The Palmerston, Carshalton

Impressively green painted exterior but little of note within, mainly old geezer blokes swapping tales of improbale 4 figure wagers in between bouts of effing and jeffing. Interior has two bars, overpainted wood and a feeling of having been far more cosy 5-10 years ago. One bit of survival was an old 1950s ‘Lord Palmerston’ wood topper above the bar. I entered to the smaller left hand side bar which only had a single pump of Doom Bar, so I ordered that, which had sea monsters floating in it. Made my way to the other bar (via the outside, there’s no internal link) to see that Harveys Sussex Best was also available – bah. Get the feeling it's on borrowed time.

Prettily done out at the front with hanging baskets, somewhat belying the earthiness of the locals, no problem with that but the downpoint was the lack of beer - courage only, decent condition but I'm just not keen.