Hammersmith rendezvous

Originally planned for Shoreditch, a rendezvous with Martin Taylor, to hand over copies of the winter Ullage magazine, was switched to Hammersmith to minimise travel. A first visit to the new Mikkeller and Goose Island bars in Shoreditch will now be the subject of a future post.

Old Suffolk Punch

From the Hammersmith roundabout, the Old Suffolk Punch is a short walk south along the busy Fulham Palace Road, a damp prospect on Wednesday 5 December.

Arriving before Martin, and being familiar with the cask ales from West Berkshire Brewery, I ordered Watneys The Cosmo and looked for a table that was not occupied or reserved by Tash for the weekly AdVenture quiz night.
When Martin arrived he ordered West Berkshire Brewery's flagship Good Old Boy bitter and joined me. I am grateful that he could find space in his bag for some copies of Ullage to distribute to fellow pub bloggers and perhaps even feature in his own retiredmartin blog posts and @NHS_Martin tweets. (Ullage magazine regularly includes Boak & Bailey and Curmudgeon columns.)

The pub was tastefully decorated for the Christmas season, mainly around the entrance, near our table. With large windows at the front and south side, this part of the pub might be compared to a goldfish bow. A tip for anyone requiring seating with less external distractions would be to head towards the deep red wall of the lower level rear section.

At 5pm, staff distributed menus to the tables. The left side of the menu has various chip based dishes. Veg, meat and fish main dishes occupy the centre. On the right are details of live music on Fridays, Saturday brunch and Sunday roast (with unlimited gravy).
After discussing the White Horse, Parsons Green, as a possible next stop we decided on a closer alternative, within walking distance, the Dove.

 Dove

After a stop for coffee at a branch of Leon in the Broadway shopping centre above Hammersmith station, we headed under the Hammersmith Flyover and along Hammersmith Bridge Road, towards the river Thames..

Shadows playing on the curved white walls of the Hammersmith Bridge Road Surgery merited a quick photo. Heading west along Lower Mall, on the north bank of the Thames, we passed The Blue Anchor and the Rutland Arms before reaching the Dove on Upper Mall, just beyond Furnivall Gardens.

After the damp walk it was pleasantly warm inside the bar area of the Fuller's pub but all the seats were taken. The handpumps are on a section of the bar that serves a small front room but the pumpclips are angled to be visible. Martin was pleasantly surprised to receive change from £10 for his round which included Martin's Bengal Lancer and my pint of Fuller's Off Piste IPA.

This was my first taste of the pale gold IPA brewed using lager malt and wheat and hopped with Saaz, Chinook and Citra. Although brewed for the winter I hope it will become a permanent fixture and made widely available as it matches my style and taste preferences.
An effort to find a table in the dining area of the pub, up a few steps from the bar area, was thwarted by a staff member who denied us access unless we were dining. We retreated and propped up the bar for a while.

We were then granted temporary access to a table in the dining area which was not busy at this early part of the eveing. The beamed ceiling, framed pictures, subdued lighting and log fire made this area feel rather cosy and sophisticated.

Plough & Harrow

After crossing the Great West Road, we walked to King Street and entered the Plough & Harrow, a Wetherspoons located underneath the Holiday Inn Express. This was a complete contrast to the Dove, with a busy clientele of mainly older men and some animated conversations. My round was much cheaper than Martin's as the £2.15 pint for cask ale was discounted by 50p by using a 50p CAMRA voucher. Here I enjoyed Enefeld London Pale Ale from Enfield Brewery. Most of the seating was stools and high tables so we settled for an elevated view.

My only photo here was to log the unique pattern of the carpet, one of the distinctive features of Wetherspoon pubs that can add some interest to a first visit. Like the Dove, the Plough & Harrow is also listed in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2019.
It would soon be time to say goodbye to Martin whose permanent exploration of places, pubs, people and new music would now take him to the End of the Road festival Christmas party at Corsica Studios, Elephant & Castle.

William Morris

As there was time for another beer, before I headed to Paddington for the fast 20.03 train back to Newbury, I left Martin on King Street, near the Lyric Hammersmith, and entered the William Morris.

The Wetherspoon pub is named after the designer who lived at Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, from 1878 until his death in 1896. This pub was also busy but with a more varied clientele, including  women and younger drinkers.

Happily, a pint of cask ale could again be purchased for £2.15. It was nice to find Razzle Dazzle, a seasonal golden ale hopped with Cascade, from Loddon Brewery on the bar.

From my stool at a high table by the bar I could see a blackboard at the side of the bar mentioning that 2,313 pints of real ale were sold in the previous week. This equates to 32 casks of ale and might explain why my pint was in good condition.

Before leaving to catch a Circle Line train from Hammersmith to Paddington, a visit downstairs to the Gents, involved passing an interesting artwork - 'Six Seconds' by Thomas Winstanley. In my view, it's always good to see artists' original work featured in pubs.

Cheers! to Martin for guidance around Hammersmith and for suggesting that a blog post to commemorate the evening would be worthwhile.