The Masons Arms, Teddington

Tucked away in a residential area just behind the main street through Teddington, this is a classic local boozer and one that I always rated as the best pub in town. These days, it's a toss up between this one and the Abercorn Arms where we had just been to. Whilst the Abercorn Arms has a better beer (and cider) selection, the Masons Arms has the better interior. As a corner pub, it has a small room that winds around the central bar with a corridor leading off to the side to the toilets. The room is absolutely crammed full of breweriana. We sat near the door looking onto an old fashioned drinks cabinet with old bottles of various items such as Babycham and Cherry B. Even the windows have been enclosed by precariously placed beer cans which fill every space. The corridor to the toilets is also lined with more drinks/beer-related items and is accessed through a curtain. The overall feel is very traditional. An old-school landlady/barmaid served us, whilst customers were mainly elderly locals. Payment is still cash only. A jukebox was in use. At the bar, regular cask ales are Hop Back Summer Lightning & Sambrook's Junction. Guests on our visit were Windsor & Eton Knight of the Garter & Vale Tickety Brew. In addition, there were a couple of bag-in-the box ciders - Weston's Old Rosie & Snail's Bank Very Perry. Still very much worth seeking out if in this area of London.

I knew that this pub had a pretty good reputation but was seriously under-prepared for just how great it would be. It looks like a fairly unassuming backstreet boozer, but upon entering, you find yourself in a terrific alehouse, with a U-shaped layout wrapping around a centrally positioned servery. The pub has smart and plush carpeting throughout, with great upholstered pews around much of the perimeter supplemented by a few tub chairs, stools made from old barrels and plenty of bar stools along the counter. The bar has a nice dark wood panelled counter and a matching canopy with the beers listed across it and a collection of old beer trays along its length. The bar back is relatively plain but manages to house some old adverts and plenty of tankards. The whole room has been decorated in a fairly maximalist style, with the ceiling lined with all manner of jugs, including a good collection of Toby jugs, whilst support pillars and posts are covered in beer bottle labels, pump clips and keg font inserts. There’s even a beer can ‘wall’ to the right of the bar, next to a great old pub sign, and elsewhere, you can poke through collections of earthenware, antique brewery promotional material, cask taps, photos of the local area, beer bottles and much more. A couple of old stained-glass panes from the windows – one reading ‘Ales’, the other ‘Stouts’ – hang from the ceiling and I spotted a fantastic old drinks trolley near the front door, looking like something from a 70’s house party, stacked as it was with dodgy retro booze, old soda dispensers and a fake pineapple. A door to the rear right, screened from the bar by curtains made from old beer towels, leads into a corridor lined with more quirky beer can collections, old adverts and the like, from where you can access the beer garden and toilets. There was a great ambiance in the pub, even on a mid-week visit, underpinned by one of the best indie soundtracks I think I’ve ever heard in a pub. Unbeknownst to me, the pub has cash-only policy for purchases under £10 and I’d annoying spent my last cash an hour or two earlier. However, the super-friendly barmaid took pity on my and said I could pay for my pint on the card as long as I was just staying for the one. I opted for a pint of Milestone Azacca Gold, which was in excellent condition and available along with Sambrooks Junction, Hop Back Summer Lightning and Vale Best. This was one of the best pub experiences I’ve had in and around London in several years, producing a great pint in an enjoyable and eclectic space with a good atmosphere and friendly service. It’s such a shame I could only stay for one, as the pub demands exploration, or at least repeat visits, so I’ll have to head back out this way sometime soon and make sure I bring plenty of cash with me!

Official site of The Masons Arms - www.the-masons-arms.co.uk

Official site of The Masons Arms - www.the-masons-arms.co.uk