The Dartmouth Castle, Hammersmith, W6

A small corner pub, seemingly 'eaten' by the office block next door. The interior feels a bit too stripped out and has an unpleasant olive green colour scheme but, as admirably described below, the main feature is the superb carved bar back and some nice plasterwork. There is a small garden at the front also, if you can put up with the traffic. Sadly the beers were not great, with a clip-reversed London Pride and a very expensive TT Landlord (£3.45 half) in reasonable if not great condition. Not a lot of atmosphere - visit to see the woodwork and move on.

The pub’s status has been upgraded to that of a pub interior of Special National Historic Interest.

Dating from 1867, this features on CAMRA’s inventory of pubs with historic interiors, rated as being of Some Regional Importance. I had chosen this place as the finale of my five-hole mini-crawl; I chose very wisely indeed. The floor is boarded and furniture is conventional, with some fluted banquettes to the front. The colour scheme is chocolate brown Anaglypta to the dado, then grey/green walls to a white ornate cornice, especially so above the bar, with a slate grey Anaglypta ceiling with modern downlighters; further lighting came from frosted Art Deco-style sconces and similar hanging lamps above the bar, with tealights to tables. Décor comprises eclectic framed prints and pot plants to windowsills; a selection of bored games is available. Customers were mainly young, professional types and a small number of office workers, probably estate agents, judging by their attire, all having a high old time, making for a good atmosphere. However, the real star of the show here is the superb Victorian bar back, which can be seen on CAMRA’s site, with its gorgeous carved pediments and two-tone reliefs above the etched mirrors; the strapwork around the bar counter is impressive too; also of note is the rare original dumb waiter’s wooden casing, the internals being modern of course. Ales amounted to one unused pump, then Tribute (clip reversed) and Landlord at £2.80 a half and in fine shape, served by a fungible barman. This is easily the best pub in this Hammersmith enclave and a short walk from the tube; a wider and more adventurous ale selection would get the score up.

Official site of The Dartmouth Castle - www.thedartmouthcastle.co.uk