2 Riverside pubs. Back to London and the Thames, again...

Back to London, turning up at Clapham Junction, on Friday 21st June. Gave the Youngs pub, The Waterfront, a miss, poor quality overpriced beer, but the Routemeister, my brother Dan, insisted we visit the Wetherspoons pub by Putney Bridge, the Rocket.  This is situated by the historic St Marys church, on the South bank, and seems to have a decent clientele, not what you'd usually expect; indeed, a very interesting couple of fellow clients shared interesting discourse about the merits of limes over lemons with G&T. Anyway, we had a very good pint of Youngs Special (4.5%) each for just £2.29 this time, giving the Youngs pub next door a miss, and I got the 50p reduction for being a CAMRA member, so just £1.79 a pint!

We then crossed Putney Bridge and walked to the Dove at Hammersmith, a great riverside pub, and, where, thanks to Matt the manager, though he assured me it was just a stock email from Fullers themselves that issued the invitation to me to enjoy a free pint of London Pride (4.1%).  Anyway, Pride was enjoyed, by the Routemeister, actually, I enjoyed the more bitter seasonal ale from Fullers, Wild River (4.5%).  There were also Fullers ESB and Summer Ale available. 

We then crossed Hammersmith Bridge and returned to Putney via the South bank, cheers!

Wednesday 26th September, West London W6

Train from Hastings to Victoria, 211 bus (passing the Royal Brompton Hospital, where my Dad died many years ago) to Hammersmith, a stroll down to Hammersmith Bridge, walk westwards along the north bank of the Thames, and you reach The Dove (see website), built in the early 18th century and originally a 'coffee house', I believe. Also, the 'local' of a hero of mine, William Morris, who used to live just yards further along the river, a few years ago though (in a big house).

This is one of my two favourite pubs in Hammersmith, a much visited by famous people Fullers house, sadly though, no Wild River on now as it is a seasonal ale, and the Summer Ale that was on, is also near the end of its season, being replaced by Red Fox for the Autumn. I really like Wild River, nice and bitter, meets my love of bitter ales, however, not being on, I thought I'd try the Summer Ale, not having drunk it for a few years (Of course, they had London Pride and ESB too, 4 ales in all)... Very easy drinking, but lacking the hops to suit my palate, oh well, as ever, friendly discourse at the bar and an enjoyable visit.

 

Incidentally, it has the smallest bar room in the World, Country, London, or whatever, cute little 'snug', some would call it, and also a wonderful balcony at the back, overlooking the river, which can be gorgeous, but also can get very busy, thus noisy in good weather, or for the Boat Race!  I also met the manager, Matt, but later on at the Salutation... 

 

So, I wandered back past Hammersmith Town Hall to King Street and the Salutation Inn (see website), my other Fullers love of the Borough!  To give my taste buds a bit of a wake up call, I had ESB here, always a blast of malt and hops; they also had London Pride and Gales Seafarers, Gales ales being brewed by Fullers now.  Amy, the manager was behind the bar, and I remember her from just over a year ago, on her first day here, when she gave me 2 free pints (a story for another day, but there was a good reason, not just my warmth and charm, lol), and I have seen her since, obviously.

 

Anyway, I had a good chat with Amy, and Matt from The Dove, when he arrived too.  These really are the best 2 pubs in Hammersmith, as far as I'm concerned, not just for the beer and food, but also the histories behind the pubs, and their individually unique architecture. So, I was in good cheer when I moved on to my third pub of the late afternoon, The Duchess of Cambridge, on the roundabout at the Stamford Brook end of Goldhawk Road; thanks to Paul for his advice about this pub.

The Duchess of Cambridge is  a 'sister' pub to the Bree Louise at Euston, similar set up regarding real ales and ciders and perries, food, though from a slightly different perspective, and 50p off for a pint of ale if you're a CAMRA member (I knew there was more than one good reason to re-join CAMRA); I believe they also give discount to students, go to their website for more information.

So, up to 15 ales on, 6 from handpumps and 9 gravity fed (14 when I was there) and 9 ciders and perries gravity fed. Also a selection of craft bottled beers and lagers, positively brimming with good cheer!  I was very ably served by Alice, the friendly barmaid, for most of my visit, and I met the landlord, Simon, before I left.  I shan't mention every ale, particularly as they regularly change, but just the ones I drank on Wednesday, though you'll get the idea from this photograph.

I met a group of Reading fans who were going to the QPR League Cup match too, who seemed reasonably happy with the pub, so welcoming to away fans as well as QPR fans.  I will add this pub to my website very soon.
 

I started with, gravity fed, Close Brewery Castillo, 3.9%, pale and dry session bitter, a pleasing start to my visit, though could do with a few more hops for me (you will be aware of my love of bitterness and dry ales). Then I had a pint of Westerham Summer Pearl, 3.8%, not quite so pale, but a real bitter in taste, probably my favourite drink of the day, again, gravity fed (notes for those who love frothy pints and live in the North, you probably wouldn't be happy with the gravity fed ales here). My final pint was from Pontypridd's Otley Brewery 07 Weissen, a 5% European style beer served from a handpump, dry and full bodied, pretty good; I will return, cheers!

 

 

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!

 

 

 

Wednesday 15th August, great ale and disappointment too...

We were thinking about another long walk today, ie 15th, but only managed about 6 miles or so in total... the rain put us off...

But, not before we stopped at the excellent, as ever, Dove, by the Thames in Hammersmith. I love this pub, probably in my Top Ten of pubs, a Fullers house, where we drank the excellent 4.5% Wild River, sat overlooking the Thames out the back, well, generally enjoyed ourselves in a very laid back fashion.

We also went inside for a while, and this is a very atmospheric older pub, but my brother, the 'Routemeister', decided to take an amusing (to him) photograph, cheers Dan!

From The Dove, we went to the other great Fullers pub in Hammersmith, the Salutation in Kings Street, where we drank more of the excellent Wild River, well, you have to when it's on, as, apart from the London Porter and darker ales, this is, in my opinion, the best bitter they brew... There! I said it, I even prefer it to London Pride.

I also love the front of the Salutation, and the tiling inside, which gives it a unique decoration. From here, though, we headed back along the Thames to Putney and we made our first ever visit to The Cat's Back, a Harveys house in Wandsworth!

Now, as you'll realise, even though I live in Sussex, I rarely drink Harveys, but this meant I had to. We tried the Olympia Golden Ale (4.3%) at first, a golden ale, but sadly, about to go off... so, the wonderful Natalie, the landlady, poured us out some Tom Paine (5.5%), an ale the Routemeister said I should drink, my respecting the man himself an' all... A very good darker ale, though not tasting too heavy, but quite bitter, nice one!

Oh, by the way, they also had the ubiquitous, at least down in Sussex, Sussex Best and Sussex Dark Mild, though they do change their ales regularly. We'll be back...

From here we returned to the Bricklayers Arms, as described yesterday, still had the Fyne Ale on, so happy to appreciate that again, and it is crackin'!

I had a pint of Kelham Island Pale Rider at the Falcon, Clapham Junction, just before I caught my train back to Sussex; having brewed this ale myself, I hardly recognised it! It's either had a recipe change, big time, or they'd served up the wrong ale from the pump in error, or, frankly, something had gone wrong? Drinkable, but not the Pale Rider I remember... Dave Wickett would be turning in his grave RIP.

When I got back to Hastings at 22.30, sadly, Frank's Front Room wasn't open, looking like it had just closed, so I dropped into Pissarros, where another lovely barmaid, Lucie, served up a pint of Long Man Long Blonde, and I met my neighbour, Robert, to have a chat with.  Now, I've appreciated Long Man ales so far, but this wasn't great, I suspect it was on the way out... not completely my day today then!

Oh well, next time... Cheers!