{"id":5894,"date":"2025-11-26T11:34:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5894"},"modified":"2025-11-26T11:34:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:34:46","slug":"a-tour-of-twickenham-and-teddington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/11\/26\/a-tour-of-twickenham-and-teddington\/","title":{"rendered":"A tour of Twickenham and Teddington"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Saturday 18 October, CAMRA\u2019s London Pubs Group visited five pubs in the Twickenham and Teddington areas.\u00a0 Proceedings commenced at noon at the Sussex Arms<\/a><\/strong> in Twickenham, a locally listed ex-Charrington pub having one star on CAMRA\u2019s National Inventory, with an interior of special historic importance.\u00a0 This brick and rendered two-storey pub was rebuilt in the inter-war period and retains a number of original fittings. \u00a0The main bar at the front (originally three rooms or two rooms and off sales) has fielded panelling on the walls to two-thirds height, with a bare wood floor and a 1930s brick fireplace on the right. \u00a0The bar counter front has square panels and looks to date from the 1930s, as does the bar-back fitting.\u00a0 Some modern embellishments, such as white tiles, have however been applied.\u00a0 The pub is operated by the Morgan Pub Collective and regular ales served here are Big Smoke Solaris, Harvey\u2019s Sussex Best Bitter, Oakham Citra and Thornbridge Jaipur.\u00a0 There are also eight changing guest ales and six ciders on handpump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From the Sussex, a short walk via Twickenham Green led to the Prince Albert<\/a><\/strong>, which was our officially designated lunch stop. \u00a0Another locally listed building, the pub was opened by the Star Brewery in 1840 and was later unofficially known as Wiffen’s, being run by three generations of the same family whose name is still<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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displayed behind the bar.  It is nowadays divided into three areas and is popular for its convivial atmosphere and an attractive garden.  The Prince Albert has been a finalist in the Fuller’s Master Cellarman competition for four years running.  Dark Star Hophead, Fuller\u2019s ESB and London Pride are normally served here along with a Fuller\u2019s seasonal ale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final stop in Twickenham was the Rifleman<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0This characterful back-street local is a former Courage pub now operated by Twickenham Fine Ales.\u00a0 It too is locally listed. \u00a0The pub takes its name from<\/p>\n\n\n

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Rifleman Frank Edwards of the London Irish Rifles, who dribbled a football when going \u2018over the top\u2019 at the Battle of Loos during WW1.  Expect five cask ales from Twickenham to be available along with Harvey\u2019s Sussex Best Bitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 281 bus was used to reach our first pub in Teddington, the Masons Arms<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0This is also a locally listed building, with a pretty green and brown tiled fa\u00e7ade and a secluded garden at the rear. \u00a0You enter through a door lobby that leads into a single space dominated by a generously sized servery, with a wooden bar counter decorated with fielded panelling and reeded reliefs. \u00a0Notable are the beautiful wooden handpulls made especially for the pub by the brother of the owner of the Roebuck in nearby Hampton Hill. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pub and brewery memorabilia line the walls and hang from the ceiling beams. \u00a0On the right-hand wall is the original pub sign with the motto \u2018God is our Guide\u2019. \u00a0On the left-hand wall is a wonderful Bass & Co mirror, although historically the pub was a Watney house. \u00a0Some of the windows retain fragments of original stained glass. \u00a0Hop Back Summer Lightning, Sambrook\u2019s Junction, Windsor & Eton Knight of the Garter and one changing cask ale are normally served here.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bus 281 again, or simple old-fashioned shoe leather, took us to our final venue, the Builders Arms<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0Yet another locally listed building, it rates two stars on CAMRA\u2019s National Inventory. \u00a0The pub still has two separate rooms linked by a relatively modern arched cut-through. \u00a0Almost certainly built in Edwardian times, it offers a marked contrast with earlier, Victorian ornateness. \u00a0The exterior is distinguished with brown glazed brick, a band of blue-grey mottled fa\u00efence and some attractive designs in the window frames. \u00a0The upper parts of the windows throughout the pub, as well as the doors, have some delightfully detailed glazing with green leaves and other motifs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Both rooms also have beamed ceilings, which were popular at the time to evoke a sense of older, timber-built buildings.  The counter and the bar-back in the main bar (originally the saloon bar) on the right look as though they might be inter-war replacements, although the counter top is modern.  A prominent Tudor-style arch spans the width of the room.  Charming features not to be missed are the Art Nouveau-style spear-like recesses carved in the wall panelling, which may well be unique in pub ornamentation.  Surrey Hills Shere Drop, Twickenham Naked Ladies and Windsor & Eton Windsor Knot are normally served here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0All of the pubs visited, with the exception of the Sussex Arms, are in CAMRA\u2019s 2026 Good Beer Guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jane Jephcote and Kim Rennie<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Saturday 18 October, CAMRA\u2019s London Pubs Group visited five pubs in the Twickenham and Teddington areas.\u00a0 Proceedings commenced at noon at the Sussex Arms in Twickenham, a locally listed… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pub-crawl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5894"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5899,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5894\/revisions\/5899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}