We’d done the riverside drinks pub and had started to get a little chilly. So we went in search of a pub where we could take Alfie inside and enjoy a glass of wine.
I’d remembered that The Marble Hill pub in Twickenham/St Margaret’s had been refurbished recently so we thought we’d give it a try. After all, it is right opposite Marble Hill park which is a fantastic location for walking dogs along the Thames riverside, playing on the grassy fields and chasing squirrels. There were portaloos outside as it seems that they are having further work done and these are near a small front outside area (the rear garden is out of bounds at present as part of the building works) where I spied a rather handsome Bulldog.
On entering, the friendly bar staff were enthusiastic about Alfie being allowed inside and so we bought our drinks and my friend sank into the largest dark brown leather sofa I have ever seen while Alfie and I settled into a rather nice leather club chair which had a large coffee table in front of us.
It’s a lovely pub – a variety of tables and chairs across a large, open area with the décor a kind of relaxed modern. I liked the soft glow of the small chandeliers to supplement the tea lights twinkling on all the tables – it had a cabaret feel. On colder nights, I suspect the hole in the wall fireplace will add to the warmth of the place.
There were a lot of people in there and most of them – as it was the last Friday of the month – were part of a sort of open mike night. There was a blonde woman singing a combination of jaunty, cheeky songs and some rock ballads when we arrived, accompanied by a multi-talented (playing guitar, keyboards and anything else he could reach), bowler hat wearing MC (who we later learned was Tim West).
Then there was a bit of improvisation and a number of folk picked up their guitars and one woman had a keyboard mouth organ. A bearded guy played some more folksy tunes. A man in a stripy tee shirt did a bouzouki style number and then one with a distinctly rock and roll vibe. Versatile! Bowler hat guy chipped in and played along as and when. The drum machine was put to work and there was a decent version of “Freedom of speech” and a zither like instrument was deployed for an Irish sounding “Play their harps for me”.
Meanwhile, having scoffed some of my crisps, Alfie was curled up asleep on my lap paying little attention to our excitement at being at a sort of private little X Factor event where the people actually had some talent. I must add that the super-friendly bar man was spot on with his recommendation for a decent glass of white wine. I had two.
An incredibly relaxed and smiley looking woman with a small ponytail stood up and provided a stunningly beautiful rendition of “Misty”. This was really impressive. There was some pottering around while a double bass and several guitars were gathered for a band called the Gipsy somethings (sorry, it was hard to hear what was being said over the mike as the chatter level was pretty high).They provided some fabulous music that I can only describe (not being a music expert) as French Car Advertisement music. Everyone’s feet were tapping along.
Then a hefty bald and denim-bedecked guy (who I later chatted to and learned was called Ted – thanks for the tips on where to go for the best live music in the Richmond, Twickenham and Hampton areas!) belted out some powerful numbers. His sound reminded me of Bob Seger. Then a guy with a beard and glasses did a low key and rather sad version of “We can be heroes” before someone else did a perfectly serviceable version of “What if God was one of us?”.
Whilst we didn’t eat, the menu looked interesting – baked camembert with baguette (£6.25), charcuterie with baguette (£6.95), steak sandwich with caramelised onions (£7.95), grilled lamb cutlets (£10.95), chicken satay (£8.95) and, for the kids, penne pasta with sauce and cordial (£2.95). I couldn’t read the specials on the walls though. There were also a variety of board games available if you were that way inclined.
As we were leaving, we bumped into a friend who is the owner of Rupert, a rather fine Miniature Schnauzer. As there’s live music every Friday night, we will be returning again soon.
