Ladywell Tavern Lewisham: Pub with huge cow in beer garden

In every corner of the pub there is something new to catch your eye.

The beer garden is colourful and eye-catching with exposed brick walls and a cool, rainbow coloured painting of Sir Ian McKellan.

Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

There is a piano next to the mural and while it used to work, it is now purely decorative as the pub manager does not want to irritate nearby residents.

But, for me, the feature that really makes the Ladywell Tavern unique is the enormous, cow statue mounted on one of the walls in the beer garden.

It really is a sight to see and it gives the pub so much character, life and fun.

Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

There are also lots of mirrors throughout the garden making the spot feel even bigger and lighter than it already is.

Another touch at the Ladywell Tavern is that every table has a vase with dainty, colourful flowers on it making it feel Instagrammable and welcoming.

The Ladywell Tavern champions local talent and the walls inside are covered with local people’s art.

Not only does this showcase the images, but each one also has a price tag on it.

Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

As people sip their drinks and gaze upon the pieces, they can decide whether they like it enough to buy it and take it home with them.

The manager of the Ladywell Tavern has said that the pub takes no commission from these pieces of art, they just want to showcase local talent and give them a platform.

Similarly, the pub regularly holds open mic nights to give singers and songwriters in the area the chance to share their music.

He said: “The open mic night is every Wednesday night, which we started two or three months ago - again trying to bring in local artists.

Ladywell Tavern (Image: Emma Fradgley)

“We try and tailor it more towards original music so people have a platform to perform their songs but it’s also quite an open space for people to come and jam and meet other musicians.

“It’s quite nice everyone gets a chance to come up and play and other people get up and join, it’s going really well.

“Our open mic nights are sponsored by Brixton brewery so they provide a free drink for performers.

“It’s also sponsored by a guitar string company called Rotosound.

“So they’ve provided a house guitar for us so that even if you show up and you didn’t know it was an open mic night you can still play because there’s a guitar there to use.”

While live music gives the pub a lively, fun feel, it does pose the risk of receiving noise complaints.

If there is live music on at the Ladywell Tavern, the pub’s manager does regular patrols around the building to make sure that it isn’t too loud.

He also keeps all of the door shut to ensure that the fun inside doesn’t disturb neighbours.

This is important to him, especially as his aim is to host gigs with bands once a month, ideally even every fortnight, on Saturdays.

Another fun and quirky feature of this pub that makes it stand out are the board games people can play with.

There is a wide range available so that anyone wanting something to do while they drink can keep occupied.

The manager even wants to introduce board game nights on Tuesdays.

He said: “It’s been quite nice because a few locals have come in and been like we have these board games we don’t use anymore so we’re just going to donate them.

“The plan is at some point to introduce a games night and we’ll have three tables set up with a game on each table.

“I like the idea of people coming down, maybe on their own, and they can sit down with a group of people and just play the games.”