There are no televisions, no radios and no background music at The Hope in Carshalton. What there is, according to the judges, is some of the best beer in Britain.
The independently owned pub on West Street has been included in The Telegraph’s 2026 guide to the 650 best pubs in the UK, with every venue tried and tested by a panel of six experts.
The Telegraph praised The Hope for its varied and high-quality beer, with reviewer Will Hawkes remarking that you might not expect to find one of London’s best places for a pint where “London bleeds into Surrey”.
The latest accolade adds to a string of awards, including seven CAMRA Greater London Pub of the Year titles and Sutton Pub of the Year for 2026.
True to its slogan, “By beer enthusiasts. For beer enthusiasts”, the pub typically serves seven ales, three ciders and eight keg beers, alongside more than 20 canned beers and a selection of wines and spirits.
Rodger Molyneux, licensee and part of the group behind The Hope, said: “We’ve worked hard. Everything we serve earns its place on the bar.”
He added: “And if you’re not sure what to have, just ask for a taster. We’d rather you find something you enjoy.”
Rodger said: “There are certain pumps where the beer changes regularly, but it’ll always be something similar. If you like a four per cent pale, you’ll always find one.”
“We keep two beers on permanently — Windsor & Eton Knight of the Garter and Downton New Forest Ale — partly for some of our older regulars who don’t like to switch too much.”
The pub also champions local breweries and hosts regular beer festivals, while its no-TV, no-radio and no-music policy makes it, in the words of one regular, “a fine place for a drink and a chat”.
Its traditional approach extends to the food menu. Rodger said: “We’re not a gastropub. We’re a pub that serves food. There’s a difference. The hot pots are made in big batches, tested carefully, and we try to play to people’s strengths.”
The menu takes inspiration from cuisines around the world, bringing international influences to traditional pub food. Hot pots are served in individual stone bowls, alongside lunchtime options including hand-carved ham and cheese rolls.
The Hope also has an outdoor decking area in the heart of the Carshalton conservation area and hosts Green Drinks with local environmental charity EcoLocal on the first Wednesday of each month.
The pub is owned by local shareholders, rather than belonging to a major brewery or pub chain, with no individual able to own more than 24 per cent.
Rodger said: “It started with 17 of us, then we expanded when we needed to raise more money to buy the freehold. Since then, the only way in is through the five-year route. Nobody can come in and push it in a direction we don’t want.”
“We’ve had families with three generations working here. Some of the younger ones are now becoming shareholders.”
The Hope’s identity even extended to its four-legged regular. Known simply as Pubcat, the former stray wandered into a nearby bookshop before making herself at home at the pub, where she became a familiar face for customers. Pubcat died in December 2025, with The Hope paying tribute to her and saying she would be remembered “with great affection”.
But the pub’s story goes back much further, to a time when it faced a very different future. Rodger first became involved in 2009, when the pub had been closed for several years and faced the prospect of becoming an Indian restaurant.
He said: “The pub had been shut for a couple of years. It was in a bad state and being run by a holding company, just ticking over until it could be sold or rented. One of the suggestions was to turn it into an Indian restaurant. Luckily, I knew someone who could get our proposal in front of the Punch Taverns board, and we matched the restaurant’s offer but kept it as a pub. They probably thought we’d go bust after a couple of years and they’d get it back.”
The group went on to secure a 20-year lease, before eventually buying the freehold in 2015. Rodger said: “We negotiated a 20-year lease, the same terms they’d have given the restaurant, and ran it through a company we set up called 48 West Limited. Eventually, we bought the freehold in 2015 for £500,000 plus VAT. That gave us the freedom to grow.”
Carshalton has had other reasons to celebrate recently. Water returned to Carshalton Ponds for Remembrance weekend only, while pubs across Croydon and Sutton were handed the lowest hygiene scores in a separate round of inspections — a reminder of how far The Hope’s award-winning standards set it apart.
