retiredmartin

February 2024. New Malden.

Only 5 minutes back on the train from Raynes Park to New Malden, apparently “an area in South West London, England. It is located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton“. What happened to towns and villages ?

That 5 minutes was enough for Mrs RM to overhear a conversation between 3 adults containing the line;

“I promised myself I wouldn’t let this go ANY further“.

“Definitely a threesome” thought Mrs RM.

Apropos of nothing, she decided to stay on the train to Teddington while I got off to tick New Malden’s Spoons. “Stay on the train to Teddington” makes its West End debut in March.

New Malden wasn’t very exciting. A quarter mile of neighbourhood shops punctuated by high rise,

the odd civic building,

and the sort of inter-war suburbia that characterises Sidcup.

Its saving grace is a great run of Korean restaurants, and by the time I reached the Watchtower I was regretting not dragging Mrs RM the 5 minutes for a plate of spicy squid and sea snail at Kumkang.

Sadly, the Watch Tower isn’t a Jehovah’s Witnesses theme pub, rather an old cop shop,

and will disappoint Spoons carpet aficionados.

On the upside, it’s bright and clean, has downstairs loos (is that good ?) and seems to attract a good crowd of CAMRA types as well as family diners.

And that’s a decent cask line-up for folk who like that sort of thing.

As at Clapham Junction, there’s a Monday offer so I don’t get full value from clumsily separating a CAMRA voucher from my sheet, but I don’t suppose you can complain about £2.05 (that’s two quid five pence) for a pint of an award winning Surrey Hills in posh London.

But I will complain, because it wasn’t great. Cool, but lacking conditioning. Perhaps the long pull was back.

Just time to see the local history, commemorating Diana Rigg and this folk legend;

Talking of which, here’s John’s 1973 classic where he wishes that you may never have to take a pint back in a Spoons.