Crown & Sceptre, Streatham Hill… a million miles from royalty but worth a visit

BY BILL LACY

It’s not often that I find myself wandering around the part of the South Circular Road in the no man’s land between Streatham and Brixton.

Who walks around here? There’s a McDonalds, but most customers are driving through.

I suppose there’s some flats nearby. But find myself here I did, and The Crown and Sceptre seemed not just the obvious pitstop, but the only one.

It’s slightly strange. The building is magnificent, mid-Victorian two-storeys with bay windows and original Truman’s red tiling still intact.

But the interior felt murky, a little subterranean, even though it is very spacious.

Something about the lighting was off, and it had that slightly reddish glow that occurs when sunlight doesn’t penetrate through.

It had the feel of a local, with a few characters swirling around who looked like they were there daily.

I sat down in an empty area on a raised platform but was soon asked to move.

As my table was lifted out of the way and the karaoke machine installed, I identified the source of my uneasy, can’t-put-my-finger-on-it feeling – this is not a Wetherspoons.

It was the first Spoons in south-west London, opening in 1990, and remained as such until 2019, and I thought I was walking into one.

It still feels like a Wetherspoons, just without the branding.

However, and perhaps surprisingly, the beer choice is not bad at all, with a few well-kept choices on cask.

Apparently Sir Norman Harrnell, a former dress-maker to the Queen, was the son of a former landlord of this pub.

Apart from the name, it feels a million miles from royalty, but was worth a visit all the same.

The Crown and Sceptre Pub, 2-4 Streatham Hill SW2 4AH