The White Hart, Barnes, SW13

The White Hart is a very large and grand looking pub that is on the banks of the Thames but it faces away from the river. This pub is a Youngs tied house and once inside i went in a smart room that had an island bar and had comfortabe seating around it,there were three real ales on the bar i had a drink of Youngs bitter and this was a very nice drink the other beers were Youngs Special and Winter Warmer. I thought this was quite a nice pub and the beer was very nice. Pub visited 14/12/2002

This is a Young’s house – they had on Bitter; Special; and Sambrook’s Wandle during my visit. A pint of the Wandle went down very nicely, and was just right for a warm summer’s day. The food consists of a barbeque, but was fairly reasonably priced, for this area anyway. The home made burgers were excellent, and my companions also enjoyed the grilled sardines and grilled vegetarian dish. Clearly this is a pub of Victorian vintage, and although there is what appears to be some original etched and cut glasswork in the “public bar” doors, it has, like so many pubs, lost almost all of its original features. But there is evidence of its multi room past in the unused doors (the old “saloon/lounge” door seems not to be in use now) and tall cast iron pillars. But it’s still a decent enough pub – the ale was in good nick; the food was good; and the service friendly. The island bar is surrounded by comfortable furnishings and the walls are adorned with old photographs of the pub and its surroundings. By the door to the terrace overlooking the river there’s a sign inviting anyone who wants to sit outside when the weather is a little cool to help themselves to a blanket from the pile next to the sign (although there didn’t seem to be any available on a warm day in May). That’s a new one on me, and possibly one for the ladies! The pub’s right on the river, with lots of seating outside with excellent views of the river. For me it’s still retained some of its essential character, and is well worth a visit.

The third of Barnes three Youngs pubs, this is a largish late Victorian pub occupying a riverside position between Barnes railway bridge and the finishing line of the University Boat Race. Previously a multi roomed pub, it’s now a large single room with a central oval shaped bar. Frosted leaded windows, some etched door glass on the street side of the pub and high ceilings and columns are reminders of a certain grandeur of an earlier age, but the interior has something of a stripped out feel with little of specific note. The walls are decorated with old photos of the pub from which we see that the pub once had its own landing stage for river craft. The present building dates back to 1899. On the walls of the staircase downstairs, which is in a corner turret, is a large framed photo of John Young and the dray horses outside the pub. A covered balcony outside at the front with odd looking wicker seating enables you to watch the river traffic. Notably, blankets are provided for chilly evenings. At the side is a smallish patio which, on my recent visit, was about to host a BBQ. A blackboard tells us that “our new grassy patio is coming soon”, but, unfortunately, it’s within sight and sound of the road traffic. From this patio, steps lead down to the towpath and some additional seating by the water’s edge. There’s an upstairs room – The Coxswain Bar – which appears to be mainly used for televising sport, but is actually quite an attractive room in its own right. It contains a grand piano, together with most of the rowing memorabilia that was previously in the main bar downstairs. In common with most Youngs pubs nowadays, there’s a much greater food emphasis and where the hot food counter originally was may be found a coffee machine, hissing noisily as they invariably do when being used. Aside from the summer BBQ’s, food is now cooked to order with a much wider food range than before, but of course it takes predictably much longer to arrive. As well as the standard Youngs range, Sharps Cornish Coaster was on as a guest and, although it was in good form, it was rather expensive at £ 3.50p for an ABV of 3.6%. Bath Ales Gem was noted as “coming soon”. This pub has a fine riverside location and gets of lot of custom from walkers and cyclists on the towpath. Worth calling in if passing through

First time to visit this large Victorian waterside drinking house for a while and it’s been done up again internally since my last visit and the tired interior spruced up a bit. Some nice external glass etching on the external entrance doors, but internally it one big space, which can be a bit sole less when not very busy. As Rex mentions below, most of the period fittings have disappeared a long time ago, but was good to find that the traditional Victorian toilets upstairs for the function room are still intact. Benefits from a very nice external riverside seating area on two sides of the building and there are additional bench tables on the green grass section by the river. Not the most dynamic of staff even as it wasn’t that busy on this Sunday evening. Usual brewery offerings but the Youngs guest ale policy is maintained here and Bath Ales Gem was on as it was in the earlier Youngs house I had visited. So plumped for a pint of London Gold and it was perfectly fine and the outside seating was a great spot to take in the last of the Suns rays