Wednesday 24 August - London Pubs Group Evening Pub Tour of Acton and Shepherds Bush:

Meet at 7pm at Aeronaut, 264 High Street, Acton, W3 9BH;

then to include

7.45pm George & Dragon, 183 High Street, Acton, W3 9DJ;

8.30pm West London Trades Union Club, 33-35 High Street, Acton, W3 6ND;

9.30pm Queen Adelaide, 412 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, W12 0NR. All welcome.

NB: Should any of you arrive at the West London Trades Union Club either before or after me, in order to gain admittance you should explain that you are on the London Pubs Group tour led by Jane Jephcote

For pictures of the pubs on this tour go to the London Pubs Group website

https://londonpubsgroup.camra.org.uk/

The reason for the title of this tour is that all four venues are very different from each other.

1) 7.00 pm Aeronaut, 264 High Street, Acton, W3 9BH. Although this pub is not a listed building, it is a huge former Truman’s pub with a striking exterior. Inside, the left-hand room has been completely opened out but folding wooden screens separate it from the right-hand room, now called The Circus. There is a large garden at the rear. PLEASE NOTE: a quiz is held every Wednesday at 8pm so you might want to aim to arrive (and leave) before it begins.

No real ale is served but keg beers available include ones from Beavertown, Brixton, Laines and Siren breweries. On leaving the pub, turn left and walk down High Street to where the pavement turns left round the corner to a pelican crossing. Cross over the road and continue along High Street to another pelican crossing. Cross over High Street, turn left and continue along High Street to 2) 7.45 pm George & Dragon, 183 High Street, Acton, W3 9DJ. This pub is not only a grade II listed building but it is also recognised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as having a historic pub interior of local importance and the description is as follows: “The pub was comprehensively refurbished in 2006 but it retains an old panelled interior plus some imported features such as the stone Tudor fireplace. The exuberant painted mural in the dining room at the rear is a wonderful hommage to Henri ‘Douanier’ Rousseau.”

The listing description is as follows: “Two distinct periods. To left, later C18, 3 storeys and 3 bays with a single blank window to centre bay at first floor. Sashed windows and painted brick front. Ground storey. Good Edwardian public house front. To right, C17 timber frame with stucco front and slate roof. Two bays. Two storeys. Left band, carriage entrance under bay window. Right hand, modern shop at ground storey level. The origins of the building are clear from the rear with jettying and some C18 sash windows. Interior largely altered but has an apparently C18 staircase with turned balusters and closed string.”

Note also the disused brewery plant in the rear room. Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Whitstable Bay are normally served here. Turn right out of the pub and continue down High Street, noting en route the Windmill pub with its wonderful exterior and the former cinema, both on the opposite side of High Street, to

3) 8.30 pm West London Trades Union Club, 33-35 High Street, Acton, W3 6ND. Although this club is not a listed building and has a plain and simple interior, it has interesting Trade Union memorabilia on the walls along with posters advertising plays which take place in the theatre upstairs. There is also a CAMRA mirror. It is included on the tour as part of the London Pubs Group’s initiative to visit clubs occasionally. PLEASE NOTE: If you arrive before or after Jane Jephcote, ring the bell and mention that you are on the London Pubs Group tour in order to gain access. The club is in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2022. Two changing real ales from Nelson Brewery and one changing real cider in a box are normally served here. On leaving the pub, turn left and walk along High Street to the pelican crossing. Cross over High Street, turn left and continue along High High Street to bus stop F (called Acton Old Town Hall). Catch a 207 or 607 bus to bus stop LB (called Adelaide Grove). Alight from the bus and walk into

4) 9.30 pm Queen Adelaide, 412 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, W12 0NR. This pub is not only a grade II listed building but it is also recognised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as having a historic pub interior of local importance. The listing description is as follows: “Public House, on corner with Adelaide Grove, c. 1900. Edwardian 'Jacobethan' style. Three storeys, four windows wide on main facade with corner bay and turret. Red and blue brick, with green and black marble facing on the ground floor. A carved brick frieze wraps around both sides and separates ground from first floor. Tiled roof; copper-covered turret. Uxbridge Road facade: two projecting gabled bays with vertical timber beams in the gable, and mullion and transom windows. Some panes have painted heads on them. The gabled bays are alternated with flat-fronted bays with square dormers, and windows with red brick, shallow-arched heads. Adelaide Grove elevation: three windows with shallow-arched heads; square dormer; no gables; stack rising through the roofline with ornamental stone dressing. Ground floor: large segmental-headed openings, glazed with small panes, with two entrances. Three lanterns hung on wrought-iron brackets. Interior: Wooden doors with Arts and Crafts-style hinges and door plates. Two large bar areas, one toplit. Bar to the west has two walls panelled in an Arts & Crafts version of linenfold, with a wood-lined niche containing the firesurround. This is wooden and contains a bevelled mirror on the overmantel flanked by Voyseyesque square colonnettes with moulded caps, and flanked by Tuscan Doric columns. The cornice runs into an apsidal niche defined by a moulded hood studded with 'keystones'. In the adjacent bar, a similar fireplace recess framed by round wooden columns resting on pedestals, with Ionic capitals. Wooden fire surround with tapered pilasters, bevelled mirror set in overmantel above. Marble-faced inset, simple iron grate. Tiled panels either side of fireplace depicting sunflowers. An unusually rich turn-of -the-century interior.”

Grrene King Abbot and IPA are normally served here.