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The Windermere, South Kenton, Wembley
Wembley
HA9 8QT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Windermere
3* CAMRA listed heritage pub which I have passed on countless journeys up the West Coast Mainline ,often looking rough from that view .The heritage drew the visit and there is much to admire.It's a square building and the door to the Public Bar was locked,but this is now the pool room.The main entrance gives way to the tap room,L shaped bar which runs through to a rear lounge.The feature is the rich use of mahogany and fine curved sections at the corner of rooms and on the bar counter itself.Original doors and lots of impressive panelling.However the ambiance is affected by numerous Sky Sports flatscreens,and a strange small raised section in the rear room.Furniture is functional at best,and it's really a local boozer for local people,a mono culture as opposed to the multi cultural area in which it sits.
Just one handpump dispensing London Pride (decent,£2.20 the half,NBSS 3.5) by a very attractive barmaid.The keg selection was mainstream but the pub survives due to it's regular customers so it serves it's purpose well.
Visit for the heritage if not the pub experience,it's a stones throw away from South Kenton station.
On 6th January 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Windermere
Lovely old fashioned pub next to South Kenton station. Large inside with high ceilings, well looked after & friendly. Fine place
On 27th January 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Windermere
Standing proud outside South Kenton syation, this is a huge inter-war pub with notable Dutch gables and intact external Courage branding. This bold exterior gives way to an interior comprised of three spacious rooms. The saloon bar tends to be opened only for private functions, leaving the general public to the public bar and lounge, each sharing the same servery with its impressive curved dark wood counter and canopy and matching bar back. The canopy has the pub's name picked out in back lit letters in a style familiar in many old Courage pubs. Both rooms are also carpeted in dubious tartan patterns whilst the walls have lovely wood panelling at approximately four fifths height. There is plenty of banquette and standard seating throughout plus several TV screens which were showing two live football matches simultaneously. The front bar seemed quite popular and lively whilst the rear room had a more sedate feel - a pool table in the middle of the room, jukebox box to the left and dartboard to the rear all went unused. There is also a small stage in back corner next to a door leading to a fairly non-descript garden next to the train tracks. Decor comprises a few sparingly placed old posters and some old adverts with a nice retro feel. The pub has a large car park with one of those controversial numberplate recognition schemes, which you might wish to bear in mind if planning to visit by car.
A friendly barmaid served me a good pint of Gales Seafarers which was one of two ale options alongside Youngs Ordinary with a third handpull out of action. They have appeared in recent editions of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide and might well be regarded as one of the few reliable ale outlets in this part of London.
This is a pretty spectacular pub which is certainly worth a look if you're interested in historic inter-war pub architecture. It retains the feel of a community local and seemed to be doing a decent trade on my Saturday evening visit. Whilst even a slightly more adventurous ale selection would mark it out as more of a destination pub, it nevertheless remains a bastion for cask ale in a part of London that is otherwise severely lacking and is thus worth jumping off the train to investigate.
On 25th December 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about The Windermere
I love old pubs like this that are full of character, history and age - and that's just the customers . Big two bar pub pool table jukebox and small stage at the rear. Beer garden out back. Sky TV. Three pumps, Courage Best and Youngs on my visit. The former was good despite the fact i can't see anyone else drinking it. £2.90 a pint. Deserves to survive this one.
On 24th March 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Windermere
When I visited on Friday afternoon all three handpumps were in operation, offering Courage Best, Young’s Special and Banks’s Mild. I normally avoid mild, but the desire to try something different got the better of me and I really enjoyed the pint of Banks’s – and at £2.90 a very competitive price for the London area. There was no food in evidence at 3.00 PM.
As others have said, it still has a virtually unspoilt interior from an inter-war fitting. I’m sure it looks much the same as it did 50 years ago. It still has 70s style retro upholstered banquette seating, is carpeted, and is furnished only with normal tables and chairs apart from the obligatory tall stools at the bar. I don’t really need to add anything to Maldenman’s description, as the pub is clearly unchanged since his visit.
There were a dozen or so evident locals clustered around the bar area, and I too got a friendly welcome from the barmaid. I appreciate these period-piece pubs, possibly because I’m a throwback. I’d be happy to visit again.
On 6th November 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Windermere
A substantial inter-war pub right next to South Kenton station. The exterior still sports the old Courage badging as can be seen in the photographs. The interior retains many of the original fittings and fixtures, including the wood panelling, and an art deco tiled fireplace with coloured inlaid tiles depicting windmills. The Courage mirror above has the same shape as the exterior Dutch gables.
The saloon bar at the front leads to a larger rear room, once the lounge, now with a pool table and a couple of gaming machines. The public bar to the other side was closed. There is also a large grassed garden with a few benches to the rear.
There were three pumps serving Courage Best, Spitfire and the other was reversed (I couldn't see the clip). £2.65 is pretty competitive these days but there was a hint of line cleaner in my pint.
A friendly welcome though, and certainly worth a look if you have an interest in period pub interiors. A couple of screens were showing Sky News.
On 22nd May 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Windermere
A waste of what could be a great pub. The art deco interior is wonderful and virtually unique in Britain to be seen in a public house. No real ale (forced to have a bottle of Youngs light ale, which was rank), furniture from a village hall and music mixed in with live football commentary when I was there on Saturday. Also seemed to be populated with extras from the Dave Allen show.
On 13th December 2006
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]