Pubs

One of Brentford's characteristic features are its pubs - not quite one on every street corner, but pretty close. Its status as a coaching stop and market/industrial town gave it may hotels & inns, most of which sadly now are no more. Nowadays the pubs are still well-frequented, of course... Use the links above to admire just some of Brentford's pubs. Some of the pictures are pretty ropey, but I hope to update them soon. Comments are entirely mine, but feel free to email me with yours and I'll add them in...

The following 'poem' supposedly describes a pub crawl from Kew Bridge to the canal bridge, taking in every pub on the way. I found it on display in Brentford Library; it comes from the West Middlesex FHS Journal of Dec 1991, previous origin and date unclear.

When I was knighted with a Star and Garter
I was pushed into an Express
on my way to Oxford and Cambridge
I smashed into a Plough
and stood aside the Waggon and Horses
little beyond a Jolly Tar with a Lamb by his side
reciving a Salutation
presently a Fox and Hounds passed by
a beautiful Hand and Flower
when I met the Marquis of Granby
he fell injto the Queens Arms
tugging a Barge Around
a Bull stared me in the face
as I crossed the Brewery Tap and the Royal Hotel
the Prince of Wales stood on the other side
up above Half Moon and Seven Stars
with a Glittering Star by his side
was yonder stood by a Drum attacked by a Lion
when I reached the Alexandra
I shook hands with George the Fourth
he advised me to salute the Watermans's Arms
up went the roaming Cannon
at the Rising Sun I tried to lift One Ton
while Britannia stood to one side
and I met the Duke of Cambridge
he told me he had lost his Feathers
a little byond a Beehive
and a Black Boy and Still
playing with a Catherine Wheel
as I crossed the Barley Mow
there a magnificent Castle
nearby stood a Lion, Three Pigeons overhead
with a Magpie and Crown
Two Black Boys rang Six Bells
stood staunch The Magnet with Lord Nelson
I got into the Junction Arms
they pushed me into the Duke of Northumberland
beyond stood the George and Dragon
the Standard floating high with the Angel of peace
when the Coach and Horses passed by.

Obviously a lot of these pubs have gone now, some live on in street names if nothing else. The Drum was on the corner of Ealing Road (then Drum Lane) and the High Street; it was knocked down when the road was widened for trams, to be replaced by the Red Lion, replaced in recent years again by a drive-through MacDonalds. And they call it progress.