Railway SM3

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Other locations – Cheam

The Railway, Cheam SM3 (London)

Traditional pub (Admiral)
32 Station Way, Cheam SM3 8SQ
T 020 8642 7416
Open 1200-2300 (2400 Thu-Sat).
Cask beer 6 (Timothy Taylor Wells & Young’s, 3 often local guests).
Monthly quiz, monthly live music, poker, occasional big screen sport, beer festival, seasonal events, golf society.

Brother and sister Neil and Zoe took over this snug, traditional one-bar pub almost opposite Cheam station in 2007, and have steadily improved the beer offer. Courage Best and Directors still occupy two of the pumps – the pub once held the record for selling the most Courage best in London. A third is dedicated to Landlord while the three guest pumps “normally lean towards the small and local” – Ascot, Dorking, Pilgrim, Tring, Twickenham or Weltons, for example. An annual beer festival has recently been introduced, upping the beer choice to 20. There’s currently no food, but it’s planned to return, most likely along the lines of shepherd’s pie or lasagne. It’s a friendly place, well stocked with cushions and knowledgeable regulars, and a keen supporter of the Royal Marsden hospital. It also retains the tradition of hosting a golf society, once followed by every pub in Cheam.

Visitor note. You’ll be well rewarded for wandering on into Cheam village, which is listed in the Domesday survey and was once known for its brewing. The village centre is a conservation area which boasts several centuries-old timber framed houses alongside classic examples of 1930s Tudor revival shops. Only a step away, though over the London boundary in Surrey, is lovely Nonsuch Park where you can view what little remains of one of Henry VIII’s most notorious unfinished vanity projects, Nonsuch Palace, demolished in 1683 by Charles II’s mistress Barbara Villiers to pay off her gambling debts.