The Mitre, North Sheen, Richmond

Another one of the Richmond-area pubs that I should have visited previously, but this side-street establishment near North Sheen station was quite a revelation. The bar is dominated by a substantial U-shaped counter with a total of 14 handpumps divided between the three sides (11 of which were working on our visit), and the rest of the interior also retains a semi-traditional look. Further seating can be found out in the enclosed decking area at the front and on four wooden benches along the side. I went for Turning Point's 'The Festive' East India porter from a very good selection of cask ales in different styles, with four draught ciders also served.

The Mitre remains my favourite pub in the Richmond area. Although yesterday's visit was my first in over 6 years. The pub is a single room with seating around a central bar, with a small kitchen area containing a pizza oven in the far left-hand corner. This is known as Rudi's Pizza Kitchen and is named after the pub's friendly dog. There were a couple of regulars in when we arrived at around 4pm on a Wednesday afternoon. They soon departed leaving us with the pub to ourselves. However, by the time we left at 6:30, the pub was almost full again with customers. There's a few pictures of deer on the walls where we sat, whilst background music was from some kind of music channel. Timothy Taylor Landlord appears to be a regular ale here. Guests on yesterday were initially Moor Illumination, Buxton Best Bitter, Swannay Scapa Special, Allsopp's Pale Ale, Burnt Mill Beyond The Firs & Full Circle Hoop. The Allsopp's was replaced by Brass Castle Misfit (Mosaic & Amarillo). In all honesty, none of the beers were particularly up my street. Although I tried all of them barf the Allsopp's. A dark beer wouldn't have gone amiss. However, there were also 3 real ciders - Bumblebee Gribble, Gwynt y Ddraig Dog Dancer & Snail's Bank Fruit Bat. Located in a residential backstreet in North Sheen, it is only around 12 minutes walk from Richmond station and is well worth seeking out. There's clearly a good bunch of regulars and locals who are doing just that.