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Pubs Galore Crawl Autumn/Winter 2024 with Tris39
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Detail Pages
Duke Of Cambridge, Whitton, Twickenham
Twickenham
TW2 7DT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about Duke Of Cambridge
Update - July 2012. Sharps Cornish Coaster on decent form on Sunday, but the only other beer on was London Pride. Little to add to my previous review in April 2011 - this is a good honest community local, the type of pub that is sadly all too fast disappearing from the area. Worth a look in if passing through.
Original review in April 2011 - Sitting on a bend in the road, directly opposite Kneller Hall – home of The Royal Military School of Music – is The Duke of Cambridge, a small, comfortable, traditionally furnished locals pub.
Inside, a blackboard above the bar gantry tells us that it’s 697.88 metres – or 8 minutes walk – from Twickenham Stadium and that it’s the nearest pub to the ground. The pub has clearly set its stall out to benefit from this fact with an outside John Lucas ( who’s he?) bar to accommodate the crowds on big match days together with a BBQ bar round the other side of the pub by the largish car park.
The pub features dark wooden beams and, not often seen nowadays, diagonal planks against the light coloured walls. The pub is mainly decorated with caricatures of golfers and locals ( eg – Dads Army, Whitton Branch, featuring locals faces superimposed over the original cast ). It’s clear that, ordinarily, this is very much a community focused local. It’s one of the local pubs participating in the Triple Tipple Charity Pub Crawl on 1 May – a three legged race in aid of charity.
A framed print tells us that the pub was a former Beer House called Emma Cottage and that it was established as The Duke of Cambridge in 1861 when a lease was granted to the Phoenix Brewery of Twickenham. More recent photos tell us that it was formerly an Isleworth Brewery pub – sadly no etched Isleworth Ales windows remain – and the pub still retains its Watney Combe Reid branding, including an old lamp over the front door.
On the real ale front, there’s 4 pumps which were serving London Pride and Youngs. A notice apologised for the fact that Sharps Cornish Coaster, which clearly appears to be a regular beer here, might not always be available – as indeed it wasn’t on my visit. I didn’t see anything ( eg – pump clip collection ) to indicate an adventurous real ale policy.
Despite the rather limited beer range, I quite liked this one and certainly wouldn’t be averse to calling in again.
On 24th July 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Duke Of Cambridge
The Duke of Cambridge is opposite the very impressive 18th Century Kneller Hall, now having been occupied by the Royal Military School of Music for some 150 years. The pub itself is a pretty small single room affair, with a carpeted floor, and a handful of normal tables and chairs as well as a few stools at the bar. There is some outside seating. The wall decor inside is essentially rugby related, which is seemingly obligatory in this area, with Twickenham Stadium just a few yards down the road. The inevitable one-armed bandit was there; the TVs were off; and there was a fireplace on the right that looked as if it had seen some use. There were only a handful of regulars in during my late lunchtime visit, and a happy bunch they were playing a jolly jape on the barmaid by locking her out when she popped outside for some reason. I did ask them why they’d done that and one of them said “because we’re a bunch of sods!” Can’t argue with that - all in good fun of course. It seemed to be that sort of pub where the locals get on very well with the staff. Mind you, locking out the barmaid could limit one’s chances of getting another pint. On the subject of pints, they did have a couple of real ales on – London Pride and Sharp’s Cornish Coaster. I had the latter which seemed well kept, and at the London normal price of £3 a pint. There’s little more to say about this place, except that it seemed a comfortable and friendly local, and I would be happy to visit again.
On 26th March 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]