A Greenwich to Deptford Pub Crawl

A bank holiday Sunday trip to the capital to explore a few bits of Greenwich and Deptford that I hadn't visited before.  The plan was to mix up a couple of traditional pubs with some modern bars and breweries.  And here's how it went...

Catching a Southeastern train from London Bridge, we hopped off at Maze Hill, the closest station to our first pub of the day.

Plume of Feathers (19 Park Vista, Greenwich, SE10 9LZ - web)
This attractive pub on a smart street at the bottom of Greenwich Park traces it's history back to 1691 when it would have been a coaching stop on the Dover Road.
The front of the pub is full of character, a square bar facing the entrance and looking out from each side onto cosy seating areas.  A handful of locals were settled in the window seat by the fireplace, although most of the punters had obviously been attracted by the Sunday lunch offering.

I ordered a Harvey's 'Sussex Best', in good nick, with Windsor & Eton 'Hurricane' or 'Windsor Knot' being the other cask options. 
Lovely pub, but I'd much rather visit outside of food service times.  Tables being at a premium, we perched on stools by the back bar, right next to where the staff trod on each others feet, broke the occasional wine glass, and stressed over juggling reservations, and who was going to take the payment from table seven.

There was, however, some interesting artwork in the WCs...

Mild smut in the gents - an ongoing series

Leaving the pub, we felt it only right to make a diversion through Greenwich Park to the observatory to take in the views over East London.
Crikey, it was busy. Thousands of folk seeming to be shuffling in a procession up the path to pose for pictures with Canary Wharf in the background.
We marched up to the top of hill, then we marched back down again. And through the side-streets to this gem of a pub...

Morden Arms (1 Broad Street, Greenwich, SE10 8SP)
'Without a pub sign or even name' says WhatPub, although they can't have been very good at looking up, as 'The Morden Arms' is in the brickwork on the parapet in the corner.
A one-time Courage pub, it's the kind of unspoilt ramshackle place that you don't find very often these days. One single room, with a bare wood floor, mismatched furniture and - quite honestly - the worst complimentary cheese and biscuit offering I've seen in a long time.

On the bar counter (with a great bit of artwork above it) were four hand pumps. Local ale from Brockley and Forest Road breweries, Doom Bar for the purists, or an Iron Pier 'Wealdway' IPA from Kent.
Poured by a grumpy fella who looked put-out by having to leave his seat and crossword to serve me. He gave me short shrift for not having seen the cash only signage, so it was fortunate I had real money in the wallet.

A blackboard advertised plenty of live music - the Magic City Trio arriving shortly after us to begin setting up in the corner.

A great soundtrack played in the meantime included Darondo's 'Luscious Lady' and Nolan Porter 'Keep on Keepin' on', before some more familiar Buzzcocks and Blondie.

I have to apologise to the dog in the picture below.
It took 5-minutes of staring at me like this before I realised he wasn't posing for a picture but wanted me to open the door for him... 

There were a fair few folks arriving for the afternoon music session and I felt a pang of guilt that we weren't sticking around to listen to the band.  But we still had four more stops on the itinerary to make and wanted to be on a homeward-bound bus at a sensible hour.

Crossing the Greenwich-Deptford boundary, we were heading to a brewery tap.
Footpaths alongside railway arches, bridges over partly redeveloped docklands, and Top Cat grafitti - sounds like the right way to a brewery tap.

Here it is...

Little Faith Taproom (Artworks, 3 Creekside, Deptford, SE8 4SA - web)
A little off the beaten track, Little Faith was short of custom on a Sunday afternoon.  Just a few folks in the covered courtyard at the side of the building, leaving us a with the bar to ourselves.
All the raucous noise was coming from the gravel car park across the road where there was either a private party in a portacabin or a secret brewery tap - we weren't bold enough to look closer.  And we were a week too late for the punk rock Sunday lunch at the fantastic looking Birds Nest pub on the corner.

Twelve taps dispensed beers from the likes of Anspach & Hobday, Lost & Grounded and Pressure Drop.
Just tap#1 offered one of Little Faith's own brews - 'New Colours', a 4.9% hazy pale.  £3 for a half of very easy-going murky craft, sat amongst a collection of old advertising signs, listening to 50's rock 'n' roll.

Mrs PropUptheBar had said we could go anywhere in London as long as it involved a brewery in a railway arch.  Her wish is my command...

Villages Taproom (Units 21-22 Resolution Way, Deptford, SE8 4NT - web)
Located just off Deptford High Street, the arches under the railway line contain eateries, a gym, fabric wholesalers, and the Villages brewery tap.
This was established in 2016 by brothers Archie and Louis Village, although they've recently sold the business to 52-degrees Brewing who also own Backyard and Grasshopper breweries.

The single arch with half-a-dozen big tables was much busier than my picture makes it look.  Shortly after we grabbed our seats it was full with a youthful crowd, a DJ spinning some interesting psych vinyl in the corner, gradually drowned out by the hum of conversation.

Surprisingly enough, Villages also offered a cask ale alongside eight tap beers.
Not only that, they'd built a shrine for it! 

The 'Full Bloom', a 4% hazy pale ale, was an easy-drinking flavoursome pint of murk, priced at under a fiver, and most enjoyable. 

We walked the short distance from the railway arches to the market yard, 
Running along one side of this is the 1835 carriage ramp which would have provided access to the platform level.  Now restored, the arches under this contain various street food options and Deptford is suddenly looking a whole lot hipper than I would have given it credit for.
At the far end of the market is SALT...

 

SALT Deptford (Unit 2, St Paul's House, 3 Market Yard, SE8 4BX - web)
A rectangular ground-floor unit in a modern block, this was previously Taproom SE8, run by Hop Stuff.  When they ceased trading in 2021 SALT stepped in to takeover their sites in Woolwich and Deptford, giving them a presence outside of their Yorkshire base.

The tap list contained five of their own beers alongside those from a few other well-known crafty brewers.
I have a bit of a gripe that our request for a smaller measure than 2/3 of a 7.5% saison was denied - really?  no thirds or halves?

My SALT 'Citra' did a fine job of washing down an enormous pizza, whilst around us the tables filled up with a good mixed crowd of folk.

Full of pizza, I realistically had no space left for more beer.  But that wouldn't stop me trying to squeeze one more half pint in.  
For this, we strolled up the High Street and into the housing estate on Prince Street to reach the Dog & Bell.

Dog & Bell (116 Prince Street, Deptford, SE8 3JD)
For a change we found ourselves somewhere not just busy, but really busy.
A large bar counter stretches through two rooms with several banks of hand pumps.  I didn't properly investigate what was on offer, finding a gap and ordering the beer that was in front of me - a quite acceptable 'Sugar Moon' from The Park Brewery, Kingston-on-Thames.

Rammed it may have been, but we did manage to get a comfy seat in a dimly lit rear room.

In the packed outdoor area in front of the pub, I never did find out why there was a man inside a column of leaves...

Just so long as Lord Summerisle doesn't turn up and set it alight.

Three traditional pubs & three modern venues for the murky craft connoisseur.
Being as I'd only decided which part of London to go to a few minutes before setting off for the bus, I was quietly chuffed about how the day had gone.