September 2025. Carshalton.
It’s 19:37 as I pass Carshalton’s Sun on a sprint to the station.
My fast train goes at 19:45. Now that I’ve ticked the Guide newbie (at last) and revisited the Top 10 pub anything else is a bonus.
The 3rd Guide entry is the Railway; that must be near the station, right ?
Almost. Under the railway arch and keep walking. Blimey, it’s 19:40.
Too late to stop now, as Van Morrison once sang,
A quick half of HSB, one of the beers of the year.
The landlord, a real gem, is unsure if it’s end of barrel. “Just check it’s OK“. My train goes in 4 minutes so there’s no way I’m waiting for the barrel to be changed, but luckily it’s good, a rich 3.5.
And the Railway is a gem of a London corner pub, the Friday trade enjoying our late Summer heat.
Oooh, bit of Weller.
“A screech of brakes” ? That’ll be the 19:45 to Victoria, where I consider a pint in a heritage Spoons on the platform,
before following Weller down to the tube station.
Somehow I’m back by 10pm, Chung Hwa staying open just long enough for my takeaway curry crispy beef.
retiredmartin 
You are more daring than the average person.
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“It’s 19:37 as I pass Carshalton’s Sun on a sprint to the station.”
No time for a quick half?
“The 3rd Guide entry is the Railway; that must be near the station, right ?”
Google Maps says a 4 minute walk so… yes?
“Blimey, it’s 19:40”
Ok, this is where the heavy betting starts.
“Too late to stop now, as Van Morrison once sang,”
That’s probably what he said after he seduced her with Moondance. 😉
“A quick half of HSB, one of the beers of the year.”
How could you not?
“My train goes in 4 minutes so there’s no way I’m waiting for the barrel to be changed, but luckily it’s good, a rich 3.5.”
The Beer Gods were smiling (or they thought you were bloody daft!).
“A screech of brakes” ? That’ll be the 19:45 to Victoria”
(slow golf clap)
“where I consider a pint in a heritage Spoons on the platform,”
Heritage?
“before following Weller down to the tube station.”
You sure it wasn’t that other fellow… McCartney?
Cheers
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I’ll confess, Russ, I laughed at the Van Morrison line.
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🙂
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That Wetherspoons at Victoria Station (there’s also one outside on Willow Walk) is probably the Good Beer Guide regular for Victoria ! I recommended it to Matt when he was there (to watch Neil Young) the other month.
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For Victoria Station earlier this year I used Humphrey’s Duke of York.
And for the Manchester one the Hare and Hounds.
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“My train goes in 4 minutes so there’s no way I’m waiting for the barrel to be changed” even though they’d do it MUCH quicker than in the Blue Boar.
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They gave us something to talk about in the Blue Boar, anyway.
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Yes indeed.
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But we didn’t have time for it today.
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I do not know how you (and BRAPA as well) can nick pints or ½-pints in such an extremely limited span of time. I take about 40 minutes for each 14-oz. beer {16-oz. and 20-oz. glasses barely exist here.}.
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I don’t know how other folk drink so slowly ! What do people do between gulps ? Oft is the time I’ll sit there with a pint watching someone staring at a half that just doesn’t get drunk.
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