3 Brothers Drinking Together in SW19 and 2 in TW10!

Well, the 3 of us hadn't met up together as a trio for some time, and we decided again to meet up on the edge of Wimbledon Village, by Wimbledon Common. There are quite a few decent pubs in the area, but we whittled the choice down to two, a few yards from each other. The Crooked Billet (website), 15 Crooked Billet SW19 4RQ, built in the early 18th century, became a pub in the 1850s, the name coming from the pub sign that was a crooked piece of wood broken from a tree apparently, but there are many theories! Anyway, the name of this small local part of Wimbledon Common, and the road, was taken from the name of the pub; so not a chicken or egg situation. It's a pub I have visited off and on for many years, but Rob arriving last let us choose...

So, we chose the very nearby Hand in Hand, 7 Crooked Billet SW19 4RQ (website), dating back to 1831 and originally a bakery, but was a family owned pub for a hundred years before Young's took it over in 1974. Indeed, a wee bit underage maybe 😉 I first drank Ruddles County there before Young's took it over, and Ruddles Brewery was still an independent brewery then. Nowadays, like The Crooked Billet, both pubs sell guest ales in addition to Young's.  

In addition to the ales in the photograph above, there were also Sambrook's Sidekick, a 3.4% session IPA and Adnams single hopped Mosaic Pale Ale (4.1%) on the other bar. However, from the 4 shown in the photograph above, I drank, from Wandsworth brewery Sambrook's (website), their Pumphouse, a 4.2% pale ale, named after the Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park. This is brewed with 3 British hops, Admiral, Goldings, and notably Ernest, which gives it a strong fruity American style pale ale aroma and taste; light, slightly spicy with apricot and citrus. It was pretty good actually, and despite giving the always excellent Proper Job consideration, I surprised myself and kept to the more locale Pumphouse throughout our visit, nice one.

The next day just Dan and I walked across Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park to the Roebuck, 130 Richmond Hill, Richmond TW10 6RN (website), arguably the pub with the best view in London; the view is protected by an Act of Parliament of 1902! The Roebuck was built in 1717, believed to be on the site of a much older pub, and was a regular drinking hole of Dan and I in the late 1970s and 1980s, and occasionally since. It was recently tastefully refurbished by new owners Greene King, and doesn't appear much altered, if at all, from our older visits.

I was pleased that it wasn't just Greene King ales on sale though, as we enjoyed an excellent couple of pints of the Oakham Ales (website) single-hopped 4.2% 'Session IPA' Citra. Their Citra is, as you would expect, zesty with a hint of citrus in the aroma and taste, very pale, and a great dry bitter finish. An ale I love, and have written about regularly (for example blog), and would include as a luxury item on a desert island discs theme, along with a cooling system. 😉 Oh yes, and we were very pleased with our choice of lunch here, their Sharing Platter, with a portion of chips that we didn't need as it was plenty enough, even for us 2 gluttons!

The view from outside the Roebuck is one that has been painted many times, for example by J.M.W. Turner, and, as I forgot to take a photograph on the day, I thought I would share a photograph of an oil painting of the view. However, this is by a less celebrated, though very local artist, James Isiah Lewis (1861-1934), and is at Orleans House Gallery (in a villa built in the 'Palladian' style in 1710), Orleans Road, Twickenham TW1 3BL (website).

And this view hasn't changed much at all either, cheers! 😁

Oh yes, afterwards we carried on walking eastwards along the Thames to The Ship at Mortlake, the ales were a bit boring sadly, not like on a previous visit (blog)!

Circular Walk, Putney to Richmond and Back.

Okay, not so much a pub crawl, but an excellent circular walk, 15-16 miles, from Putney to Richmond and back to Putney, with many pub opportunities, and virtually all off road, a walk in the country in effect! We started by The Spencer in Lower Richmond Road SW15 1HJ (website), but much before opening time, and walked across Putney Common, passing the wonderful Arts & Crafts All Saints church (London Metropolitan Archives), before reaching the often very busy Upper Richmond Road, which we crossed to Putney Park Lane, which was soon off-road.

We followed Putney Park Lane all the way to Putney Heath and continued onto Wimbledon Common, passing by the Windmill and across to Beverley Brook following the brook to Richardson Evans and the A3. Yes, we had to cross the A3, where there is a good crossing, but you have to stick to the lights because the traffic here can be very dangerous, and quite unsighted. Once across we entered Richmond Park at Robin Hood Gate, with deer all around us (above image, and that close, no zoom lens needed!). We then strolled across to the Pen Ponds and up to Richmond Gate at the top of Richmond Hill (website).

We walked down Richmond Hill, much of it through Terrace Gardens, down by Richmond Bridge to the Thames Path and along to the White Cross, TW9 1NR, originally built in 1740 with some rebuilding in the 19th century (website) at the bottom of Water Lane. The White Cross has been a Young's pub since 1869, so Young's ales on sale, Ordinary and Special, and we started off with a pint of Ordinary each (3.7%), a decent enough refreshing pale amber bitter. Sadly, Young's is no longer a brewery, but a pubco, and their ales are now brewed in Bedford by Charles Wells (website). I have written about the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth closing down before, and what is now there, eg blog.

Young's pubs regularly seem to have St Austell Proper Job (4.5%) as a guest, so I had a pint of that too, an ale I've written about many times before, eg blog. And I've had Twickenham Naked Ladies (4.4%) here too, named after statues in York House Gardens in Twickenham, eg blog. Oh yes, and we dined here, the menu isn't out of this world (website), but pretty decent quality and enough for us to do a share with an extra portion of chips, tasty...

On finishing our lunch, we continued on our circular walk along the Thames Path (though the Thames does meander!) towards Mortlake and had a pint each at The Ship, 10 Thames Bank SW14 7QR (website), a Greene King pub, but I do get 10% CAMRA discount off ales here.😊 The Ship was built in 1781, and the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race has had its finishing line here since 1845, so extraordinarily busy that day! Excellent views of the river and Chiswick Bridge, not the ugliest bridge crossing the Thames, and you can get 'trapped' in here for a short while every now and then when the tide is in, see photograph below from our previous visit here...

Or, of course, you can get your feet and trousers wet,😉but the tide starts going out again quite quickly, and there is always a wee path you can use along Ship Lane that goes up to the main Lower Richmond Road ('tis quite a long road) and Mortlake High Street. 

Or you can stay and have a drink, indeed, we sat outside (to the left of the photo immediately above, though sunny this day, and the tide wasn't in) and enjoyed a couple of pints of Greene King New Tricks (4.0%), a golden ale with lemon peel and ginger. Now I'm not the greatest fan of Greene King ales, but its location, and 10% off the price, influences our decision to visit here whenever passing. The New Tricks? Very subtle flavours form the ginger and lemon, a gentle bitterness, and wasn't bad at all, always worth dropping into The Ship. 👌

When we'd finished our drinks we carried along the Thames Path to Putney, completing our 'circular' route, and each had a Leffe Blonde (6.0%) to rinse away the dust, cheers!

Leffe website.

Oh yes, and if you want to drink in a pub close by the Thames in Putney, I suggest the Bricklayer's Arms, which is included in a recent blog, enjoy.

Walking by the River Thames, and a Few Pubs!

The first pub we entered, on my recent visit to London, was The Dove, 19 Upper Mall, Hammersmith W6 9TA (website), a Fuller's house (website), although Fuller's is now effectively a pubco as the Japanese brewing giant Asahi now own the close by in Chiswick Griffin Brewery (website). This is a place I have frequented over many years now, as have, and had, many famous people, notably, it is believed, Charles II and his mistress Nell Gwyn before it became a pub, the poet James Thompson who reportedly wrote the words for Rule Britannia here, Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene, and a hero of mine, William Morris, who lived a few doors along to the west at number 26 Upper Mall, in Kelmscott House, where The William Morris Society is now situated (website), which is well worth a visit when they are open, which, before the pandemic, was 12-5pm Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, but it may be worth telephoning beforehand to check at 020 8741 3735. The building became a Coffee Shop in the early 18th century and a pub by the 1790s, it was originally called The Doves.

Anyway, to current times, and our visit, a Fuller's house as I said above, and a pub where you will always get a good pint of London Pride, and we weren't let down this time either. We stayed for a couple of pints and, coincidentally, a friend of mine who lives in Sheffield, Will, turned up about 5 minutes after us, so we had a good chat with him for a while too (he was in London for a few days on a 'pub crawl' he had set up for himself), it's a small world! Anyway, if you don't know the pub, it has a great atmosphere, food with a good reputation further back, a great balcony overlooking the River Thames for warmer days/evenings, and the smallest bar in the world (Guinness Book of Records) in the wee snug to the right of the door as you first enter the pub.

Teddington Lock

The next day we caught a bus to Kingston to walk back along the Thames Path to Putney, and on our way back we passed Teddington Lock where, just by that smaller hut in the mid distance (we couldn't get over to it, although I have in days past!), was the famous Fish Slapping Dance, courtesy of Monty Python (YouTube), we didn't partake, obviously, as closed off...

We stopped off in Richmond for lunch at The White Cross, Riverside House, Water Lane TW9 1TH (website), a 19th century Young's house, and another pubco, sadly, that used to brew their own beer (in Wandsworth), but now brewed in Bedford by Charles Wells (website). We did a bit of meal sharing, with an extra portion of chips, and Dan drank the traditional Young's Special, but they also had a guest ale from Twickenham Brewery (website), their 4.4% Naked Ladies, which is named after statues in York House Gardens in Twickenham. So I drank a pint of this, a hoppy, pale golden bitter, brewed with Herkules, Celeia and wonderful Chinook hops, big flavour and lovely dry bitter finish, cheers! 

We stayed on the South Bank (or Surrey side, as often mentioned on Boat Race Day, as the river bends significantly, indeed, at The White Cross, you are on the Surrey side but look southwards across the river!) all the way now... 

The photograph above is looking over to Isleworth, with the church on the right and the 18th century London Apprentice pub in Isleworth (website) on the left of the image, well, we didn't swim over for a drink, but worth noting here. There had been a pub on the site since Tudor times, at least, and had visits from Henry VIII and Charles I when they were at nearby Syon House (website). The pub is named after the great petitioners of the early 17th century, the London Apprentices, who, following the defeat of Parliamentary forces, the capture of Syon House, and the ransacking of Brentford by Royalist forces under the leadership of Prince Rupert on the 12th of November 1642, joined with other London traders and workers, and Parliamentary troops, to hold off the Royalist force at the Battle of Turnham Green on the next day. This was effectively a stalemate, but the Royalist force withdrew and never entered London, which may have seen the Civil War have a very different outcome. Another historical fact is that from the Isleworth Stairs below the pub, Lady Jane Grey boarded the Royal Barge in 1553 to accept the English Throne, only to be imprisoned in the Tower of London after just 9 days, hence the Nine Days Queen.

Anyway, a bit further eastwards and we reached Mortlake, the destination of the Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race, although there isn't much room in this pub on that day! The Ship, 10 Thames Bank SW14 7QR (website) is a late 18th century pub, now owned by Greene King (website), and situated next to the now defunct Mortlake Brewery. It has a few great things about it outside of Race Day, great views east and west, decent food, sells interesting guest ales, and CAMRA members get 10% off the price of ale! And the rather pleasant ale we drank was another from Twickenham Brewery (website), their 3.9% Summer Down Under, brewed with Australian and New Zealand hops, Galaxy and Pacific Jade. A very pale, very dry and bitter ale, with big grapefruit citrus aroma and taste, gorgeous!

I'm rather pleased with how this photograph of Hammersmith Bridge turned out with the lighting, the sun reflecting on the buildings opposite nearly made it impossible, except for from where I eventually took it. Built nearly 200 years ago, it is one of my favourite bridges over the River Thames, and has survived an Irish Republican attempt to blow it up in 1939, and 2 more attempts since! After the third bombing in 2000, restoration was carried out, but structural problems saw its closure to traffic in 2019, and now you can walk or cycle over it only, but a nice way to cross the Thames indeed, as we had done on the previous evening to reach The Dove.

Cheers!