Review

Vertigo, acrophobia or seasickness are likely ailments when sitting at a riverside table in The Yacht; and beware of oxygen sickness when climbing up and down the stairs to the many levels within the pub. The windows don't just overlook the Thames, they're almost above it and facing down into the murky depths.

The pub is subtly situated along Crane Street, a narrow, traffic-free passageway - home to a row of Georgian houses - that's named after the cranes that used to load and unload ships along this stretch of the river. The front (or is the rear) of the pub is understated and could easily be missed if it weren't for the hanging baskets, fauna, 'Fish and Chips' notices and several forlorn tables and chairs. Crane Street is part of the Naval College river pathway, which meanders past the nearby Gothic Trinity Hospital - an early 17th Century almshouse, rebuilt in 1812, and home to 21 Greenwich pensioners.

The main bar area of the pub is small and cramped with an excess of tables and pillars. The main feature of the pub are the massive picture windows overlooking the Thames and Isle of Dogs, which are situated on the pub's top level; climbers must ensure they're wearing the full climbing-gear before a push for the summit, but there is a table and chairs mid-way for those who, like Brian Blessed's failed effort on Everest, cannot complete the climb in a single attempt.

Once at the wall of glass, there are tall tables and stools along its length to sit and either watch the river flow past or, depending upon the tide, observe the dead tyres and shopping trolleys that protrude from the mud. If the pub had small porthole-type windows it would be easy to imagine that you're on a Yacht due to the pub's location virtually on the river; the large picture windows, however, contrive to suggest you're on an ocean-going liner. Jutting onto the Thames (or languishing on the mud) is a floating (or beached) beer garden - minus any greenery or flora - that is often covered with an awning and appears to be a latent cue for drunks to tumble into the river.

An adjacent room, above and behind the bar, is larger than the main area of the pub and is brimming with naval and maritime objet d'art. The brick walls are tiled, there are lanterns in the chandeliers and it's reminiscent of a riverside café, especially as the pub is usually full of diners rather than drinkers. Two large glass cases mounted on the wall contain a full naval officers uniform from the 18th or 19th Century and a model of a ship, perhaps the Cutty Sark that's ubiquitous to Greenwich pubs.

There has been a pub on this site for centuries, but the original pub was destoryed by Hitler's Luftwaffe during the Blitz. The Yacht of today was built in the 1950s and is a modern-feeling pub with a trite maritime theme, built on many levels and almost maze-like with its stairs, balustrades, booths and snugs. The panoramic view of the river from The Yacht is far superior to the view from other riverside pubs in Greenwich, albeit from modern windows.

Review by mr_psm