London Pubs Group

Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

Andover Arms

57 Aldensley Road
Hammersmith
W6 0DL

This pub is not a listed building, but it is on the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Local Inventory as having an interior of Local Historic Interest, and the description is as follows: "Built 1853 and sold by Watney's to Fuller's in 1991. There are three entrance doors – the left one has a ‘Lounge Bar’ etched window, the middle one a ‘Saloon Bar’, and a Public Bar’ one on the right. These etched windows are all replacements, probably introduced when Fullers bought the pub. The centre door (with the Saloon Bar window) leads to what was the off sales, or Jug & Bottle bar; alterations to the bar counter here (where the modern snob screens are sited) show the location of the erstwhile J&B bar. But the pub now has an open plan L-shaped interior.

The panelled bar counter looks very inter-war in style with pilasters but the pot shelf with barley twist pillars is a later addition, as are the snob screens. The bar back fitting has columns and capitals painted in gold as are the brackets above. The narrow mirrored panels on the bar back look Victorian (the one barley twist looks modern) but the mirror panels along the top less so and there are modern additions; most lower shelving lost to fridges. The bar back extends beyond the bar counter on the left hand return so the counter has been shortened in recent years. Most dado panelling looks modern and painted a gastro-mushroom colour but that on the rear right and the baffles by the ladies’ and gents’ are old. There is a small rear left room through a widish gap that is a modern addition. Open kitchen.

The building has clearly been extended to the right, demonstrated by the different brickwork and lack of external embellishments to that found on the original part of the building. This possibly dates from the 1960s when the building was extended to form toilet accommodation."

The Andover Arms has yet to feature on a LPG crawl.

The WhatPub link is here: WhatPub/Andover Arms