Lord Clyde, Deptford, SE8

This was a somewhat unusual pub visit for me. The opening times listed outside said they open at weekday lunchtimes, but after trying a couple of doors without success I began to have my doubts, but on trying the third and final door the chap looking after the bar took pity on me and opened the door for me. They can't have been expecting any customers as he was currently cleaning the bar, but seemed happy to take a break and chat to me. There's a central island bar, and loads of Millwall stuff on the walls, as well as boxing memorabilia as there used to be a well-known boxing gym upstairs. Some other unusual decor was around the place such as a photo of Winston Churchill, and a Dalek on a mantlepiece. Unfortunately there is no draught beer of any kind - not even bogstandard lagers. The fonts are still there, and there's even a handpump with an antique Toby Cask Ale clip on it, but nothing to be had. There was a fridge behind the bar that had some bottles of Budweiser in it, but fortunately for me also some bottles of Hatherwood Ruby Rooster which I now know is brewed by Wychwood. There didn't seem to much of a pricing structure, but the barman let me have the bottle for a couple of quid. Possibly the surprise of a lunchtime customer prompted him to give me a good price. It tasted OK as well. I gather that this pub has been bought by a property developer, although he currently doesn't have planning permission to build anything should he decide to demolish the pub. That's not good news for the place. This struck me as a pub hanging on by a thread, as the ethnicity of this area now comprises those who don't tend to utilise pubs. I doubt that I would get a chance to revisit even if I was of a mind to, as I reckon it's just a matter of time before this one goes to the wall. I would like to be proved wrong though.