Some later Summer sun provided a backdrop for a few ales in London, this time starting on the South Bank. Richard Bradshaw came to find us at our hotel Plaza on the Riverside in an awkward spot at Lambeth. After a couple of warm and none-too pleasant bottles of Staropramen in the hotel room we decided to go all the way over the road to the Tamesis Dock. This is a distinctive drinking place because it is on a moored barge, which rocks gently whilst you are drinking. We sat on the upper deck and enjoyed a very good view along the river towards the Houses of Parliament which, it was remarked, would look equally attractive in flames, as long as they were seen from that distance. The downside was that there was no real ale available, but we made do quite adequately with what they had which included Meantime London IPA.

Just around the corner in a not particularly nice part of town is the German pub, Zeitgeist. This used to be a traditional English boozer, but some German managers have taken over and have introduced an extensive and exclusive array of German products, probably about 8 of them. The prices are not too extortionate either, at £4.20 per pint. Rich had a pilsner, whilst I had a dunkelweiss and Avril had a wheat beer topped with strawberry juice. All were enjoyed very much. The interior of the pub has a distinctive feel with the textured wallpaper being painted black, and high backed black leather (faux) booths created. We decided that we would all go back there again some time if the opportunity presented itself.

A bit of a walk followed, with much hilarity, along the famous Lambeth Walk, although there didn't seem to be any sort of fanfare from the local council to mark this iconic street. Still, we finally got to a bus stop and caught a 344 which was unfortunately only going as far as Elephant and Castle. This turned out not to be too much of a disaster, as it allowed us a short walk to the Ship, which was actually a very nice Fullers pub with its own courtyard/garden. It's not remarkable, but very cosy and had a good selection of well kept Fullers products and also the 'guest' Gales Seafarers Ale. The Discovery was particularly well received as a refreshing beverage that was not lager.

A little way up the road, towards Borough, was the excellent Gladstone Arms. We had intended to only have halves in here, but on inspection of the surroundings and the array of ales available, we decided to have another set of full pints. They had Doom Bar and Tribute, but what attracted us most was the very fruity Adnams IPA which was billed as New Zealand style. Whether or not this was accurate, I do not know, but it was indeed a very tasty ale and one that we enjoyed a lot. The pub had much musical memorabilia in it and would probably have filled with trendy, but hopefully quite pleasant, individuals later in the evening. The gents' was notable in having a large expanse of sheet metal on which to stand whilst urinating. Also of note was the fact that they had a big screen playing old films. A definite repeat if the opportunity arises.

Presently we arrived in the London Bridge area and managed to navigate our way to the Mudlark. It was a fine spacious pub with a huge array of ales - Fullers London Pride, Leeds Monsoon, Copper Dragon, Brentwood Pacific IPA, Dan's IPA, Itchen Valley IPA - and there was some outside seating although we didn't use it. We could quite happily have stayed for some more but instead decided to press on to the nearby Horniman at Hays on the waterfront. This pub was heaving and the toilets were not very nice, but there was a pretty good selection of beer including offerings from Brentwood and Titanic, and we enjoyed our halves overlooking the Thames.

Back into London Bridge proper and time to visit the famous Market Porter. This is a rather rough and ready pub, not in terms of clientele, but in terms of being more like a thoroughfare with not that much furniture around and people going backwards and forwards and passing through. The first room was very bare but further back there are more tables and chairs. The beer selection is pretty good, with Fruli, a beer from Portsmouth, and four others available. We stood outside along with a number of other people, although there was not really any furniture out there. In stark contrast was the Rake which was quite nearby but in a trendier setting and trendier interior too. This was a rather quirky pub with many beers, lagers and ciders that we had not seen before, although the pub itself was not very big. Such offerings as Chocolate Marble, Smugglers Galleon and Highlander were available, and we sat at a small table by the bar so that we could see inside the fridge. There is also a small garden that you have to go through to reach the ladies which is apparently a single cubicle. The gents' was much better.

A bit of a walk followed to the Founders Arms on the Southwark riverside. This should have been a really splendid pub on the riverside, but it was feeling a little tired as we were after a long day, and the service was a bit slow and disorganised. Still, it was nice to be sat outside on their extensive terrace and we had a bit to eat too. Youngs beers were on sale which was perfectly acceptable. At last the day drew to a close and our last port of call was the Mulberry Bush at Waterloo very close to the ITV studios. Apparently Chris Evans drinks here a fair bit although his ginger pate was not to be seen. The pub was quite nice, rather light and wooden inside, and pretty smart too. We had our beers at a quiet table near the bar, and there were three of them on although I have forgotten what they were. Landlord is a possibility, or Bombardier perhaps. By this time Richard had to head back towards South London in what we described as a 'Perfect Game' in crawl terms, and Avril and I went back to the hotel, where we did manage to squeeze in one more half at Chino Latino using a voucher before leaving the next day.