Blacksmiths Arms, Rotherhithe

A three-room inter-war pub retaining many interesting features. 

Tucked away in a remote part of Rotherhithe, this is worth visiting for its well-preserved inter-war interior. A Victorian building, it was given a mock-Tudor makeover, both inside and out, in the 1930s. The attractive frontage is half-timbered at first and second floors, while the ground floor frontage is decorated with brown tiles which date from around 1990. The comfortable interior has retained three rooms, all wood-panelled to picture-rail height. Remarkably all interconnecting doors are still present. Two of these (leading to a rear room), as well as doors to the lavatories, are of the heavy mock-Tudor variety and still contain their original leaded glass. The other door – which separates right and left bars – is a folding door which may date from later than the 1930s refurbishment.  Other 1930s survivors include leaded windows above the interconnecting doors.  The heated foot rail around the base of the bar still functions, and in fact comes on whenever the pub’s heating is turned on. It must be one of the country’s few remaining functioning heated foot rails.

One of the few concessions to modernity is the modest bar-back which has replaced an older one.  

Installed in a floorboard in the rear room is the “penny drop”. It’s an old brass plate with a small gap in it. The idea was that a hopeful customer would stand over it with an old penny in his mouth and attempt to let it drop into the gap. Success would earn him a free pint. A plaque beneath the bar counter in the left-hand room marks the height of a flood in 1928. A photo of the Queen Mother is not a generic photo that does the rounds of other pubs, but is in fact an authentic record of a visit she paid to this pub in 1988. Apparently she was being driven past, liked the look of the place and, after her security staff had cleared things, popped in for a drink.