Earlsfield weekend roundup: By The Horns, Earlsfest, Il Girasole

What a great weekend it was in Earlsfield! Local businesses were giving us all a chance to celebrate what we love about SW18.

On Saturday I popped into local brewery By The Horns. I hadn't realised how prolific these guys are - they've expanded into the unit next door and are supplying pubs all over London. Nice one!

By The Horns brewery, 25 Summerstown

I've not posted about By The Horns yet, but I heartily endorse the notion of a local brewery and these guys didn't let me down.  It was a warm afternoon and a half of Wimbledon Blonde went down very well. My partner in crime chose a Stiff Upper Lip and was equally pleased. The bar is good value at £3 a pint and £4 for wine, and while the location's not particularly glamorous it was very pleasant to sit on a stool in the sun and watch the world go by. Plus, I'm always a sucker for blackboard walls, and there were plenty on display here.

Stiff Upper Lip and Wimbledon Blonde

Read about how By The Horns came to be. They have an impressive list of stockists, so even if you can't get down to the brewery you've no excuse for not supporting them.

Suitably refreshed, we nipped up the road to take in some Earlsfest fun at the Leather Bottle. The garden was even busier than usual and the outdoor bar was doing a roaring trade.

All ages out enjoying Earlsfest

We caught the end of the Nylon Ostrich set and all of Dare to be Charlie. So good having live music in the garden, and to be supporting local bands. I wasn't brave enough to try the face-painting, but the Leather Bottle staff sported some masterpieces.

Nylon Ostrich take the stage

Sadly there was no time to pop into Mel's Cafe Weekender - though it sounds like a good time was had by all - as we were off to Il Girasole for dinner. It definitely lived up to its earlier review with tasty fresh food at reasonable prices and a cheeky limoncello before we strolled home.

Not bad, Earlsfield, not bad at all.

With thanks to Richard for the photos.