Sipping a pint in a rather unique place at the Prince of Wales

BY BILL LACY

I think it was the lights that originally put me off.

As a self-confessed traditionalist, I saw the blue-neon illuminated ‘POW’ above the Prince of Wales in Clapham and immediately concluded it was too trendy (somehow the appearance of the customers sitting outside bears this out).

Then some months ago I saw that Prince Charles (the actual Prince of Wales) had popped in here for a pint.

I’ve never knocked around with princes (although my brother does now know someone whose uncle lives in a castle) but I love tradition, and what can be more traditional than the monarchy?

In the event, the Prince of Wales’ customer base was an eclectic mix of trendy Claphamites, artsy people, students, locals, business people and even a couple of folks who looked like tourists (although I didn’t see any princes).

It is a tall, thin building that reminds me of the magic house in Harry Potter that springs up next to an ordinary house, unnoticed by Muggles.

The inside here is a bit magical, too, with more neon lights, dark red walls, old wooden chairs, lamps, traffic lights, globes, various other bric-a-brac and even stuffed animals.

The bar runs along the shape of the inside (I don’t like bars that sit out of the way at the back).

The cask beers are prominently located for eye of line sight as one walks in, with Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and one other (I think it was Sambrook’s Wandle on the prince’s visit).

I sat down with a pint of Harvey’s in an almost empty inside pub – everyone was sitting in the far less interesting outside space.

It has a cosy, quirky feel about the place. I would go as far as saying unique, possibly even odd, but in a good way.

It is small and intimate enough to suck you in and make you feel like an old friend, even though it’s the first time you’ve walked in – my second pint was being poured while I was mid-flight to the bar.

There are bar snacks (and apparently pizzas in the evenings), although the pub is in the vicinity of some great food in the Old Town part of Clapham (the Indian tapas restaurant next door is superb).

In my opinion this is definitely one of the best pubs in Clapham, and certainly one of the most interesting.

Any place that makes you stare at the surroundings for a good quarter of an hour certainly puts it on the revisit list.

Prince of Wales 38 Old Town Clapham SW4 0LB