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.