RED ALERT - Newsletter of the Munster Supporters Club

1. Some general information
This has been done before, mostly from a Harlequins perspective, so some useful web sites are given here. http:// www.ComeAllWithin.co.uk is the unofficial fans web site / message board for Harlequins fans. Although this is a guide to The Stoop, rather than Twickenham Stadium, it contains a lot of useful information.

Aside: Quinn the Eskimo (aka The Mighty Quinn) by Bob Dylan is the song of choice for Harlequins supporters to celebrate tries or winning the Parker Pen Cup. You only need the chorus / refrain:

Come all without, come all within,
You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn

Harlequins supporters at home matches will sometimes give one burst of the chorus (if prompted by the PA system playing the first couple of bars).

The Diamond Geezers have a good guide to eating and drinks in the Twickenham area. Diamond Geezers are the "hard core" Harlequins supporters, easily recognised by the colourful trousers (or trews) that they wear (essentially chef trousers in a bright red / yellow / blue /etc. diamond pattern). Other useful web sites are Quinssa (Quins Supporters Association) and the official NEC Harlequins web site (in particular, click on the "Contact Us" link for maps of the area). The Twickenham Stadium web site has lots of useful information on things like parking and travel information.

2. Getting there by car
Best advice I can give is: don't!
1. No pints or you will have to con / bribe someone into being the designated driver.
2. Traffic may well be horrendous
3. Got to find parking
4. How many of you are going to need a car anyway?
Use public transport instead. But for those who insist...

Directions
From inside London I can offer no advice. Go to a good route planner like the AA or RAC.

From outside London : go around the M25 to the M3. Take the M3 towards London. The M3 becomes the A316 (a three lane then a two lane dual carriageway). The A316 runs between Twickenham Stadium (on your left) and The Stoop (on your right). You will be able to see Twickenham Stadium from a couple of miles out. When you pass "The Winning Post" Public House on your left, you have exactly 1 mile to go. It may well take you 20 or 30 minutes to cover this last mile due to traffic. Don't panic. You have been warned.

Parking
Here is a map of the immediate area. Note that on match days Whitton Road (on the south side of the stadium) and Rugby Road (on the east side of the stadium) may be closed to traffic.

The West Car Park is adjacent to the Stadium and will be open. It will cost you £20 to park here. You would do well to book parking through the Twickenham Stadium web site.

Rosebine (not Rosbrien!) Car Park is a long narrow field beside the A316 and will cost you £15 to park. You will find yourself driving past Twickenham Stadium / The Stoop before going around a roundabout to get back here because it is on the wrong side of the dual carriageway. Do not be tempted to do an illegal U-turn, or cut across the central divide: there will be lots of police around on traffic duty. Again, you would do well to book parking through the Twickenham Stadium web site.

Aside: 400 - 500 cars at £15 a pop, plus mini buses and coaches. Nice little earner. For a wee field!

The Stoop has several car parks but there is no hope of getting into them: there are pre-match and post-match functions planned by Harlequins. Harlequins season ticket holders have been offered parking in the West or Rosebine Car Parks.

Richmond upon Thames College is adjacent to The Stoop and offers parking on normal match days for £5.

Do not be tempted to park on side streets anywhere near Twickenham Stadium. There is a Controlled / Residents parking scheme in operation on major match days and they enforce it:- so if you do par there,expect to be ticketed, clamped and / or towed. Further out (i.e. more than a mile) is safer but look for the parking restriction signs. Page 3 of this document has plenty of information. (By the way, page 4 shows events at Twickenham this season. Note that they are expecting 25,000 to attend Harlequins v Munster).

3. Public Transport

Journey planner
For journeys around London using public transport, try the "Transport for London" Journey Planner. Use "Twickenham Stadium" as your destination and select "places of interest". I highly recommend this tool. Enter Twickenham and select "Places of Interest" and you will get all the pubs! However, it can get a bit pedantic. For example, on arrival at Twickenham Station it recommends walking to a bus stop, taking a bus to Whitton Road and walking to Twickenham Stadium but you will walk it in less time.

Buses are not recommended. If traffic is bad (and it will be if a lot of people turn up to the match) or you are travelling a long distance, then the journey will be interminable. Better to take the tube / train to Twickenham and walk. For what it is worth, here is a map of Twickenham bus routes.

Travel by Tube and Train.

Will it be a party in January for Munster ?
©Irish Examiner

Maps
First of all, it's a good idea to obtain a "London Connections Map". Just ask at the ticket office of the Train/Tube station when you buy a ticket.

They may only have a "London Underground Map" but take it for want of something better. This is a small (pocket size) map of just the Underground and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) (on-line version here). This is less useful than the "London Connections Map" because 1) Twickenham is not on the Underground and 2) it will show almost none of the train lines.

However, Richmond is on the Underground and Twickenham is just two stops down the line from Richmond. Note that on this map, Richmond is in the bottom left hand corner (just above the key). Note also that two lines terminate at Richmond: the green District Underground Line and the white National Rail line (better known to me as the North London Line).

The "London Connections Map" is a two sided job: one is wide view, including places like Birmingham and extending to the east and south coasts. The other side is the detailed London train, tube, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and Croydon Tramlink networks (on-line version here). This is the one you are interested in.

Richmond is relatively easily identified: towards the bottom left hand corner where the green coloured District Underground Line terminates. Follow the National Rail line outwards (to the left) for two stops to find Twickenham.

Don't be surprised if you can't get a map, particularly in the smaller stations; in any case, maps will be wall mounted on the platforms if you need a look.

In 2000 “Our home was here”
©Irish Examiner

Another very useful on-line resource is the "Interactive Map" which provides a variety information on buses, local area maps, National Rail connections, station facilities, etc. for each station on the Underground.

For trains from further afield, use The Train Line to plan your journey. I have noticed that prices offered by The Train Line when booking tickets are not necessarily the cheapest available.

Trains to Twickenham
Trains from central London depart from Waterloo and travel via Vauxhall, Queenstown Road Battersea, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Town, Putney, Barnes, Mortlake, North Sheen, Richmond, and St. Margaret's to Twickenham. Trains may not stop at all of these stations.

Trains to Twickenham from central London start at Waterloo Station. You can walk to Waterloo from the Leicester Square / Covent Garden area in 15 minutes or so, but if you are not sure where you are going, jump on a tube. Waterloo is served by the Bakerloo, Jubilee and Northern Underground lines and the Waterloo & City line (underground but traditionally not part of the Underground!)

Aside: The London Underground map was the prototype for a new kind of map. Not only is it diagrammatic with no attempt to represent real objects and features, but it is also not drawn to a fixed scale. Central locations are more spaced out to allow room for the denser detail needed, whereas peripheral locations are drawn closer together to give an illusion of proximity to the centre (this was done to encourage people to travel on the far flung elements of the network). Therefore, distances can be deceptive. For example, Harrow-on-the-Hill to Northwick Park (1 mile as the crow flies) looks to be the same distance as Leicester Square to Covent Garden (200 yards).

Waterloo is the largest station (number of platforms) in Britain. I don't suppose anyone is going to end up in Paris by mistake, but do take care which train you get on: you could end up anywhere on the south coast or as far afield as Cardiff. Note in particular that the "London Connections Map" shows that Twickenham is on two rail loops (one via Chiswick and another via Wimbledon). You can certainly get to Twickenham via Wimbledon, but you may have to change trains and it will certainly take you longer than going via Richmond.

Vauxhall Station offers connection to the Victoria Underground line for Victoria, central London, Euston, King's Cross / St. Pancras and points north.

Clapham Junction is the busiest station in Britain with a train every two minutes on average over 24 hours, so it's another station to be careful when picking trains. Connections to Victoria, south London and Gatwick airport.

Richmond is one of the termini of the District Underground Line and the North London Line. The District Line will take you to Ealing, Wimbledon, Paddington, south central London, east London and Upminster (which is almost in Essex). The North London Line is an often overlooked line that runs in an arc across north London to reach the Thames at North Woolwich. It offers good connections at Willesden Junction (Wembley, Harrow, Watford and points north), West Hampstead (Cricklewood, Hendon, Luton and points north) and Stratford (Ilford, Romford, Southend and most of Essex and Suffolk). Note that if you arrive in Richmond on the District or North London lines, you need to get to Platform 1 for trains to Twickenham. By the way, Brondesbury Station is at the top of Kilburn High Road.

A note of caution on train station names. There are a lot of them (270 on the Underground alone) and some of them have similar names. Elsewhere, I have alluded to West Hampstead, West Hampstead Thameslink and West Hampstead Underground stations. That's bad enough, but at least they are close to each other.

Acton has North Acton, East Acton, South Acton, West Acton, Acton Central, Acton Mainline and Acton Town. These are not necessarily on the same lines or necessarily geographically close to each other. In fact they are scattered over about 4 square miles.

Worst than that are stations that sound like they should be reasonably near each other, but are not. Northfields is on the Piccadilly Underground Line in the west near

Heathrow Airport. Southfields is on the District Underground Line in the south near Wimbledon. They are about 10 miles apart.

Tickets
A Cheapday return, from Waterloo to Twickenham will cost you about £3.50.

If you want flexibility (a sherry or two en route, perhaps), then buy a Travelcard. These allow you unlimited travel on tubes, trains, DLR, all London buses, and Tramlink for a day. Beware that there is a "London Transport" card as well. This allows unlimited travel on tubes and buses but does not cover trains so will not get you to Twickenham.

From the maps you will see that London is divided into zones and you will need a Travelcard for the zones you wish to travel in. For example, Waterloo is in Zone 1 and Twickenham is in Zone 5 so you will need a Zone 1-6 Travelcard. I don't think they do a Zone 1-5 One Day Travelcard. They do offer Zone 1-5 Weekly / Monthly / Annual Travelcards, so try asking: it will be cheaper.

Hammersmith (Zone 2) to Twickenham (Zone 5) requires a Zone 2-6 Travelcard which is cheaper. Beware that you need a Travelcard for all zones travelled in: Bermondsey (Zone 2) to Twickenham (Zone 5) via Waterloo (Zone 1) requires a Zone 1-6 Travelcard (you could do it without going into Zone 1, but frankly, it's not worth the hassle).

Off-peak, one day Travelcard (Zones 1-6) £5.40 (£2.00 child)

Weekend (Saturday and Sunday) Travelcard (Zones 1-6) £8.10 (£3.00 child)

Family, one day Travelcard (Zones 1-6) £3.60 (£0.80 child)

This is for 1 or 2 Adults travelling with 1 to 4 children (but you have to travel together).

Travelcards can also be bought in stations outside London and basically covers you for travel to London, around London for the day, and back to where you started. Obviously, they are a bit more expensive.

4. Flying to London

From\to	Heathrow	Stansted	Gatwick	Luton
Belfast (BHD)	British Midland		Flybe
Belfast (BFS)		Easyjet	Easyjet	Easyjet
Cork	Aer Lingus	Ryanair	British Midland
Derry		Ryanair
Dublin	Aer Lingus	Ryanair	Ryanair	Ryanair
	British Midland		British Airways
Galway				Aer Arann
Kerry		Ryanair
Knock		Ryanair
Shannon	Aer Lingus	Ryanair
Waterford				Aer Arann

Note 1. Belfast (BHD) is Belfast Harbour / City Airport.
Note 2. Belfast (BFS) is Belfast International Airport / Aldergrove.
Note 3. Easyjet's new services to Gatwick from Cork, Shannon and Knock will not start operating until 28th January - too late for the match.

I have not bothered with the other airports in the UK. If you are interested, go to the various airline web sites to figure out where they fly, then use a journey planner (AA or RAC) to see how far from London you will be. Bristol, Birmingham and East Midlands are all over 100 miles away but do-able (but you'll probably need a hire car). Alternatively, go to the various Irish airport web sites and see where they can get you to!

Other destinations for the London airports can be found at these links: Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick and Luton (for Luton, go to the "Flight & Holiday Info" pull down menu).

Local transport connections can be found at these links: Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick and Luton (for Luton, go to the "To & From Airport" pull down menu).

From the Airport
Heathrow is the nearest airport for London (and Twickenham) but that is also likely to make it the most expensive to fly to. Take the rail / air link service 285 from Heathrow bus station to Feltham (famous for it's Young Offenders Institute) then two stops by train to Twickenham or use the 490 bus to Twickenham via Feltham.

Stansted is further out, but offers the widest choice of flights. Take the Stansted Express train to London (Liverpool Street Station) then tube / train to Twickenham (see Public Transport section).

Gatwick is also quite far out. Take the Gatwick Express train to London (Victoria Station) then tube / train to Twickenham (see Public Transport section). Alternatively, get a (non-express) train to Clapham Junction and connecting train to Twickenham.

From Luton take the free shuttle bus to Luton Airport Parkway Station, Thameslink rail service to London (Kings Cross Thameslink Station) then tube / train to Twickenham (see Public Transport section). Alternatively, take the train to West Hampstead Thameslink Station, walk 200 yards to West Hampstead Station (they are different and do not get confused with West Hampstead Underground Station which is on the opposite side of the road and 100 yards further away), train to Richmond, cross to Platform 1, catch a train to Twickenham.

5. Pubs
Numbers on the map are Public Houses. If you turn left as you come out of the station, you are heading down London Road towards the riverside.

Key	Name	Notes
1	Codee's London Road Twickenham, TW1 020 8892 3328	Originally "The Rugby Tavern" now called "Codee's at The Rugby Tavern". As you would expect, very much a rugby pub: home nations Union's logos, flags, etc. Now going with a bit of an Irish theme: they had a BBQ going in their car park on the day of the London Double Header, with Irish music playing. That might have been to try and draw in the London Irish supporters. This is the only pub that I have found in England that sells pint bottles of Magners (Bulmers to you lads) at £3.55 as opposed to half-pint-long-neck-bottles-for-the-price-of-a-pint-of-draught. Rated "fine" by Master Jimmy. Very close to the railway station so likely to get quite busy, but also handy for the last pint before going for the train.
2	The Sorting Room London Road Twickenham, TW1	Haven't been in. A Lloyds No. 1 pub and therefore part of the Wetherspoon chain. Expect cheap beer.
3	The Fox 39 Church Street Twickenham, TW1 020 8892 1535	Haven't been in yet.
4	The Eel Pie Church Street Twickenham, TW1 020 8891 1717	Haven't been in yet. Comes highly recommended by my mate Pratty. He was last in there when Tigers beat Harlequins in the Cup final. Consisted of Tigers fans (on beer) buying drinks for Harlequins fan (on spirits as they tried to drown them). Obviously a rugby friendly pub.
5	Barmy Arms The Embankment Twickenham, TW1 020 8892 0863	Probably a pun on "Barmy Army" (though not as good a pun as the "Uppin Arms" in Reading). Another rugby friendly pub, including the sign on the wall outside "Would rugby fans please use the toilets in the pub rather than our walls". The first time I was there, "Guv" was wearing a Munster shirt, the last time it was London Irish. Located on the banks of the Thames, opposite Twickenham Rowing Club on Eel Pie Island. A small enough place, but plenty of space outside on the beer patio (rufty tufty rugby fans are not going to be worried about the weather in January, are we?). Rated "fine" by Master Jimmy. Guinness £2.66 a pint. Serves food. My favourite so far.
6	Hobgoblin London Road Twickenham, TW1 020 8891 2505	Haven't been in yet. Seem to offer Wychwood beers / real ale.
7	Moon Under Water London Road Twickenham, TW1 020 8744 0080	Another Wetherspoon pub. Food served (don't bother with popadoms - too oily). Kids allowed in if eating a meal. Wetherspoons work on turnover so their beer is cheap: Guinness £1.95, Stella £1.99, Carling £1.49, Marston Pedigree £1.49, Abbot Ale £1.59. Rated "fine, very" by Master Jimmy (because he got a free lolly).
8	Cabbage Patch London Road Twickenham, TW1 020 8892 3874	Another rugby friendly pub and favoured haunt of Harlequins supporters. Close to the station so expect it to be busy. Kids allowed in. Serves food.
9	Kings Arms 40 Albion Road Twickenham, TW2 020 8893 3379	Quite a hike to get to it: 18 minutes from the Station (Master Jimmy was not at all happy). In fairness, it is possibly the nearest pub to The Stoop walking (see directions). Rugby orientated pub: lots of framed jerseys on the walls: Quins (naturally), Richmond, Bath, Lions, etc., many of them signed (Rob Andrew on the Newcastle one, for example). Pool table (cheered up Master Jimmy who decided that the pub was "nearly nice" as a result). Seems to be set up to offer food but none was available yesterday. Guinness £2.60 a pint. Toilets adequate. Friendly people in there and a few Quins shirts when I was there. In a residential area / back streets: you'd really need to know it was there before going looking for it. Directions from Twickenham Station: turn left outside the station and walk down London Road (past Codee's and the Sorting Room on the left and The Cabbage Patch, The Moon Under Water and The Hobgoblin on the right). Bear right at the end of London Road on to Kings Street (becomes Heath Road). Down Heath Road (past The George, the Three Kings and the Red Lion on your right - are we starting to see a theme here lads?). Just before the railway bridge, bear right on to Colne Road and go under the railway. Albion Road is a couple of hundred yards up on the left. Pub is at the end (another couple of hundred yards). Directions from Twickenham Stadium: Cross over the A316 on the Footbridge and head in towards The Stoop. Follow the road (Langhorn Drive) around the back of the East Stand. There is a cut through on the left at the end of the training pitch on to Craneford Way. Cross over Craneford Way and turn right onto a footpath through the park. This leads to another footbridge: this time over the railway line. You are now on Marsh Farm Road. Down to the end of Marsh Farm Road and you come out on Colne Road. Turn right. Albion Road is a couple of hundred yards up on the left. Pub is at the end (another couple of hundred yards).
10	The Stoop Langhorn Drive Twickenham, TW2	From the official Harlequins web site: "A post match party will take place at the Stoop and we anticipate this being very popular to both Quins and Munster supporters. Tickets for the party will therefore be on a first come first served basis at a cost of £5, which includes a free pint or soft drink. *NB: The post match party is strictly for over 18’s ONLY and limited to two tickets per person. Party tickets can be ordered by filling out the special booking form to Season Ticket holders and Members." Harlequins are also organising a pre-match mini rugby tournament (12 teams at Under 7 to Under 11 age groups), therefore expect The Stoop to be rather busy before the match. The bar under the East Stand is the biggest in West London. Guinness £3.00, Fosters £3.00, IPA £2.60, IPA Smooth Flow £2.50 Look out for the jug bar: a 4 pint jug of Fosters for £11.00 or a 4 pint jug of IPA for £10.00 (really handy when you want to carry a few pints back to your seat!) There is also the "IPA Tent" in the south west corner of the ground which, despite it's name, also offers Guinness and Fosters. On match days, The Stoop has those nice fellas with the kegs of Heineken on their backs, wondering around offering drinks at £3.00 a pint. Anyone who was at The Gnoll will have seen the same blokes selling Heineken at £2.00 a pint. Ho, hum. I do not know if they will be around for the Munster match.
11	Twickenham Stadium Rugby Road Twickenham, TW1	Lots of bars. Prices similar to The Stoop: Guinness £3.00, lager £3.00, bitter £2.50 (unless like me, you get charged £9.00 for four pints of Guinness!)

I'm beginning to sound like "Pub Spy" at this stage. Other pubs are rated on the Diamond Geezers web site.

Here is a list of the other public houses in the Twickenham area taken from www.pubs4us.co.uk (click on "Pubs by Post Code", scroll down list on right hand side of screen until you find "TW"). Also look for TW9 and TW10 for Richmond - two stops on the train and "full of posh totty, all teeth and tits" according to my mate Pratty.

TW1 post code (Twickenham Stadium's post code)

Pub	Street	Town	Telephone
Ailsa Tavern	St Margaret's Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 1633
Albany	1 Queens Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8607 0971
All Bar One	York Street	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8843 7281
Crown	Richmond Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 5896
George	King Street	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 1789
Hogshead	33 York Street	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8891 3940
Old Anchor	Richmond Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 2181
Popes Grotto	Cross Deep	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 3050
Red Lion	166 Heath Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 5074
St Margaret's Tavern	St Margaret's Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 2369
Three Kings	Heath Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8296 0983
Tup	13 Richmond Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8891 1863
Turks Head	Winchester Road	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 1972
White Swan	Riverside	TWICKENHAM TW1	020 8892 2166

TW2 post code (The Stoop's post code)

Pub	Street	Town	Telephone
Admiral Nelson	Nelson Road	WHITTON TW2	020 8894 9998
Cherry Tree	Staines Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8894 5010
Duke of Cambridge	Kneller Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8898 5393
Dukes Head	Colne Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8755 2035
Five Oaks	Staines Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8894 3327
Fountain	Sixth Cross Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8898 2382
Fulwell Arms	Hampton Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8977 2698
Prince Albert	Hampton Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8894 3963
Prince Blutcher	The Green	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8894 1824
Prince of Wales	Hampton Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8894 5054
Rifleman	7 Fourth Cross Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8894 9775
Sussex Arms	Staines Road	TWICKENHAM TW2	020 8894 6126

6. Food
A lot of pubs will offer food: Barmy Arms, Cabbage Patch, Moon Under Water, for example.

There is no shortage of places to eat in Twickenham. A number of them are on London Road:

Twickenham Chinese Restaurant
Subway for sandwiches (recommended)
Indian Restaurant whose name escapes me
The Golden Grill
Oriental Restaurant (Thai, Malay, Chinese..)