Christmas is marked by the first appearance of the Winter edition of Ullage, your favourite West Berkshire beer and pubs magazine (edging out the Hungerford Horse & Jockey Weeekly for the third consecutive year).
Newbury Tim is always great company, finding me a wealth of new art, bands and pubs to explore, and we met in the Old Suffolk Punch, presumably on a holiday from Ipswich in the heart of Hammersmith.
Yes, it’s a West Berks pub, hence Tim’s interest, and certainly busy in the Christmas run-up, even if everyone is on the fizz. Good Old Boy is good but not old.
It took me ages to find my way out of Hammersmith underground station, which like Brum New Street is all shops, so I’m glad to enjoy the glories of the A40 flyover,
and the lesser known River Thames on the way down to the Dove.
We picked the Dove for no other reason than that it’s there, and is as pretty a riverside pub as it gets.
Pretty but not welcoming to drinkers, with the bulk of tables held back for diners. Not quite the Arden Arms, but Simon would have flipped.
Standing at the bar is uncivilised, even if the Bengal Lancer is good.
To his eternal credit, one member of staff (“a waiter”) offered us a seat for 10 minutes until the poshos arrived. I was impressed by that.
But we were pleased to get to a proper boozer, where drinkers are welcomed and given 50p discount.
Even if it is a characterless Spoons under a Holiday Inn Express. It was heaven in Hammersmith. As the song goes. The beer was top, the banter unforgettable*.
I left Tim to more Spoons and headed to a gig at the Elephant & Castle where the highlight was the advice against world record attempts and a big red light that made my head hurt.
*No, I didn’t take notes. See Tim’s post here.
retiredmartin 
“Hammersmith” is more than one tube station, as I recall – yes can be a puzzling surprise.
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I must have missed the early references to Ullage magazine on your blog, as I have only this confused sense that you are a fan of it, but also that you sometimes set fire to it. 😉
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We burn the things we love. Ullage was the star of the Burton-on-Trent micro pubs post. It’s one of my favourites.
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Loads of pubs in W6
Please tell me how you make your maps (google maps?) with P icons?
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That’s actually an extract from What Pub. Type Hammersmith into search, select the map, and then cut and paste. You can highlight an individual pub on the map 👍
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“(edging out the Hungerford Horse & Jockey Weeekly for the third consecutive year).”
That sounds like something from the movie ‘Notting Hill.
“and we met in the Old Suffolk Punch”
I used to live about 3/4 of a mile from there back in the early 60’s. 😎
“Old Good Boy is good but not old.”
The pump clip says Good Old Boy. 😉
“It was heaven in Hammersmith”
I always thought that other ‘H’ word was the preferred alliteration for Hammersmith. 😏
“*No, I didn’t take notes. See Tim’s post here.”
I shall do that after I get home or in a few days (bit busy with work).
Cheers
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Tim beat you to those errors, which I put down to Fullers ESB. Why can’t all beers just be called Bitter and Mild ?
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From a distance that Fuller’s griffin atop the pub sign looks a bit like a Mann’s George and Dragon.
I recently witnessed an argument in a pub about whether or not a dog therein was a griffin. I think it was a griffon.
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