The Surrey Arms
Still standing
By Carol Smiles
Image by Roger Button Monday, 28th December 2009
The Wandle Trail, www.wandletrust.org
www.wandletrust.org
Unlike The Rose or the St Helier Arms, the Surrey Arms is still standing and advertises itself as an attractive pub, proud of its large selection of traditional beers and wines. On Saturday nights the public house serves live music with its ales.
The River Wandle flows north from Croydon and Carshalton to join the Thames at Wandsworth. The Surrey Arms is situated 0.6 miles from central Morden close to Morden Hall Park and the river, and as a result, it has become a popular pub for walkers following the Wandle Trail.
The website, ‘My Pub Guide’ comments on the area where a pub is based. It states that, ‘The employment situation might be unfortunate. Health is agreeable. The educational stance is bad. Moreover, the environment itself is outstandingly lacking. Housing seems to be defective. One might interpret the situation on reported crime as deprived. Meanwhile, income appears to be very impaired. On another note, the postal area is outstandingly residential.'(myPUBGUIDE 2009,www.mypubguide.com/-)
The pub has had its fair share of criticism over the years. Criminal activity has been a problem at times. Yet it has been described by one of its regulars as a ‘very friendly old-fashioned boozer with a touch of the old Irish about it.'