The Turks Head, St Margarets, Twickenham

Official site of The Turks Head - www.turksheadtwickenham.co.uk

Official site of The Turks Head - www.turksheadtwickenham.co.uk

A Fullers pub, a home of sports and live music as well as the BeaRCat Running Club which meets here on a Sunday morning. London Pride and Front Row were the only ales available and Front Row did not have its own pump clip - it was palatable nonetheless. The Turks Head is near to Twickenham Rugby Stadium and as such must have a sporty following. A hearty food menu, lunchtime sandwiches and snacks. The ceiling is covered in old tickets and timetables which looks odd. The space is large and airy with plenty of light and can feel cavernous if there are not many people in there. As befits a pub that made an appearance in a Beatles film there are 1960s film and music posters around the walls.

Impressive Edwardian building and a long-standing Fuller's house. Hard to judge this one ‘as normal’ due to it being rammed with Rugger Buggers after the Argentina game. The inside has high ceilings, is very opened-out and not obviously homely bar a bit of wood panelling. Just a mass of Pride pumps and at £2.25 for a half in a plastic cup, I wasn’t best impressed. Other rugby matches were showing on the telly, with live music also being set-up. Also noted lots of old Twickenham rugby tickets attached to the ceiling. Not much here to tempt to the casual visitor, really – more a pub of convenience. 4.5

Large pub located within walking distance of twickenham stadium. 4 real ale taps all serving pride during my visit.

This is still a Fuller’s pub, with just their beers on. Available were Wild River, London Pride (obviously) and Red Fox (£2.03 a half). Single sheet menus (if you ignore the special Christmas menus) are attached to clipboards on all the tables, with main courses from £10 to £15. The “pie of the day” plus mash, bacon, and beans is £10.95, and cod and chips is £10.50. This is a fairly large and impressive pub. Inside it’s been largely opened up of course, but some vestiges of the old dividing walls remain, including one where the Tudor style archway is still in place. Lots of the original, or possibly inter-war, wood panelling is still in place, as well as some attractive leaded glazed banding in some of the windows, plus etched/cut glass in erstwhile Private and Saloon Lounge doors. The ceiling has rows of narrow dividing beams – shame that loads of England sporting tickets, for Twickenham presumably, have been stuck on the ceiling. The overall architectural design certainly looks like the work of prolific pub architect T Nowell Parr. Furnishings are a mixed bag. There is distressed leather banquette seating around the perimeter of the main bar area; some sofas of course; an old chest doing duty as a low table; plus some re-cycled dining room furniture. As you would expect, there’s some rugby themed decor on the walls. There are a couple of further rooms at the back – The Dovecote that had some tables laid for diners, and the Winchester Room. I didn’t see any mention of the comedy club here mentioned by a previous reviewer, although the Winchester Room is actually a medium size hall that is definitely large enough to accommodate such, or possibly a wedding reception. I actually rather liked this pub, although I perhaps benefit from not knowing it as the traditional pub mentioned by a previous reviewer. Being a Fuller’s house it is well maintained and in good decorative order, although some original features have perhaps inevitably been lost. The remaining original architectural features are still quite good though, but not up to CAMRA Inventory standard. I certainly wouldn’t mind visiting again.