Ted's first tour of 2012 was probably his best yet - and he's set a very high standard on his previous days out 'round Town. Two people have put finger to keyboard to write up the day.
Ted takes up the tale first....
Saturday 10th March saw Ted, Rob, John H, Peter, Tim, Paul, Dave, Beanz, Matt, Robin and Keith meet up at North Station for the 10:30 train to London. When there we were met by Kishor and then got the Underground to Putney Bridge. A short wander over the bridge got us to the first pub, The Bricklayers, which had recently had a Yorkshire beer festival and there was a very good selection of beers. I wanted a dark beer but the one we saw was 6%, which was a bit strong for the first drink. I settled for Bird Brain Brewery WHYDAH which was a lovely dark beer but only about 4%. We could have stayed there all day!
Next pub was The Coat and Badge. As it was a warm day, people were sitting in the garden and there was a barbecue. I had Sambrooks WANDLE ALE. We then took a short walk to The Jolly Gardeners, a new pub in the GBG. In there I had Brakspear OXFORD GOLD. We then retraced our steps to Putney High Street and walked up to The Railway, a Wetherspoons pub where we had something to eat with our drink. There wasn't a great choice of ales, I just had GK RUDDLES BEST.
It was then a steady walk up Putney Hill to The Green Man, where we sat outside a watched the many buses that terminate there. Most, including me, settled for Youngs LONDON PORTER which was on good form. It was then another short walk to The Telegraph Inn which could almost be in the country as it is on Putney Heath. Again we sat outside, some playing with a friendly Jack Russell (I think) whilst Robin and Keith had their puddings that they missed out on earlier [with custard of course, ed]. I had Hepworth SUSSEX. We then walked on to Roehampton that had 4 pubs when I lived there, now only one remains, The Angel, a Youngs pub which we looked in and as there was only one beer and the clientele didn't seem all that welcoming so we left and walked to the bus stop to get a 72 bus to Barnes. We crossed the road and went in The Red Lion, a Fullers pub that had quite a few people in. It was very warm in there so the beer went down well. I had Davenport IRISH WHISKEY ALE. We then left and walked along Castlenau to The Bridge just south of Hammersmith Bridge. I had Caledonian DUTCHMAN which very soon ran out. We then walked over the bridge to Hammersmith and as some were still thirsty, we went in The Swan, a Nicholsons pub that was visited on an earlier crawl. I had Milestone LOXLEY ALE, then we crossed over the road and went in The Hop Poles, another pub done on a previous walk. I had Swanage FOSSIL FUEL. As most of us had had enough, we caught the Underground to Liverpool Street, but Kishor left somewhere at a west London station and somehow made his own way back to East London. At Liverpool Street most bought something to eat and we caught the Train back home.
Ted Ted
and now Robert of the Antipodes' view of the day.
I must say, sat 10/03/12 will be another great day to remember, as it was the latest of ted's london tours.
It was a pleasant day and what better way to kick things off than sampling one of the 13 or 15 ales on tap at the Bricklayers Arms in Putney a lovely pub situated in a quiet back street , it wasn’t voted 3rd best pub in England for nothing. After a couple of halves pub no 2 The Coat and Badge presented itself as a close second to the first, as we all agreed that if the beer garden was picked up and plonked in front of the first pub , then it would be the pub of all pubs (I think anyway). A barbecue was under way (maybe a kiwi icon which made me feel at home) and the burgers did look delicious only the price of £8.50 made me shy away from them.
A quick hop over to The Jolly Gardner also a lovely feel at home type pub with lovely wrap around chairs to lounge in, the only thing missing was the cigar. By the way in this pub the barmaid was complemented on her jugs by Tim, I assume he was referring to the receptacles she'd just presented his beer in, the dimpled mug being the standard her and a straight glass the exception rather than the rule.
What tour would not be complete without a stop at a good old Weatherspoon pub lunch as Pete was starting to whinge about food (mind you he was whingeing before we left North Station [what, Peter? really? never! ed]) anyway after a quick bite it was onwards and upwards literally as up Putney Hill we climbed and after some huffing and puffing The Green man arrived on the scene, a very welcomed pint was the order of the day and another great pub was discovered.
On up the Heath to The Telegraph a large pub which appears out of nowhere, with great beer and we were pleasantly entertained by one of the local’s dogs. We had a short stroll through a wee village and on down to catch a bus to The Red Lion in Barnes another large family pub with great big beer garden to get lost in, at this stage Kishor was showing signs of wear and tear but he managed to keep the Colchester CAMRA flag flying so to speak [CAMRA promotes responsible drinking, ed]. After yet another pint it was a brisk walk past some nice smelling Curry restaurants which we found almost irresistible, we arrived in Hammersmith and finished off with another couple of pubs which I don’t remember the names of, but they were welcoming pubs with plenty of ales to choose from. By this stage everyone was starting to feel the effects of ale and plenty of walking, so it was back on the tube and farewell to another fantastic tour, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know Kishor did as he was speechless and almost legless.
Thanks again Ted for a wonderful tour, can’t wait for the next.
Robert Gwillim