2nd February 2020
Now Walton gets interesting, a bit like The Waltons gets interesting when John-Boy joins CAMRA in the 3rd series (it’s on Netflix, check it out).
Part II of my Elmbridge evening, rather more exciting than the first half as Dire Straits make their customary appearance. There are 1.2 million people in Surrey, and 1.4 million of them own “Brothers In Arms“.
Oddly, my second GBG tick was playing stuff you expect in Woking


I’m greeted with “Going Underground” from the Jam’s live LP, followed by a succession of Oasis greatest hits.
The four other customers seemed less than impressed as they were hoping for Aneka and Sinitta, but enjoyed the post-mortem on England’s tonking in Paris.

You don’t get many Shepherd Neame pubs new to the Guide this century, and you can’t really drink Spitfire in halves, so I swigged a pint from a new barrel the Landlord put on.

Yet another solid NBSS 3+ in the Surrey new entries, which leads me to a terifying conclusion;
Kingston & Leatherhead CAMRA pick their GBG entries on the basis of beer quality. A crack team is on their way down from St Albans to sort that out.
Ticks done, I just had to sort out the Chinese takeaway. Sadly Mr Turtle, recommended for me by Richard Russell on this blog, failed to answer their phone. It’s hard for turtles to pick up receivers, I guess.
So I walked down to the Thames for a nosey.


Let me be honest (“really !”), Walton is a bit dull on a Sunday evening in February. But if I’d been there three hours earlier I’d have complained about the rugger ****** so you can’t win.
The pubs were very quiet, so I picked the one with smokers outside.

The Anglers looked quite smart, but inside it looked like the fall-out from a toddlers birthday party, Peroni and Prosecco bottles littering the high tables. Clearly recovering from a busy lunch session.



It’s a bit Brunning & Price after a landslide, the Battleships about to disgorge its contents onto the dining room floor.

But here’s the rub, as no-one says, ever. Much as you’re going “Ugh” right now, the Doom Bar was a cool, foamy 3+, lacking that cloying sweetness that ruins it in Spoons.

The staff were young and cheery, as they often are, and sang along with “Sweet Talking Woman”. With GBG rotation being what it is, the Anglers is a Guide outsider, but will never make the Beer & Pubs Forum itinerary. Booooo !
I ordered a crispy beef and Singapore rice from Oriental Chef, and popped back to what was the Spoons last time I was here.
Stonegate has the Regent now. They’ve added loud music, taken out the homebrew and added a few ciders.
And a perry, which I was drawn to, as you are at 8pm in Surrey.
Rather nice, an ideal accompaniment to the Sunday Dire Straits karaoke, including the best worst version of “Money for Nothing” you’ll ever hear.
Just think what he’d have done to Sultans of Swing.

To cap a great night, the Chinese takeaway was superb (NCTSS 4).
Ooh, one of your more acerbic posts. Getting almost BRAPA-like 😉
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I really can’t imagine what you mean 😉
I must have been out too late at night.
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Too late at night? You mean after 3pm??
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2.30
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I’m sure we can all agree between 2pm and 3pm.
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I’ve got a picture of The George from 2014, but I didn’t actually go inside. I was doing a Craft Fair down in Walton so I needed some local pictures. The one of The George didn’t sell!!
I also took a picture of the Anglers as we sailed gracefully by last summer…looked nice from the outside!
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Be careful in the South, Pete.
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I can confirm that I do indeed own a copy of Brothers in Arms, albeit on cassette…
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Cassette ?
Hipster.
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First ever CD I owned, still got it somewhere.
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the best pub in Walton – On -Thames in my view Is the Old Manor Inn, not featured here but I’m sure you have the T-shirt .
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Those pics of the Courage signs (too hipster for you) are the Old Manor, which is indeed the best of the bunch, was GBG a few years ago.
I would have made a return visit for a Doom Bar but there was just one bloke there so skipped it in favour of a new pub.
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crispy beer and Singapore rice sounds delicious!
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You know, John, that’s at least the third time I’ve done that so either I have clumsy fingers, autocorrect is weird, or there is such a thing 😉
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John Boy, because of whom “All Quiet on the Western Front” results in audience shouts of “shoot the b*gger” for reasons other than the character being German.
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Early contender for blog post musical title of the year…
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