer who came in a little while later and asked for a newspaper managed to get a Telegraph, apparently on the basis that someone else was reading the Sun at the time. I have always really liked this pub,but throughout the years it has felt like it has lost its way, without a solid customer base, by default serving those who do venture in but without any of the successive managers knowing how to recapture the attractive, buzzing establishment it used to be. I will still drop in for a pint from time to time when in the area, but wouldn't go out of my way to do so.

This pub is on the busy A309, separated from the road by a short stretch of grass, although you can still hear the traffic in the pub. Nonetheless it’s a pretty decent pub. As you go in there’s a small room on the left with a pool table and dartboard; there’s a bar area in front of, and to the right of the entrance with standard issue tables and chairs, leading to a dining area at the back with tables set for diners. This in turn leads to a garden area. The walls are mainly wood panelled, and look quite attractive with a varnish that brings out the colour of the wood. There’s a fireplace in the middle of the front bar area which at one time would have been part of the wall that would have divided it into two rooms. There are bookshelves displaying some pretty ancient books (of course) plus other ornaments such as vases, kettles, tankards and the like. Clearly they had been fooled by the recent warm weather and turned the heating off – a little more warmth would have been welcome on a cold mid-April day. There were five ales on – London Pride; Young’s Bitter; Hobgoblin; Sharp’s Doom Bar; and Cornish Coaster that was in excellent nick. There was a menu, although I just ordered a reasonably priced sarny off the chalkboard sandwich menu on the bar. The barman was helpful and chatty, and readily agreed to my request to take a few photos of the interior. This struck me as a fairly straightforward, yet comfortable, village style pub. A choice of five ales is fairly good going as well. If I get down this way again I would be very happy to drop in for another pint.