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The Masons Arms, Teddington
Teddington
TW11 8PJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Masons Arms
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.
On 7th January 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Masons Arms
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!
On 25th November 2022
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Masons Arms
Somehow manages to remain a superb pub, from the lovely glazed exterior to the total overload of breweriana and other decorative stuff inside. More to the point, excellent beer served in a great atmosphere in extremely convivial surroundings. Further comment superfluous.
On 17th November 2021
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Masons Arms
Handsome green/brown-tiled exterior and a lovely staple-shaped cosy locals pub within - jugs hanging from ceiling, crazy carpet, leaded and stained windows, framed beer mats, bar skittles, dart board, bottles on shelves, old beer trays mounted on the walls, hanging ‘ales and stouts glass’ window signs. Toilets (via impressive beer towel curtains) leading to a nice garden area. Big on the ale and GBG listed – Elland Lucky Dip (very good), Sambrooks Junction, Tillingbourne AONB (good), and White Horse Lipizzaner (fair). A good locals vibe and a generally excellent all-rounder. Would definitely do this again. 8.5
On 4th July 2016
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Masons Arms
Certainly the most attractive looking pub of the day both inside and out,the exterior handsomely tiled in green and brown,fully carpeted throughout with bright and interesting decor as described below gives the pub a warm and cosy ambiance. Four beers were available with two from Sambrooks, one from Tillingbourne and another from Hepworths,My Pumphouse Pale from Sambrooks was a decent drop. I really liked this pub and was my favourite of the day.
On 10th October 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Masons Arms
I am not overly fond of traditional pubs but this is good. Loads of brewery stuff and beer bottles everywhere and jugs on the ceiling. Floral carpet and seating and on the tops of the barstools means you need to wear sunglasses at all times but its worth it. Good range of bottled beer.
4 beers on from Blackdog,tillinbourne,Wadsworth and my pint of Green Jack -Ole Cock was superb.Quite busy with older beer lovers so I fitted in.
On 15th January 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Masons Arms
The Masons Arms is a fine small, traditional street corner local in a residential side street just off the main road through the centre of Teddington.
The pub featured prominently in a recent issue of London Drinker, in which we learnt that the pub re-opened last year following a period of closure, having been acquired by the owner of The Roebuck in nearby Hampton Hill.
The pub has been redecorated in a lighter and brighter style, but still retains a cosy and comfortable feel, featuring carpets and leaded frosted windows. Its commitment to real ale is demonstrated through a collection of brewery memorabilia – framed beer mat sets, ashtrays, drinks trays, bottles etc. Watneys features quite prominently – including several replica Red Barrels – which will no doubt be of nostalgia appeal to those of us of a certain age. On one wall is the old pub sign featuring the motto “ God is our Guide”.
In one corner of the pub are a series of old photos and paintings of the pub, showing it in its earlier incarnations as owned by Isleworth Brewery and then, later on, Watneys. In the other corner is a dartboard, although the positioning of seating suggests that it is not in regular use. This particular corner is a bit spartan compared with the rest of the pub, indicating that the pub is still very much a work in progress, a fact that might explain the existence of a rubbish skip outside.
There’s no TV or electronic distractions, apart from a jukebox, and on my two recent visits, the staple diet has clearly been beer and conversation. The former landlord of The Abercorn Arms is evidently a regular here – a good testimony in anyone’s book.
There’s 4 handpumps which, on my visits were serving Sambrooks Wandle, Westerham British Bulldog, Downton Quadhop and Langham Brewery LSD ( Lodsworth, West Sussex ). Beers were priced between £ 3.10p and £ 3.20p and all beers sampled by me were in excellent condition on the two days. Notably, the Langham Brewery LSD ( 5.2% ABV at £ 3.20p ) represents much better value than Fullers London Pride, a weaker beer brewed only a few miles away and which often costs £ 3.30p or more now in their tied estate.
The Masons Arms has not been open long enough yet to get into any CAMRA Good Beer Guides, but one would expect it to be a serious contender for the 2012 Edition, based on my visits.
The pub is well worth seeking out and I hope to return soon.
On 21st April 2011
- rating: 8
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Masons Arms
This is indeed a very good locals’ pub. On my visit they had four ales on: Langham Sundowner (£3.20 a pint); Sambrook Junction; Downton Quadhop; and Brideshead Indian’s Head. They also had on a German lager called Rothaus (a new one on me) which they served in branded glass steins. There was no sign of any food or menus during our midweek evening visit.
Since Maldenman’s visit they have mounted the old pub sign on one of the internal walls, which makes a very impressive feature, and they have a dartboard and playing area around to the left of the bar counter. But the refurbishment that this pub has enjoyed seems to be a long running affair, with the improvements very much work in progress. There’s some obvious paintwork to be undertaken, and there are some large gaps on the walls that are crying out for prints or other similar decor to fill the open spaces. The only negative feature for me was the music being played louder than was necessary. But this is a real pub that I heartily recommend. I imagine if you visit in a month or two when the decorations are complete, it will be an even more comfortable and welcoming pub than it is now.
On 16th February 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Masons Arms
A superb back street local with an emphasis on good beer. Run by a hands on involved landlady, and supported by a band of regulars, this is a real example of how to keep the local pub alive. Attractive exterior with well preserved green and brown tiles, although sadly the corner gable shown in earlier photographs has now gone, I assume it became dangerous. Inside there is a comfortable carpeted traditional room wrapped around the central bar with none of the silly high seats common these days.
Beamed ceilings, leaded frosted windows, blackboards over the bar advertise the beers.
Decor involves loads of breweriana, old brewery beer trays, branded glasses, soda syphons, beer mats, beer books, pub mirrors, continental beer ads, beer postcards, old 70's ashtrays... everything you'd consider pub related. There is a Watneys Party Seven tin on a shelf behind the bar I assume as an ironic statement.
Three pumps, today had, Downton Quadhop, Sharp's "Own", and Mayfield's Copper Fox, plus Millwhites Rum Cask Cider.
Good beer quality, great pub.
On 29th October 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]