We visit a very distinctive addition to the Wetherspoon estate.
Most of the ticket windows on the London Underground have closed over the past decade. But over in Fulham, an former station building is reversing the trend, by opening its windows for a merrier purpose than travelcard sales: boozy drinks.
This is the Walham Green, a sizeable Wetherspoon which opened over the summer of 2025. The chain is a fixture on many London high streets, but this is the only one that’s built into an old Underground station.
That station was itself called Walham Green — the old name for Fulham Broadway. It was built in 1910 and served as the ticket office and main entrance until 2003, when it was replaced by the functional entrance inside the shopping centre.
The Grade II-listed station building has not sat fallow for all of that time. In 2018, it reopened as an outpost of the Market Hall chain, to operate as a bar/kitchen. That identity lasted only until 2021, and the site has been quiet ever since.
JD Wetherspoon have invested £3 million in returning the building to glory. The main drinking space looks superficially similar to its Market Hall predecessor, with the same ‘To the Trains’ signage and ticket window service. Look around, though, and the place has a different vibe. Small tables replace the long benches of old; the walls are festooned with historical images of the station and wider area; and, of course, there’s a luxuriant Wetherspoon’s carpet towards the back and upstairs. The biggest change, though, is the side rooms, which are contrived to look like old shop fronts.
The Walham Green is a unique venue, which redefines what a station-pub can be. It’s also a Spoon’s, which means you get inexpensive food and very cheap drinks (deal of the day on our visit was a pint of Ruddles for just £1.99). The chain is often sneered at by a subset of Londoners — partly out of snobbery, but also thanks to the staunch pro-Brexit stance of owner Tim Martin. Even the chain’s critics must admit, though, that it’s good to have spaces like this brought back to life for the drinking public to enjoy.
The chain is no stranger to transport-adjacent venues. Last year, the Lion & Unicorn opened in Waterloo station, giving the terminus its fourth pub. Cannon Street station boasts the smaller Sir John Hawkshaw, named after the station’s chief engineer. Meanwhile, the arches vacated by the London Dungeon, beneath London Bridge station, have just received the chain’s newest opening, the Sun Wharf.
Walham Green, 472 Fulham Road, SW6 1BY. All images by Matt Brown.
