BRANCH NEWS ARCHIVE - 2006

The Adelaide, 57 Park Road Teddington has started a new lease of life after Dermott McCann (a welcoming and approachable Irishman) took over the tenancy of the pub on the 9th November. He says that he has doubled his beer sales in 3 weeks. Dermott's previous pub was The Cheshire Cheese, Little Essex Street, Temple. The Adelaide is tied to Shepherd Neame. The current line up of beers include Master Brew Bitter, Spitfire, Kent's Best and Late Red.

The Sorting Rooms, Twickenham has now been renamed William Webb Ellis and the Hobgoblin in Twickenham is to become the Grand Union Cocktail Bar. The Jenny Lind in Hampton Hill now has a new landlord. The Royal Oak in Teddington that was demolished last year and space incorporated into the new development for its replacement is to become The Oak - a pub/wine bar. The King’s Arms, Hampton was temporarily closed and scaffolded.

At this year's Twickenham Beer & Cider Festival the 'Beer of the Festival' with 26 votes cast was Autumn Blaze from Twickenham Fine Ales. Second was Jaipur IPA from Thornbridge (which won the Peterborough Beer festival) with 24 votes. In third place was Hophead's Dark Star with 13 votes.

East Sheen and Mortlake pub update from Steve Williams

Jolly Gardeners, Mortlake - The decorators have visited! The refurbishment is sympathetic and mainly a lick of paint and some new furniture. The back bar has been enlarged by cutting short the serving area. The cellar has had attention and beer quality improved as a result (in my opinion). The pool table, darts boards and TV survive. It remains a vibrant Young's local. (Now an outlet for London Drinker magazine).

The Ship, Mortlake - has a new enthusiastic, cask ale drinking, manager. London Pride is still the mainstay but two guest are usually available. On my visit Ringwood 49er and Hop Back Crop Circle were on - both rare for the area and my choice the Crop Circle was excellent. (Also now takes London Drinker).

The Charlie Butler, Mortlake - beer quality good since the refurbishment (in my opinion). Now takes London Drinker.

The Plough, East Sheen - new licensees in the last 3 months. The cellar has been refurbished. Could be a bit more adventurous with beer range in future. Adnams Broadside (excellent) available on last visit (another rarity for the area)- alongside the regular Youngs Bitter, Bass and Courage Best. Another outlet for London Drinker.

Wells & Young's Brewing Company Ltd have launched their new web site.
http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk/. The site includes an online shop for Wells & Young's Merchandise.

John Young CBE, the colourful chairman of Young & Co Brewery, Wandsworth has died after a long illness on Sunday night (17th) the day before the final batch of cask ale was due to be brewed at the brewery. He was one the oldest and longest-serving chairman in the British brewing industry and a staunch champion of real ale.
See the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times and The Publican sites for their coverage of this sad event.

Twickenham Fine Ales wins their first award!
In the Peterborough & District CAMRA Beer Festival (22nd to 23rd Aug) TFA won Silver in the Strong Beers category with Daisy Cutter ABV 6.1%, only beaten by the overall winner. Full results can be seen on the CAMRA Peterborough & District Branch web site.

The Lion, Wick Road, Teddington has been voted the 2006 PUB of the YEAR for LONDON.

The Lion's 7th annual Beer Festival is to take place from Friday 1st to the 3rd September. CAMRA social on Friday evening. There will be 25+ different Ales and some interesting ciders to sample. BBQ and Live music on Saturday.
View the beer & cider list here!

The New England Restaurant & Bar,
(ex Duke of York) York Rd/Great West Rd, Brentford has been closed since April 06. It is currently boarded up ready for redevelopment as a Hotel.

Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises who leases out Filthy McNasties (previously Hobgoblin), London Rd Twickenham has decided to close the venue in August. There are unconfirmed claims that they may change it into a gastro pub or wine bar. McNasties has been showcasing live unsigned bands in its present incarnation throughout the week and have been getting quite a reputation that the Manager is fighting for it to remain a music pub and have gained the support of Pete Townshend of The Who fame.

Molly Malones - Richmond
Report from Lisa - "Molly's has been under new ownership since July last year. Major refurbishment has taken place. New ladies toilets, full painting and redecoration. Function room redone and garden re-landscaped. Also, beer has greatly improved. Anna and Anton have added London Pride and Bombadier to the range and also revamped the lager and cider sold. Still the best Guinness in West London." - Thanks Lisa.

Waldegrave Arms, 209 Waldegrave Rd, Teddington is closed and boarded up ready for demolition or conversion by the developer. It is expected that the pub will be replaced by flats. The loss of this pub is a tragedy for this local area which is now devoid of a nearby pub.

News Flash - Young's to leave Wandsworth.
London brewer Young's & Co is to combine its brewing operations with Charles Wells of Bedford. The move will lead to at least 90 job losses at Young's (and what about the animals?). A new company, Wells & Young's Brewing Company Ltd, will begin operations in October 2006 and will brew all of Young's beers in Bedford alongside the Charles Wells brand portfolio.

The Young's Ram Brewery founded in the reign of Elizabeth I has been in its present position on the River Wandle since 1581, making it the oldest site in Britain for continuous beer production. It entered into talks with Wandsworth Council in 2003 over the 5.5-acre site after it was earmarked for redevelopment. Charles Wells is the largest, independent family owned brewery in the country and was established in 1876. Their Eagle Brewery and has been at its current site in Bedford since 1976.

For more information please visit www.camra.org.uk

and BBC News.

The Tide End Cottage, Teddington has been closed for a major renovaton and reopen on the 25th May 2006.

The Duke of York, 29 Kew Rd, Richmond is closed "because of unforeseen circumstances" states a notice on the door. Update 26th May: The pub it is now boarded up and is being internally gutted. Update 16th June: Speaking to one of builder working on site said that the pub will be reopened as a Thai Restaurant and bar..

The Bishops Finger in Richmond is now closed and boarded up pending sale

The Ship in Mortlake is closed, and undergoing an extensive referb. Now open.

The Black Horse on Richmond/Sheen border is now closed and boarded up.

Update on some pubs in the Sheen/Mortlake area
The Charlie Butler at 40 Mortlake High Street, London SW14 (opened in 1968) will not be demolished as was rumoured but will be refurbished instead. Work should start in March this year. The pub will be restored to its former glory, with the bars renovated, the patio improved and the outside brightened up. The refurb will begin after the Boat Race 06

webmaster note - I found this item from the Pub History Society Newsletter from 'The Geoff Brandwood Files'. He writes; "I have just been introduced to a real 1960s time-warp: it's under the Damoclean sword of redevelopment and it would be nice to say something about it before it goes."

The Jolly Gardeners will also be refurbished. The work will start in the summer of 2006 and be transformed back into a traditional London Pub.

Twickenham Brewery beers
have been spotted in the Halfway House. On Friday (21st Jan) there were 3, IPA, Sundancer and Strong & Dark together with Brakspears and Pride. It is reported that their quality suffers a little in having 5 beers in such a small pub but the Twickenham Ales were recently reported to be "in great shape" and both the Sundancer and Strong & Dark recommended. Having these guest/micro beers in SW14 is considered quite a rarity, so if you're local to the area do make a visit to this pub.

webmaster note - Crane Sundancer has also been spotted in our POTY (the Lion, Wick Rd, Teddington and at the The Old Goat, Twickenham.

Whitton Pub in the News - 20th Jan 2006
It has been reported in the local papers (20th Jan 2006) that The White Hart Inn, 121 Kneller Rd, Whitton is up for sale for £1.5M. This historic Pub owned by Andy and Steve Papworth and their mother Anne is the oldest surviving pub in Whitton and dates back to 1685. It has been designated a building of townscape merit and features a large beer garden. Although the fate of the Pub is not certain it is very possible that part of the large plot of land (13,200 Sq ft) could be used for residential development.

The Swan, Swan Road, Hanworth has been recently taken over by Wolverhampton & Dudley and a local branch member has reported (Jan 2006) that an enthusiastic new landlord is rapidly transforming this hitherto scruffy haunt of underage drinkers and non-real ale. Hand Pumps are back in action after at least 20 years! Marstons Bitter and Christmas ale were on sale and Jennings Robin Redbreast is likely to be available soon.

The Bloomsbury, Staines Rd Twickenham has had to close after its recent refurbishment because of a fire on New Year's Day which gutted the ground floor bar area. Firefighters were called to the Pub at 10:30pm and took 3 hours to put out the blaze. The Bar & Restaurant is expected to be reopened in March this year.

Fulwell Arms 241 Hampton Rd, Twickenham has been renamed The Old Goat (Free House) after a major refurbishment. It opened it's doors on the 28th November and is now a modern pub with good food and real Ale (Pride, Wat Tyler and Crane Sundancer as of 21st Jan). The bar food was found to be most satisfying and well presented.

The Red Lion, Teddington - Has now reopened after a major refurbishment.