London Pubs Group

Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

Hero of Switzerland

142 Loughborough Rd,
Brixton,
SW9 7LL

Although this pub is not a listed building it is on the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) London Regional Inventory of Pub Interiors of Special Historic Interest and the description is as follows: “Built c.1962 and essentially two-storey of brick of an interesting design. It forms part of an estate, though most of the surrounding buildings were completed by 1958. It is close to the site of an earlier pub. The new pub has two rooms, a lounge and public bar/games room and has barely changed since built. The pub’s name refers to William Tell and there is a relief mural next to the front door telling the story of William Tell (now painted in colour). On the right is the Lounge with mainly a carpet with mosaic around the base of the counter. The original curved bar counter survives with very 1960s leatherette panels and a copper shelf just below the top as seen in late 1950s pubs with a wooden top. The bar back has plain mirrors and glass shelves; some fridges replace lower shelving. The ceiling is a very 1960s one of planks and there is some ply panelling on the wall at the end. The gents’ has four original urinals. The public bar/games room on the left has a high level fringe of lights. It has a wooden floor and markings near the door seem to indicate that an L-shaped draught screen has been removed. The wooden counter front looks original and there is a lino strip around the base and a copper shelf just below the top with a wooden top. The bar back is of plain mirror panels and glass shelves; some lower shelving remains. Panelled dado and there is a dart area in the front.”

The Hero of Switzerland featured on the A River Runs Through It: The Brixton Six: Evening Crawl of Brixton on 24 April 2019.

The WhatPub link is here: WhatPub/Hero of Switzerland