London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Other locations — Woolwich
Dial Arch, London SE18
Contemporary pub (Young’s)
The Warren, Royal Arsenal Riverside, London SE18 6GW (Young’s)
T (020) 3130 0700 Web http://dialarch.com f DialArchRoyalArsenal tw DialArch
Open 0900-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat, note bars open 1200). Children welcome in Pantry until 2000.
Cask beers 7 (Wells & Young’s, Meantime, occasional guests) Other beers 3 keg, 6 bottles (Wells & Young’s) Also 1 real cider, wines
Food Sandwiches, pizzas, enhanced pub grub especially fish, baked goods in Pantry Outdoor Large front terrace overlooking green Disabled toilet, wifi
W wine club, S board games, Sn quiz, various weekday food promotions, occasional live piano
The Royal Arsenal was for centuries the heart of Woolwich. First established as an ordnance depot on the Thames marshes in 1671, it swelled into Britain’s biggest producer of armaments, dominating the town both geographically and as the major employer. At its peak during World War I the site covered 5.3 square kilometres (1,300 acres), all of it subject to military secrecy which ensured it appeared as a huge blank space on maps. The eastern section was sold off to build the new town of Thamesmead in the 1960s and the original grand entrance, the Beresford Gate, was severed by a road scheme in the 1970s, but the core of the site, much of it largely unaltered since construction in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, remained in military use until 1994. Since then it’s been subject to an impressive redevelopment, integrating homes, public spaces and visitor attractions like the Royal Artillery’s Firepower museum into the fabric of the historic buildings — a property that will become even more attractive when its new Crossrail station opens in 2018.
Young’s have grabbed a prime piece of all this by converting the Dial Arch building, a Grade II listed former workshop, into a large and spectacular new pub which opened in 2010. Walk through the imposing arch topped with a distinctive sundial flanked by cannonballs and you face a large bar dispensing a good choice of cask ales, mainly from Wells & Young’s — Young’s Bitter, Special, London Gold, Wells Bombardier, Courage Directors and usually a seasonal — but with a local touch in the form of Meantime Pale Ale from nearby Greenwich. At the time of writing they’re thinking of bringing in Meantime’s keg wheat beer too, to replace the current Erdinger; Double Chocolate Stout and Pilsner Urquell are other keg choices of interest, with a few W&Y specialities like Banana Bread Beer and Waggle Dance in bottle.
A cavernous and atmospheric area to the left has bare brickwork and gunmetal tables, while further towards the front of the building is the bright and cheerful Pantry which operates as a tea shop during the day, though you can drink alcohol there too once the bar is open. To the right are a number of partitioned rooms including a table service restaurant area where you can enjoy a menu that’s big on pizzas, fish dishes — Selsey crab cakes, herb-baked grey mullet — and pub grub stalwarts like pies, burgers and steaks, though veggies will find themselves largely restricted to a choice of pizzas, also sold by the metre. Various food offers recur on regular weekday nights. Decor is interesting and just the right side of naff — souvenirs of the site’s former use mix with original art and oddities like car doors hung on the wall. Note there’s a “smart casual” dress code that seems to be interpreted relatively liberally, though they frown on trackie bottoms and football shirts (slightly ironically — see below).
Visitor note. The building looks out on the pleasant green of Dial Square, a name which may well be familiar from English football history. Dial Square FC was formed by workers at the complex in 1886. It was renamed Royal Arsenal when it became the first club in southern England to join the professional football league in 1893. Eventually known simply as Arsenal, the club crossed the river to a new ground in Highbury in 1913. Now one of the top teams in England, it’s played at the Emirates Stadium in Holloway since 2006. But if you’re a dedicated fan making a pilgrimage to its birthplace, check the note on dress code above.
National Rail, DLR Woolwich Arsenal Boat Royal Arsenal, Woolwich Ferry Cycling NCN1, LCN+ 56 Walking Capital Ring, Green Chain Walk link, Thames Path
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