The Old Thameside Inn is a decent pub in the Nicholson's chain, created from an old spice warehouse, and like many similar conversions, retains the character of the original building, keeping the stone-flagged floors and the original wooden beams, and with a large riverside terrace. But more interesting is the full-sized, working replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship the Golden Hinde next to it, which like its original namesake, has circumnavigated the globe. Drake himself was a colourful, larger-than-life Elizabethan adventurer, patriot, hero or pirate, depending on your perspective, who attacked Spanish treasure ships bringing loot from the New World.