Saturday 8th September - Happy Birthday to me ;-)

Dan and I walked along the Surrey side of the Thames from Putney to Richmond to have lunch at the Waterman's Arms, and a lovely Thai meal it was too ( Pad Ki Moaw, stir-fried noodles with chicken, chilli, garlic and vegetables), Happy Birthday lunch! Also, in addition to the usual Youngs Special and 'Ordinary', the landlord now sells Twickenham Three Naked Ladies, an excellent 4.4% pale bitter which is as good as you'll get it here, and their ales never seem to disappoint me, plus this landlord is the 'real deal', having run the pub for years now, quality.

 

As we walked out of the Waterman's, we met up with an old mate, Colin, who joined us for a large amount of the continuing walk and pub trip... From Richmond, we walked back a wee while eastwards and crossed the Thames to come in from the west, and Middlesex bank, to Isleworth and The London Apprentice! Now, I've discussed the Apprentice before on this blog, so I'll just mention the ales available on Saturday, plus the Westons Traditional Scrumpy (6%) and Country Perry (4.5%).  We were served by the admirable Cat, who, whatever she professes, should be Irish (she'll appreciate what I mean when she reads this, I trust, because it is a compliment from me) and pulled 3 pints of the excellent Purity Ubu for us, 4.5% and a slightly darker than usual ales for me!

 

They also had old stalwarts, Pride, Doom Bar and Thwaite's Wainwright, a great old historic pub,  with a great view across and down the Thames, a West London favourite.

 

 

We continued eastwards along to the Bulls Head, Strand on The Green, Chiswick, a Chef & Brewer pub, so a bit food dominated, where we drank Fullers London Pride; they also sold Tribute, Doom Bar and Landlord, fairly trustworthy ales, if a little lacking in interest for me anymore, but the Pride was in decent form! This is close by the "Beatles' pub", but I've written about that not so long ago, and I really wanted a 'new' pub to visit on my birthday, ie one I'd never been to before, so this was it... 

 

 

OK, Colin had had enough of us by now, so left us, and we carryied on towards Hammersmith, past the Fullers Brewery at Chiswick, past William Morris' Kelmscott House, and we reached The Dove, one of my 2 favourite pubs in Hammersmith, both Fullers' houses... 

 

 

Again, I've written about this pub before, about its history, its overlooking the Thames, its rear 'balcony', it's crackin' bars, the Fullers ales, decent food... What more can I say? Well... In addition to the usual Pride and ESB, they had the seasonal Summer Ale and, one of my favourite Fullers' ales now, Wild River, a crackin' 4.5% bitter!  Enjoyed it here as usual, a Happy Birthday was enjoyed, and we went back to Putney to enjoy a curry...

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

Wimbledon Park and back, via the Wandle...

Wimbledon park and back, via the Wandle, Thames, Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common... we walked not far off 20 miles...

The Dove in Hammersmith, on the River Thames, is one of my favourite Fullers pubs, indeed, it's one of my favourite pubs... Great history, great view of the Thames from the back, decent food and ales from Fullers, nowt to dislike about the Dove, but you may well have seen me write about it elsewhere, so no surprise I love this pub...

The City Barge, past the Fullers Brewery in Chiswick, was the pub in 'Help!' The Beatles film, where Ringo fell through a trapdoor in the floor. Locals just call it "The Barge", and it's made up of an older lower bar and a more modern addition. The ales here were Green King IPA, which you'll know I'd ignore, Old Speckled Hen (preferable), and Hardy's and Hanson's Olde Trip (now owned by Green King), which we did drink, not as impressive as I remember, but not bad.

Our real lunchtime destination was the London Apprentice, a Nicholsons pub, I believe; a very nice building, and named after the defence of London from Royalist troops in the English Civil War, ie by the London Apprentices, as well as other Parliamentary troops, of course.

Decent food here, and good ales, some of the usuals, Doom Bar, Pride, TEA and Bombardier, but 2 nice ones for me (though I do like Pride++ too), that is, the excellent Hop Back Summer Lightning, and a new one for me, Gales (OK, Fullers ;-) Spring Sprinter, a 4% pale, light refreshing ale.

We sat outside, watching the swans, ducks, geese and gulls, and the rising Thames, as the tide came in (we escaped before our feet got wet).

OK, our walk included Richmond, Richmond Hill and Richmond Park, and Wimbledon Common, but our later drinking pubs are covered elsewhere, as we visited them on more than one trip... Cheers!

Pub of the Week - The London Apprentice, Old Isleworth

The London Apprentice dates to Tudor times, being rebuilt in the early 18th century. Their website reports that it was patronised by a number of eminent people in the past, including Henry VIII, Charles I, Charles II and Nell Gwynne, Lady Jane Grey and Oliver Cromwell, all of whom had close links with nearby Syon House. 

My brother and I had walked a larger circular route, including the north bank of the Thames from Richmond Bridge to Putney Bridge, stopping on the way at The London Apprentice, cracking pub! 

There are 6 ales served by handpumps at the bar, regulars include Fullers London Pride, Adnams Broadside and Sharp's Doom Bar. There are also 3 rotating guest ales, on my last visit these included Young’s London Gold, Brains SA and Purity Mad Goose, the last being in very good form and very much enjoyed! Keg beers are served too, of course, and include Staropramen, Leffe and Hoegaarden, for people with more European tastes. 

We enjoyed ourselves immensely, the bar staff were very friendly, though it was early in the shift (before noon), so it did start getting busier whilst we were there, and investigating the building was a pleasure too. We had only ever seen it from the south bank of the river on a significant number of occasions before our visit, when we kept agreeing we must cross the river sometime. We were suitably shocked and impressed at its history and fine features, not to mention enjoying the beer. One of the advantages of Isleworth is that it is also easy to get to Twickenham or Brentford, only a short distance away. Enjoy it yourselves!