LAST time I was here I tore this one to shreds.

With just two weeks behind the bar the new owner said I should return in six months – and that’s what I did.

Could this possibly be the same place? Or had I wandered into a parallel universe?
Happy, smiling, friendly people enjoying themselves, whatever’s going on..

Add to the happy throng a lick of fresh paint, a new carpet and a guvnor who’s upbeat and cheery and you’ve got a formula for success.

In fact, you’ve probably got a miracle worker. How he has turned this previously uninviting, soulless disaster into a welcoming watering hole I will never know, but somehow he has.

Now, let’s not get carried away here. This is never going to be a smart boozer and some complete lunatic was determined to play Mr Blobby on the jukebox, but it’s a million miles better than it was.

To fully appreciate the new carpet in the games/back room you’d need to have been acquainted with the old (and believe me, it was a living thing!). To understand how much better the gents toilet now smells you would have to have experienced the hell it was before.

But, here goes, “I must be fair and say this pub is now exactly the sort of down-to-earth boozer I would choose to spend time in”. And, what’s more, the regulars seemed a very decent bunch.

Credit where it’s due, this pub has had the sort of makeover Gok Wan could only dream of. It would be the equivalent of turning Susan Boyle into Rihanna.

Okay, given the number of times Mr Blobby was on the jukebox, this is a bad analogy, but you get the idea.

The Beech Tree is never going to be a classy establishment; it’s got a much larger than average number of smokers and a 3D Jack Daniels mirror on the wall. The new carpet smells and looks like a carpet, but chic it isn’t.

However, it has somehow managed to instil something very precious, something every good pub has to have – a soul. You can feel that the 30-or-so regulars in at the same time as me really love the place. And bear in mind, there was hardly one man and his dog in last time I visited.

The sign warning that only regulars are welcome is long gone I’m pleased to say.

In the new spirit of bonhomie which pervades this St Mary Cray boozer I’m also pleased to say I got the opportunity to spend a couple of minutes chatting to the new man in charge.

It was at this point I realised the success is 100 per cent due to him.

His down-to-earth attitude, sparkling sense of humour and willingness to see the good in people, not to mention the fact you can tell he loves his dog, are the reasons The Beech Tree will continue to improve.

In his hands the pub should flourish and I really hope the odd few doubters, who remember the place as it used to be, give him a chance.

A few neighbours may take a little more convincing, but I suggest you do as I did and give this one a second chance, you won’t regret it.

The Beech Tree, Wellington Road, St Mary Cray.
Decor: *** (a very decent start)
Drink: *** (better than before)
Price: *** (£3.60 for a Kronenbourg)
Atmosphere: **** (friendly and welcoming)
Food: No sign of the cheese rolls this time!
Staff: ***** (spot on, decent people)

See what PubSpy thought last time he was here.