Balham

14 Best Beer Shops in South London

14 Best Beer Shops in South London

Beer shops are actually quite an old thing, though it might not feel that way. Having gone through something of a lull, plenty of beer shops have been opening up all over London in recent years off the back of the surging craft beer scene. As we all know, and we as showed in our A-Z, South London is home to the best craft breweries in all of London - and the presence of these breweries has led to the opening of some fantastic beer shops. Beer shop operate in a very similar manner to wine sellers, and they are wonderful places to just browse - you know, just stand around looking at stuff you might buy. If you haven't got into the craze that is figuratively sweeping South London, we think it's about time that you did, so to help you get going here is our list of the 14 best beer shops in South London.

7 Best Meals In Balham

7 Best Meals In Balham

For those reading this who don't know, Balham is an area of Wandsworth Borough near the border with Lambeth Borough. Like near neighbour Streatham, Balham (both hams) has been getting better and better in recent years, and the improving gastronomic scene reflects that. We know it's difficult to make a decision on the fly when walking down a street as to where you might want to eat, so we thought that those of you who live in or near Balham might appreciate a rundown of places you might enjoy visiting. We're all about spreading the word about great places to enjoy a meal in South London and encouraging you to invest in independent businesses, so we thought it was about time we gave our list of the 7 best meals in Balham.

A-Z Independent Breweries Of South London

A-Z Independent Breweries Of South London

If there’s one thing that London does well it’s beer. And ale. And stout. Microbreweries and taprooms are sprinkled across the whole of south London. Readers will likely be familiar with stalwarts Meantime and Late Knights but what about Earth Ale or Hop Stuff? For all out beer geekery head down to The Beer Shop in Nunhead or Hop Burns and Black in East Dulwich which both stock some of the best beers you’ll find this side of the Thames. There are new microbreweries popping up all the time so this is not a definitive list. However we’d love to hear from you on social media if there are any that others that you love or would recommend.

17 Best Delicatessens In South London

17 Best Delicatessens In South London

Delicatessens, or delis as they are known amongst the bright and the beautiful of this world, originated in Germany, as the rather foreign-sounding name would suggest. For an outsider, and an insider for that matter, what a delicatessen is exactly is hard to say. They seem to sell all manner of rustic foods and expensive produce, such as cured meats and pastries, however there doesn't seem to be anything edible that delicatessens can't sell, so really, almost anyone can call themselves a delicatessen. That said, delicatessens certainly serve a number of purposes - if you are need of funky cheeses and such goods, you will want to attend your local delicatessen. We care about supporting independent business, and delicatessens are on the frontline against the major brands like Tesco in attempting to provide customers with a wide variety of high quality produce. To help you find the deli that's right for you, we've compiled this list of the 17 best delicatessens in South London.

28 More Non-League Football Teams In South London

28 More Non-League Football Teams In South London

After our last article about non-league football, we received a flurry, a raging, dangerous, flurry of messages demanding an explanation as to why their team had not been included in our list of six teams. It was never a definitive list, but we realise that much of South London was badly under-represented so in this article we've gone out of our way to rectify this issue. Along the way we decided that we might as well include all the teams we could find playing between the sixth and tenth tiers of the English football league system who currently play in South London boroughs. This means that the likes of Kingstonian, though traditionally a London club, are currently playing outside London and thus aren't in the list. We found 28. Just to stress, the previous article (hyperlink) included Dulwich Hamlet, Greenwich Borough, Tooting & Mitcham United, Welling United, Fisher FC, and Cray Valley Paper Mills, so they will not be in this list.

Vote For South London's Best Train Station

Vote For South London's Best Train Station

At South London Club we've decided it's about time it was decided what is South London's best train station. When deciding what made a train station good, we worked out two key elements - usefulness and beauty. An example of this is Lewisham, which is incredibly useful, but very few would argue it to be beautiful. North Dulwich on the other hand is a very pretty building, but certainly not one of most useful stations in South London. Using this system we whittled down a shortlist of 40 trains stations within Zones 1, 2, 3 and 4, from which you can vote fro what you think is South London's best train station. Check out the list below,  and choose your favourite. We've included relevant images of the stations included in case you need a bit of assistance in picking a choice. The results will be announced on Friday 30th June. Keep you eyes peeled for another list of the worst stations in South London for you to vote on.

Balham Literary Festival

Balham Literary Festival

From the 8th-11th June, Balham will play host to the second Balham Literary Festival, produced by Dulwich Books. The event will feature talks from numerous different writers, and is going to be hosted at the Grade-II listed Bedford Pub. The talks will explore numerous different themes relevant to those that call Balham home, and even further afield, and there will also be a pop-up bookshop at the pub all weekend.

9 Cocktail Bars in South London You Have to Try!

9 Cocktail Bars in South London You Have to Try!

The art of making cocktails takes passion, fresh ingredients, and an extensive knowledge of flavours. There’s a professionalism to it that takes bartending to a whole new level, a level beyond pouring a pint. When done well, cocktails are a defining feature of a night - sometimes you want to go out for a pint, sometimes you want to go out for cocktails - maybe both. Say it to yourself: ‘we’re going for cocktails’. It’s grand and flash. Being an inherently grand and flash place, South London is spoilt for choice on establishments which serve tasty mixed drinks. Being South London Club (a very good potential name for a cocktail bar ©) we feel it is our duty to ensure that you are informed of the best South London establishments for grabbing the fanciest drink of all - a cocktail.