It was Sir Alan Herbert's use of the Dove (as 'The Pigeons') in his popular 1930 novel, The Water Gipsies, which made this a landmark pub. It was known at one time for hosting a gambling game called Bumblepuppy, a game similar to bagatelle, where marbles were rolled down a slate into holes. Although the venue is very old, it was originally a coffee house.

In 1726, James Thomson (1700-1746) published "Winter", for which he received the sum of three guineas. The poem was written in a little room facing the waterside at the Dove coffee-house in Hammersmith. Here, during the season, he could enjoy the comforts of a warm fire whilst viewing the frozen Thames and the surrounding snow-covered countryside, although he died while being moved from Hammersmith Mall to Kew on a cold winter's day.

"Now, when the Western Sun withdraws the Day,
And humid Evening, gliding o'er the Sky,
In her chill Progress, checks the straggling Beams,
And robs them of their gather'd, vapoury, Prey,
Where Marshes stagnate, and where Rivers wind,
Cluster the rolling Fogs, and swim along
The dusky-mantled Lawn: then slow descend,
Once more to mingle with their Watery Friends."

Thomson was probably best known for penning "Rule Britannia" in 1741, which is still popular today.

"When Britain first, at Heaven's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter, the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain:
Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves."

He is only one of the many writers, poets and artists who have enjoyed the oak beams and waterfront views of the Dove over the last 400 years. Graham Greene, the author of such classics as Brighton Rock and The Third Man, is known to have drunk here, along with peers such as Ernest Hemingway, renowned for Farewell to Arms and Whom the Bell Tolls.

Many pubs have had radical changes of name over the centuries. The name of The Dove has remained unchanged except for a period when it became inadvertently "The Doves", following an error made my the sign painter in 1860, a minor change that lasted 90 years.

The Dove claims to have the smallest bar in England, at just over 3 square metres, with an unofficial record for jamming 35 people into it. Customers who suffer from claustrophobia will be pleased to know that even in the 17th century when the present building was constructed, there were other rooms available.

Dove, Hammersmith
19 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, London W6 9TA
tel: 020 8748 5405