You may remember many moons ago that I wrote a piece on a pub crawl from Charlton to Greenwich
Since then I’ve done a few more of these and it was fellow
Charlton blogger Hungry Ted who suggested that I should put pen to paper to
share these with you.
The introduction of the pedestrian bridge over Deptford Creek
means that there is now a pleasant walk west from the Greenwich foot tunnel along
the Thames rather than walking along Creek Road. The river side is all built up with modern high rise flats but the view down the Thames is still spectacular and you can take in the statue
of Peter the Great (Glaisher Street) a one time resident of Deptford, on the way.
As you follow the path away from the Thames around a huge tract of land that was once Convoys Wharf you come to the Dog & Bell on Prince Street. This is a quiet unassuming pub untouched by the need to
gentrify or attract the hipster crowd, tucked away down a quiet side street
away from the hustle and bustle of Deptford High Street.
The bar billiard table in the corner is a
rare sight in pubs these days as was the lack of music which encourages good conversation. On our
walk we noticed the tell tale signs of number of former pubs nearby and this is
the last surviving pub in the area that served the dockers from the massive but
now mostly derelict Convoys Wharf.
It survives as an independent real ale pub and the walls
bear witness to this with certificates for pub of the year from the local CAMRA
group amongst others. They always have four or five guest real ales there and the
few times I’ve been the beers have always been new to me. We plumped for a pint of Gravesend Shrimper,
a best bitter from Loddon Brewery.
It's then a short walk down Deptford High Street to the Job Centre (jobcentredeptford.com)and the
contrast could not be more different. This is part of the Antic pub group and as appears to be the trend with Antic pubs the place looks
like it is part way through a refit but to be honest I don’t really care as
long as the beer and atmosphere is up to scratch. The music is loud and the beard count in the double figures but they do serve a good pint. There are approximately five ales on cask and many more on tap again with a nod to London beers. The London Fields' Hackney Hopster was pouring particularly well that night served in the hipster's vessel of choice, the toby mug.
They currently have a kitchen hijack where every weekend the
latest street food merchant runs the kitchen. On our visit
it was the turn of Prairie Fire BBQ (slow cooked meat smoked the Kansas City
way), and jolly good it looked but we were there for the beer.
The trip back to Greenwich took us along Creek Road and past
the Duke (www.thedukedeptford.com) a more modern pub run by the Inn Public group but still retaining that local bar feeling. It has two cask ales which change
frequently. The offerings on the night were Sothwark Brewings LPA and
Truman’s Zypher, both well kept and well served. The Duke has music most nights but is spacious enough that you can still avoid the music and have a good conversation if you want a quieter evening.
Creek Road takes you back into Greenwich where the Lord Hood, a truly local pub, is often overlooked but serves a decent pint of Gypsy Hill Brewing's South Paw as its regular bitter. There has been an ongoing development battle surrounding the Lord Hood and its not clear how long this local will last so you should visit while you have the chance.
In all, four decent pubs all offering something different and a reasonable three mile walk (including the trip through the foot tunnel back to the Isle of Dogs) which will burn of roughly a pint and a half of those beer filled calories.
Don't forget that SE London CAMRA hold the second Kidbrooke Beer Festival at the end of April. More news on this event at the following link wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-few-local-beer-festivals.html
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