Putney and Wandsworth

Posted on 2012/02/12 13:41:59 (February 2012).

[Saturday 11th February 2012]
I hadn't seen my friend Andy for a while, so we both thought we were overdue to meet up for a drink or two, which turned into another one of our rambling pub expeditions. We'd originally considered going somewhere a little further afield like Oxford, but the threat of snow and the fact that it was actually quite a trek made us end up being somewhat less ambitious. So we just headed for somewhere roughly in the middle of where we both lived, which translated to Putney and Wandsworth.

We started off at the Bricklayer's Arms in Putney, where rather disconcertingly beer was being served in plastic glasses - apparently there was a Fulham game on, and they'd been advised to do so by the police. Not wanting to be swamped by football crowds we decided to curtail the original planned agenda in Putney somewhat, and head sooner rather than later to the relative safety of Wandsworth.

I particularly enjoyed our visit to The Cat's Back, which is rather unpromisingly located on the edge of an industrial estate near Wandsworth, but surprisingly had a strong community pub feel, and therein Andy constructed a rather impressive "Dominohenge" (see the pictures) to the slight bemusement of the landlady.

Another highlight, more in terms of the interior, was the Spread Eagle in Wandsworth. Having been reading a book on London pub interiors recently it turns out that very few, if any, original pre-Victorian interiors survive, so this sort of grand partitioned etched glass gin palace style as about as good as it gets. Even though, somewhat disappointingly they also had the wrong sort of screens - i.e. ones showing sports.

We eventually decided we'd done enough in Wandsworth, and as it was now after 4 and we hadn't successfully had lunch yet, we headed into the centre instead. En route at Millbank we saw a scene from the new Bond movie being filmed, and caught a brief glimpse of Judie Dench in a car.

Somehow or other we ended up Embankment, and I suggested we go to a Mexican place called Lupita. To my surprise Andy said he'd never really had Mexican food before, and apparently quite liked it.

We rounded off the day with yet another late Victorian pub interior - the Salisbury - a central London pub I've had on my list of recommendations on Google Places for some time (what a fine product that is, by the way) but had never got around to going to.

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