I don't recall this crawl especially well, but it was intended to be a few pubs near St James's Park. As it turned out, although Google proclaimed these establishments to be open on a Saturday, Google were lying and this was not the case. At least we started off with one at the consistently good St Stephen's Tavern, which was busy being a bank holiday weekend. A good range of Badger products were available; First Call, Brewer's Bee, Sussex, Tanglefoot.

It was beginning to rain so we darted into the uncomfortably close to gastro Old Star at St James's Park. Nice enough corner pub with some sort of downstairs that we did not bother to investigate and the by now regulation quirky furniture. Pretty good beer selection though, Greene King inspired - Abbot, Greene King IPA, Carnical, St Edmund's, How Greene is your Valley.

After the rain abated we tried some that should have been open but (after the kindly bar staff at the Buckingham Arms let us use the toilet after they had called last orders; looked nice so we will be back), we had to stop, again, at the Phoenix all the way over in Victoria. More Geronimo quirkiness as one might expect from such a place with the usual significant number of people who don't know how to use pubs in the clientele. At least the beer was good: Cornish Coaster, Young's Bitter, Sambrook's Junction, Redemption Trinity.

After a further hiatus, meeting Richard and an unsuccessful attempt to get in at the Westminster Arms, we headed with full bladders to the Red Lion at Westminster which was a full pub, though we did manage to get a seat in which I didn't use until after I had returned from the upstairs toilet. Pretty solid Fullers pub, lots of wood, conversations about Malky Mackay's SMS habits and a range of well-kept beer that was perfectly adequate had we wanted another: Seafarer's, Beachcomber, London Pride, HSB, Chiswick. They have a room upstairs which is very nice and incentive enough for diners to go up there away from the drinkers.

A short walk to Charing Cross and the Clarence. Another Geronimo - quirky moquettes, chalk board ditties, London based tat and a decent beer selection in a large building with a long bar. We tried to avoid conversation with some Scousers at the bar, for various reasons, but I did find enough time to write the beer selection down: Twickenham Naked Ladies, Trooper, Doom Bar, Truman Runner, Adnam's Ghost Ship, Young's Bitter. Nothing wrong with that just seen it all before.

A nicer pub is Old Shades at Charing Cross which we have been to before and has a slightly continental cafe type vibe. This is perhaps because they have some Belgian stuff on. I avoided that restricting myself to the much more interesting selection of hand pulled domestics: Old Golden Hen, Westerham Bulldog Gold, Westerham Grasshopper, Westerham Summer Perle, Adnam's Broadside. Lovely tiled floor and a lovely relaxed place for a few more had we had time.

Shittiest pub of the three was the Silver Cross, unsurprisingly part of the Taylor Walker stable, who excel in bringing shit pubs to the masses. The problem with this one was that it was heaving with party people and noisy and we had to stand around a table near the bar as others nearby drank sugary alcoholic shite. A bit of a maze and a trek to the toilet. We won't be going back in a hurry. There was at least a bit of beer in the shape of 1730, Otter, Trooper, Wherry, London Pride, and Doom Bar.

Time for the train, but also a comfort break in Wimbledon on the way home and for this purpose the Hand and Raquet was selected. It seems to have dragged itself out of the mid 1990s and smartened up a little, albeit in a very formulaic way, but it is a decent enough place to with some decent beer and there is always room at the bar. Hand and Raquet, Morland Original, Hooky, and Greene King IPA were available when we visited.

Seeing as it was a bank holiday weekend we decided to carry on drinking on the Sunday and got the bus to Ewell which seems to have gone down the toilet. A number of the better pubs were closed or had too many family diners, so we opted for the Green Man which has always been boisterous but is now a bit chavvy too. We couldn't bear to sit inside so sat in the garden and decided that heading by bus to Surbiton could save the day. There was at least a bit of beer on - Doom Bar, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Otter, Young's Bitter - but not enough to make the pub worth visiting again.

The Waggon and Horses on a road junction in Surbiton was a vast improvement. This is a well-proportioned Young’s pub with a traditional front bar and extensive dining area to the side and further back. Jewel in the crown though is the beer garden with some excellent booths for punters to occupy. Very relaxed atmosphere and a very nice place to drink. Beer was good too: a well-kept selection of Waggledance, Young's Bitter, Young's Special or Tribute.

A bit of a walk to another decent pub with a splendid garden followed. This was the excellent Grove with a huge garden where we were able to bag a decent table. The pub is a large detached building on a corner and is part of the Metropolitan pubs stable, which is quite trendy and would not look out of place in Islington. Craft beer and gastro and very much along the lines of a Geronimo, though maybe a touch more muted. Good place to settle into though, and a decent selection of beers: FFF Rock Lobster, Itchen Citra, Surbiton Best, Truman Lazarus, Greene King IPA.

In terms of beer selection there is an even better one at the much smaller mid terraced Antelope just around the corner. It's not quite as trendy as the Grove and really sets itself up as more of a drinker's pub than a gastro pub, and this is not surprising with the selection of beers available: Irving Albion, Lytham Royal, Gadd's Rye PA, Great Uncle John, Saddler's One Stop Hop, Bateman's XXXB, FFF Citra, McConnel's Irish Stout, Greene King Trial Brew, Hopback Challenger. They also had five ciders on. We settled in their much more compact but equally pleasant courtyard style garden with their own brewery in one of the outbuildings.