The Railway Telegraph

Lovely physical renewal of the building and décor. Beer is a real disappointment. Poor tap control, pretty insipid taste for Shep Neame’s finest bitters. Three visits, three disappointing pints. Atmosphere dreek! Staff were not interested.

This place has come under new management and from the sounds of things, is VERY different from what it used to be! For a start there are no regular reggae nights, instead they provide a friendly, local service in beautiful surroundings.
To me, the décor has a ‘gentlemans hunters lodge’ feel to it in some parts. Blue walls, leather chairs and a woodburning stove.
As I said it has been taken over, and recently refurbished, so they are ‘finding their feet’, so to speak. They participate in a lot of local events, which is one of the things that makes South East London so great.
One of the coolest things about this place is the staff. They know their stuff.
Compared to a lot of the pubs in Forest Hill, this one has a lot going for it and I think is gonna be great.
The beer garden is wrapped around the back of the pub, and their are seats out the front too, which I imagine would be a suntrap on a Summer afternoon. It feels quite child friendly, but dont quote me!
Well worth a visit.

Bit of a disappointment, especially considering how good the pub looks from the outside. I expected better, even from a chain pub (Shepheard Neame). Just a couple of beers and the football updates on such a big screen (and high enough volume) so as to be impossible to ignore.
Managed to find an odd chilly nook at the back to get away from the not sexist (to the best of my knowledge) Jeff Stelling. Also back there was a small restauranty bit, looking more like a breakfast room at a hotel out of season.
Felt like a bit of a wasted opportunity to me.

Good standard pub on the corner of the South Circular (is that not an oxymoron?) offering a traditonal pub atmoshere with modern amenies and style. Popular for footie watchers and very family friendly. Not a food oriented pub but good at what it does.