Avril had a hair appointment in Colour Nation 'up West' in London, and in order to make the most of the day, we decided that it might be quite a good idea to visit some pubs after the appointment rather than coming straight home. A plan was hatched with Richard Bradshaw which involved dropping Avril off, parking the car in North Cheam, meeting Rich in Sutton, and rendezvousing in Pimilco for some ales. Despite slow moving traffic, this plan was working reasonably well, and the disruption to British Railways meant that I had the opportunity to spend 20 pleasing minutes in the Old Bank in Sutton watching some of the Cardiff City v. QPR match on BBC. Pleasingly the Hoops scored whilst I was present. The pub is actually quite nice for Sutton, being long, with a couple of ales on, and on offer too, and an elevated section at the back leading to a small garden overlooking the railway. Alas we could not stay to the end as we had to get our train.

After meeting Avril at some prearranged pub at Victoria where we did not have a drink, we walked a few minutes up the road to the CASK pub at Pimilco. Whilst devoid of any architectural, fixtures or fittings character, the pub did have a majestic selection of beer in both bottles and on draught and we liked it a lot. It's just a large room with some furniture and a bar against one wall, but it serves its purpose well enough. Quite pricey, but that's what you'd expect, and the draught selections are priced more sensibly. All beers that we sampled were top quality, so much so that we stayed for a second. Eventually we had to leave and so got a bus from the main road for a few stops through the mess that is the Victoria gyratory system, alighting just before Hyde Park Corner. A couple of recommended pubs were nearby but they were closed so we walked for a few minutes until we found the Nag's Head tucked away down a narrow mews in Knightsbridge. This pub would not be obvious to the passing tourist and so it was nice and quiet. The pub itself does about three very well kept Adnams beers but, more importantly, it is like walking into a time warp, with authentic vintage 1950s fixtures and fittings all over and a rather odd split level effect with a downstairs area with its own separate bar although that was not being serviced when we visited. Also notable is the landlord who is described as grumpy although we had no problem with him (do not switch on mobile phones however) and whose claim to fame is being the dad of Pogo Patterson from Grange Hill. We ended up staying here for a second pint, during which time it started to rain hard.

Fortunately however the next pub was about 50m along the same street and so we did not get that wet on our way. This pub was the Wilton Arms, and was a less distinctive place to drink with a large dark wood bar and more tables and walls, mainly in dark wood. Pleasant enough though with a few standard beers on. Was also very quiet even though the Chelsea match was being broadcast, which meant that I had to face away from the screen to stop myself being distracted by it. We also decided not to dine there. If you only get the opportunity to drink at one of these pubs, choose the Nags Head. We then made our way onto the main road at Knightsbridge, very close to Harrods and as this refinery had put us in the mood for upper class drinks, we tried to find a rooftop hotel bar that we thought was nearby but alas we could not. Still in the mood for some refinery though, we instead went up to Harvey Nichols 5th Floor Bar. This was quite busy, expensive ('service' charge I believe!) and had no real beer as you expect. We had a very nice seat however, on a comfortable but trendy looking peripheral bench overlooking Knightsbridge and our beers slipped down well whilst we were there. Strangely there were some quite rich meatheaded sorts there too, unlike the kinds of posh individual that one might normally find in a place like this.

Dialling down a couple of notches, and anxious to get out of the rain, we went across the road to the Tattersall Tavern, one of Knightsbridge's more mundane pubs. It was probably some sort of well worn Nicholson's place doing no-nonsense beer in a predominantly traditional wooden panelled room with a red carpet and some farty food (which we chose not to have although hungry). Some Stella Black was ordered which was a bit stronger than normal Stella but otherwise similar and nonedescript. They had a couple of real beers which were very averagely kept.

Food was calling and we decided to have a change of scene so took a tube to Earl's Court. There is a Gregg's bakery there, and this chain must have had a makeover because there was a seating area where one could enjoy one's purchases. A good idea I thought. There was also a toilet which was most appreciated. Anyway, back to the beer and we found ourselves in the Hansom Cab, an establishment owned by Piers Morgan, and with a name like Piers, the tone had been set. To be fair, there were a number of well kept ales, and the atmosphere was very friendly and relaxed, although there was an air of the place being a bit like a bistro. Still, I would have taken this any day of the week over some of the toilets that I have drunk in. Another celebrity pub was up the road, the Princess Victoria which is owned by Loui Batley who apparently played Sarah Barnes in Hollyoaks. There were very few people in this pub but it was still pleasant enough. I seem to recall that the toilets were quite tucked away and cosy, which was in keeping with the pub really because it was not that big at all. There weren't quite as many beers available as in Piers' pub, but they were still above average, although not so well priced. Although two celebrity pubs were done, we didn't see any celebs but I suppose that's not surprising really.

It was getting late, and so we decided to head back to the station to get the tube down to Wimbledon, where the opportunity to drink at a stereotypically South London pub presented itself. Such pubs are huge, cavernous establishments with high ceilings and a single bar in a large open room scattered with dishevelled sticks of furniture and rank toilets off to one side. The Prince of Wales just outside Wimbledon station proved to be no exception as a rough barmaid served some average Young's beer that was actually the highlight of the place. Fortunately we all made short work of our drinks so that we could catch the last train towards Sutton via the Wall of Death. In a rare display of integrated transport, Avril and I bade a hasty goodbye to Rich as we approached West Sutton from whence we hot footed out of the station for a very short wait for a connecting 413 which sped us to the jaws of Henley Avenue and a short walk back to Chez Parents.