The Timberyard, Twickenham

This is a large drinking-barn style pub on Twickenham’s main High Street. The bar has a wide, but relatively shallow interior that looks like it spans a couple of adjacent former shop units. The spacious single room interior has been carpeted throughout and has a dark wood bar counter with a nice curved end along the rear right wall. The bar has a matching canopy and bar back, with a large TV screen mounted on top of the former. A few high tables and stools run opposite the bar with plenty of standing room in between , whilst well upholstered chairs serve smaller round tables in the left hand part of the pub. There’s a small rear space just to the left of the servery, where some long banquettes and more padded chairs can be found. The whole room has rough, wood plank walls, presumably to make the place feel more like a timber yard. They have been decorated with a mix of rugby themed pictures and those awful slogan signs that say stupid things like “Eat, Sleep, Gin, Repeat” or “Save Water, Drink Beer”. A couple more TV screens can be found around the room, showing Sky Sports News whilst a pretty dull R&B soundtrack played in the background. Some limited pavement seating was available, should you wish to make it known to the world that you’re the sort of person who likes drinking in this kind of establishment, whilst those with higher aspirations can make use of the VIP Lounge, which looks like some sort of former storeroom behind the bar, now emptied out and fitted with bench seating and some pool tables – perhaps the ‘VIP Lounge’ sign was intended to be ironic? Amazingly, there are three handpulls in here, all on the go when I arrived, presenting me with a choice of St Austell Tribute, Greene King Abbot Ale and Courage Best. My pint of Tribute was drinkable without really qualifying as well conditioned. There was a rather earthy clientele, helmed by a good, no nonsense barman. I found this bar to be a pretty soulless and depressing place with little in the way of redeeming features. Whilst the presence of some real ale options was a welcome sight, the lack of ambiance, dubious decor and far from ideal beer quality mark this one out as best left to the locals and the rugby crowds, who I suspect are its main target market.

Ex spoons with an L shaped interior. 6 real ale taps ( 2 on).

Looked OK from the outside but absolutely nothing to recommend it inside - no ale of any description.