Windsor Pub Explorations

Swans.  That's what I'm going for to catch the eye at the top of the blog post covering a late-October trip to Windsor.
Pub cats are always best, but I've seen few in the past months and pub dogs have been elusive and camera-shy.

It was May 2019 that I was last in Windsor. 
This time around I had a couple of different pubs to tick off, as well as walking around the streets of the regal town in the Autumnal sunshine.

The first stop of the day, after a stroll along the riverside, was the local brewery taproom.
Yep, decent swan picture, lacklustre brewery picture...

Windsor & Eton Brewery Taproom (1 Vansittart Estate, Duke Street, SL4 1SE - web)
Visit on the weekend and you can grab a table among'st the brewery kit.  But as we called in on a midweek lunchtime the brewery was in full work-place action and taproom visitors are consigned to four tables to one side of the shop.
So, okay, not the most atmospheric place to drink, but there's no denying that the 'Knight of the Garter' was in as good a condition as you'd expect a few meters away from where it's brewed.

Making my bag a little heavier with a few bottles of 'Scumbag Maggot', we left Windsor and Eton Brewery and walked through the side streets back toward the centre.

Mrs PropUptheBar has developed an uncanny knack of finding craft beer emporiums wherever we go.
I would have walked straight past the blackboard advertising A Hoppy Place, but she spotted it at a distance and demanded a diversion from itinerary to drink something stupidly strong.

A Hoppy Place (11 St Leonard's Road, Windsor, SL4 3BN - web)
This is located in a narrow shop unit, with fridges along one side, bar at the back and a handful of tables down the middle.
I've always found it a little odd drinking in a shop - never a substitute for a great pub - although this delivered an impressive choice of beer and cider, with friendly and enthusiastic staff.

It may have been far too early in the day, but I inevitably picked the strongest beer on offer - a Neptune Brewery 'Triptych BBA Wild Turkey' stout.  Great stuff.

Not the prettiest - but they'll do you a same day beer delivery.

Walking around Windsor I'd pointed out a number of lovely looking pubs to Mrs PropUptheBar including the floral displays on the frontage of the Two Brewers by the south gates of the castle. 
And then I took her to the thoroughly dull modern concrete building that houses Acre... 

Not the prettiest, but handy for the bus stop.

The Acre (Donnelly House, Victoria Street, Windosr, SL4 1EN - web)
This was formerly the Liberal Club, and whilst it still incorporates this, it's now open to the public.
It was Happy Hour, with pints of Windsor & Eton 'Conqueror' coming in at a wallet-friendly £2.00.  Which was nice.
But the handful of happy hour punters sat facing a giant screen showing the 24-hour news channel.  C'mon, there must be some sport on somewhere.  Or 'Nightmare Neighbours Next Door'.  If anything is going to thoroughly dampen happy hour it's sipping your £2 pint in front of the news in 2020. 

Pub Life in the Acre.

Just a little way up the road, I made a re-visit to the Corner House (22 Sheet Street, Windsor, SL4 1BG).  This is a great pub with an extensive choice of cask and keg beers, as well as giving us the chance to order some lunch to fuel us for the rest of the day.

That'd be the bar, at the Corner House.

Last time I was in Windsor, I described "chaotically crowded pavements".
Couldn't really be much different today...

Queen Victoria enjoys the peace & quiet. 

The final pub of the day involved a fair walk away from Windsor, as we planned to tick off a nearby Berkshire GBG entry.
This involved crossing into Eton, then following the Thames Path, before branching off to Eton Wick.  It was further than it looked...it always is.

A walk of two halves, this wasn't a route I'd describe as pretty once we crossed the motorway into the extended developments of commuter-belt housing that makes up 'greater' Slough.
Just past the village green, we spotted the Barleycorn pub, with another, The Kings Head, almost next door.

The Barleycorn (151 Lower Cippenham Lane, Chippenham, SL1 5DS - web)
This is an unspoilt drinkers pub, with tatty furniture and a general feel that nothing much has changed in the past 30-years.
The beer guide advertises 7 beers usually available but, as is the norm in Covid-ridden 2020, this was reduced to just a couple on our visit.  I ordered an enjoyable pint of Loddon 'Ferryman's Gold' and sat to the side by the pool table, where nothing happened at all during our visit. 
That's shoddy pub blogging, isn't it?

My 2021 Good Beer Guide popped through the letterbox a couple of days after making this trip.  A fashionable late delivery to OX4.
A Hoppy Place makes it's debut appearance, but I'd missed the opportunity to visit new entries The Windsor Trooper and The Swan at Clewer Village.
So that'll be next year's trip to Windsor, when it remains to be seen if the camera-toting tourists have returned to the streets in front of the castle.

Halloween Post - The Ostrich, Colnbrook

Getting into the spirit of Halloween, I figured I'd feature a pub that's purported to be one of the most haunted of the country.  

Some would say that tackling Slough and calling in to their Wetherspoon's is scary enough by itself.

After a pint in Spoons, I caught bus 81 for the 3-mile ride to Colnbrook.  This is a village, of a sort, with some 6,500 residents, but in reality it's been swallowed up by the urban expansion of Slough.  Seventeen miles from London, Colnbrook was once a stopping point on the coaching route from the capital to Bath, and it's to an historic coaching inn that I was headed.

Ostrich Inn (High Street, Colnbrook, SL3 0JZ - web) 
The Ostrich tends not to get mentioned in lists of oldest pubs, but it's said to date back to 1106, with the current, picturesque, timber-framed building being constructed in the 16th century.  

More attention is directed to the supposed gruesome past.
T'was a time when a fellow named Jarman was landlord of the pub and, along with his wife, came up with a wicked scheme to supplement their inn-keeping income.

Should a particularly wealthy traveler stay, they'd ply him with food and strong liqueur, before allocating the Blue Room.  Here the four poster bed was adapted so as to tip the unwitting comatose inhabitant through a trapdoor into a pot of boiling liquid, killing them instantly.  The Jarmans would nab all the valuables and dispose of the body in the nearby brook.

There are a couple of accounts of how the nefarious inn-keepers came to be caught.  One claims a victim hopped out of bed to use the chamber pot and, whilst doing so, was alarmed to see the bed tip-up. His shouts alerted fellow guests to the murderous scheme. 
Alternatively, the alarm was raised when a visitor called Cole was reported missing, having last been seen at the inn, leading searchers to discover his body in the local brook.
Bang-to-rights, Jarman was said to have boasting of killing 60 persons at the inn before he was hung.

The murders feature in a 16th century novel 'Thomas of Reading' by Thomas Deloney.
As the book appears to be fictional, it kinda suggests the story has created the legend around the pub and may not be entirely true.
I'd put in my own two-penneth-worth, by suggesting there would be much less troublesome ways of murdering your guests than undertaking the tricky carpentry work to create a tipping bed mechanism.

It's pretty much obligatory to have a ghost if you're one of the countries oldest pubs, let alone if there are such grisly tales attached to the premises.
Hence staff have told tales about feeling a presence in the cellar, a ghostly Victorian woman has been sighted, and one landlord recounted how "Strange noises, ghostly figures and objects moving by themselves are all in a days work if you re employed at the Ostrich Inn".

Decidedly un-spooky dining room.

I discovered an annual list of the UK's top 100 haunted places. 
The Ostrich Inn was No.66 in 2019, but has slipped down to No.80 in 2020. 
Who would have guessed there was such a ranking system, let alone the competitiveness between the spirits to maintain their annual place!

Other than the wineglasses and serviettes of the dining room pictured above, there is a outdoor patio to the rear and some casual tables around the bar, on which I plonked myself.

Appropriately for an old pub, beers came from Britain's oldest brewer, in the form of Shepherd Neame 'Spitfire' or 'Bishops Finger'.
With the sun shining through the windows, there was no sign of the ghost of the devilish Jarmon or his victims, leaving me to relax and enjoy a reasonable pint.

At the end of day, I do love an historic pub.  The more I read about the ghostly elements and tales attached to the Ostrich Inn, the more skeptical I became.  But these great old buildings and stories surrounding them (true or not) are one of the elements that make pubs great.

Royal Standard? I'll have two of 'em!

Returning to the South Bucks region, my itinerary today included a couple of Good Beer Guide entries and two Royal Standards, one of which claims to date back to at least 1213. 

I set out from Beaconsfield station, through the suburbs and onto footpaths in Hogback Wood.

Ambling along these woodland tracks seemed an appropriate approach to a pub that's purportedly one of the oldest in the land. 

Hogback wood.

The Royal Standard of England is located among a handful of houses at the edge of the village of Forty Green.
The enormous car park to the side of the pub is indicative of it's popularity.  And that most people rock-up here in their cars rather than walk through the woods.

The Royal Standard of England (Forty Green, Beaconsfield, HP9 1XT - web)
This pub exceeded all my expectations.  Loads of little snugs and nooks and crannies.  Real fires.  Grand hall-like rooms, with all manner of odd decorations.
The disappointment was having to follow the rules and remain at my table in somewhere that I I was itching to wander around exploring all corners.

There was a good choice of beers on offer, all nicely listed on a drinks menu brought to the table.  Chiltern pale, Old Trip bitter, Rebellion and Brakspear were all available, whilst I opted for the black IPA, 'Conqueror' brewed by Windsor & Eton Brewery.  Heftily priced at £4.90, but absolutely delicious. 

Leaving the pub, I followed footpaths east across peaceful fields, taking the picturesque route to Loudwater.

Whilst I'd been in the Royal Standard the clouds parted and sunshine beamed in through the windows.  So it's just typical that it changed again 10-minutes into the walk, tipping it down with rain when I was in the middle of nowhere.

The sun came out again as I reached my destination, just to taunt me.
Still, at least it brightened up the pub photo...

Derehams Inn (5 Derehams Lane, Loudwater, HP10 9RH - web)
Tucked just off the busy main road, this lovely little pub is in a building that was originally two 18th century farm workers cottages.  There's something cosy and satisfying about the Derehams Inn - the L-shaped layout kinda split into three areas, with cushioned bench seating along the walls, pewter mugs hanging from the beams and a ton of pictures adorning the walls.

There was a decent crowd in on a weekday lunchtime, contrary to my indoor photograph featuring empty tables.

There were two real ales on the bar: Loddon 'Hullabaloo' or Woodford 'Wherry', the latter of which was served in good condition, with a nice landlady popping over to check it was okay (or possibly keeping an eye on me to ensure I didn't disobey the one-way system to get to the loos).

So, time for Royal Standard No.2. 
This one was at Woodburn Common to the south of Beaconsfield.

As the bus times didn't quite work out, I traipsed along the road, under the M40 into Woodburn Green, then across some more woodland footpaths.

Royal Standard (Woodburn Common, HP10 0JS - web)
This proved to be a lovely rural pub, with one  long room divided into two sections, plus plenty of outdoor tables and a sheltered drinking area.

The bar featured a very busy display of pump clips, offering a choice of 5 ales and 4 ciders which all seemed to be poured on gravity somewhere in a back room.

The only available indoor seats were to the left of the front door, away from the locals who'd occupied the tables in front of the bar.
As with the previous two pubs today, there was no piped music at the Royal Standard.  Instead I got to listen to a chap around the corner having a heated conversation with the customer service department of his phone supplier.  By the time I'd reached the bottom of my Oakham 'Inferno' there was little I didn't know about his billing frustrations.

I decided to stay for a second - I wanted to know how the phone saga panned out.
And I couldn't resist a fool-hardy switch to cider to try the 6.8% Grumpy Farmer...

It was a helluva long way back to the final pub of the day.
It's listed under Loudwater in the Beer Guide, but is technically in Wycombe Marsh, well on the way to High Wycombe.

The General Havelock (114 Kingsmead Road, Wycombe Marsh, HP11 1HZ - web)

A Fullers house, this has graced the Guide for a number of years.
There were four beers available from the six hand pumps - two Fullers and two Gales.
This was the first pub of the day with some music - a veritable indie selection, with Supergrass and the Libertines in the background as I sipped a decent pint of Seafarers ale.

The General Havelock seemed to be a thoroughly nice local; lots of shiny polished wood surfaces, well kept beers and a cheery landlord.
All four of the days pubs had been very different, altogether making for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of pub explorations.

Wouldn't it be nice to finish the day with a lovely rainbow over the suburbs of High Wycombe?

Ah, there you go...

Bourne End, Marlow and Maidenhead

A Saturday trip to the Bucks/Berks borderlands, visiting a veritable variety of drinking establishments.

Reaching Maidenhead station, we changing onto the branch line on which a two carriage train trundles back and forth to Marlow every hour. 

One stop before the end of the line is Bourne End, on the northern side of the Thames.
Walking along the main street, past queues to the furniture recycling store and bustling coffee shops, this looked an unlikely location for a craft beer emporium.
But there it is...

KEG Craft Beer Tasting Bar (12 Oakfield Road, Bourne End, SL8 5QN - web)
What a fantastic place.
User-friendly opening hours.  A cheerful welcome.  A good beer selection.  And some cracking 70's LP sleeves displayed on the wall.

One tap dispensed a cask Stardust best bitter, ensuring qualification for the beer guide.
The other eight offerings were craft keg and offered a good enough variety to make choosing tricky.
I went for the murky pale ale from the brewery I'd never heard of: Makemake Brewery 'Solar Days'.  Finishing this, it was time to contemplate whether 1pm was too early for an 8% double IPA?  Nah, course it's not - the Verdant 'Further' was quite wonderful.

We timed our departure right to jump back aboard the train for the 7-minute trip to Marlow.
Marlow's entry into the Good Beer Guide is a club, right by the train station.
I'm always wary of clubs.  Walking in and having everyone stop and look at the strangers.  Bar staff asking 'can I help you?' in more of a 'what are you doing here' manner than 'what'll it be'.

Royal British Legion (Station Approach, Marlow, SL7 1NT - web)

That was exactly the first impression we had of the Royal British Legion.  But the lady behind the bar chuckled - "ha, beer-guiders" - and asked us what we'd like.
It didn't take long for one of the 10-or-so customers to get chatting to us and pretty much dismissing every pub in Marlow as not being worth our visiting.
Others joined in, giving their opinions.
"Probably best just have six or seven here" concluded one chap.
"They don't wanna do that, they're on a day out."

The most talkative fella was apologetic about the lack of beer choice, telling us that they'd have lots more in normal times.
As it was, I picked the Delphic Brewing Company 'Productivity Club' a 3.9% ABV traditional, chestnut coloured ale.  Which was absolutely fine and something different.

Among'st the public discussion of where we should go next, there had been mention of a new craft bar on the High Street.  So that's where we decided to head to, via a quick look at the river and Marlow suspension bridge.

Rare gap in the traffic

The Crafty Tap (77 High Street, Marlow, SL7 1AB - web)
This venture has been open since the tail end of 2019, taking over what was once Cafe Copia.
They offered up 8 keg beers, with some interesting and lesser-seen choices. 
Mrs PropUptheBar was in her element, happily picking a Pineapple Upside Down Cake ale, which will see her getting her CAMRA card revoked if word gets out. 
I went for a New England IPA by Jeffersons Brewery, before we decided to stay for another, meaning I could be decadent and have 'The Abysmal Zone', a 10% Siren Craft impy porter.

Strangest beer snack of 2020.

We were just in time to catch the train for the a return trip to Maidenhead, where we wanted to venture out to a couple more pubs.

The Maiden's Head (34 High Street, Maidenhead, SL6 1QE - web)
This proved to be a spacious town boozer, with several drinking areas and a long bar which, of course, we're no longer allowed to go and prop up.
The real ale on offer was 'Maiden's Head Copper Ale', the house beer brewed by local Stardust Brewery.

It all seemed a little quiet in the Maiden's Head.  Turns out everyone was in Spoons.

The Bear (8-10 High Street, Maidenhead, SL6 1 QJ)
We got just about the last table, with a queue formed outside by the time we left.
This was a pretty dull Wetherspoons experience, although to be fair it did what we wanted, nourishing us with a couple of bargainous burger n beer offers. 
There was very little in the way of guest ales, as we ended up with 'Kingsdown Special Ale' from Arkells Brewery.  Served too cold and pretty un-enjoyable.

Our route back toward the train station took us completely by chance past the Conservative Club, a beer guide mainstay.

I'd had absolutely no intention to visit there.
But we were fueled by several pints and strong craft ales and a sudden desire to tick-off all the Guide entries in the town.  We plucked up the courage to ring the door bell and blurt out that we'd got a beer guide when asked if we were members.

Maidenhead Conservative Club (32 York Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1SF - web)
The website points out that the club does have ties to, but "are not in any way managed or controlled by the Conservative Party."
It then goes on to mention that local MP Mrs Theresa May occasional visits.  Cripes.

We were led to a table in a large room, with the bar through arches to the side.  The choice of real ales was Doom Bar or Ghost Ship - not too inspiring, but the Ghost Ship was in fine form and thoroughly enjoyable.  After the lackluster pint in Spoons we both took a first sip and gave a satisfied 'that's better' nod of the head.

We bumped into Oxford CAMRA's finely-bearded pub-man Gareth on the train back. He proceeded to force us (note to self - must check if that's accurate) to spend the remainder of the evening drinking Plum Porter in the Royal Blenheim.

A great day out, with sore heads the next day to prove it!
Cheers!

Kingham to Charlbury on the Oxfordshire Way

Cotswolds Line Pub Explorations
Part 7 - Kingham
When the line first opened there was no station here.  It was only when the  (long-gone) Chipping Norton railway was established in 1855 that a new station was added to link this to the Oxford-Worcester route.  Kingham station was originally called 'Chipping Norton Junction' until that branch line closed in 1962 and it took the name of the village a mile to the north of it.

They may have named the station after Kingham, but I made the executive decision not visit the village itself.
Neither the famous resident - Alex James of Blur - or either of the two gastro-pubs competing with one another for Michelin stars, were luring me there.

Instead, we walked in the other direction to Bledington, with it's Good Beer Guide pub.

The Kings Head (The Green, Bledington, OX7 6XQ - web)
You can't really fault the setting.  The Kings Head lies on the side of a picturesque village green.  
The pub has been much expanded, but the oldest part dates back to the mid-1600's.
Last time we visited all seats inside were taken, so I was chuffed this time to arrive early and get a table close to the bar in the most atmospheric bit of the pub. 
Here there is a big inglenook fireplace, flagstone floor and a grand old settle.

There was a robust choice of bitters on offer, from which I picked a lovely pint of 'What the Foxes Hat' brewed by the ever-reliable Church End Brewery.  

We needed to drink-up before the 1:30 luncheon reservation for our table arrived. 
Our plan was to follow the Oxfordshire Way footpath, which would take us southbound along the same route as the train line.  This way we'd take in both Shipton and Ascott under Wychwood (both of which have stations which most services race through without stopping) and eventually to Charlbury.

We walked back through Bledington village, where pimping your thatch is all the rage...

This section of the Oxfordshire Way is gentle, easy to follow and passes through some charming countryside.
After around 3½ miles, we reached Shipton-under-Wychwood, diverting from the path to find the nearest of the village pubs.

The Wychwood Inn (High Street, Shipton-Under-Wychwood, OX7 6BA - web)
Probably once quite a trad pub (back when it was the Red Horse Inn), it's now been refurbished and modernised throughout.  'Spoiled' is what I'm saying.
Evidence No.1 - the  glazing-over of the old coaching entrance.

Evidence No.2 - what pub has a light like this on the bar? (sorry about the crap picture)

The rear extension of the pub is pretty bog-standard dining room fare, whilst the front bar has a bit of character, only to be ruined by some ghastly white leather high stools which look as if they belong in a cocktail bar.

Still, the beer was good, with the 'Rook Wood' by Clavell & Hind Brewery being an unusual find.

And the two couples who arrived at the next table struck up an acapella rendition of a Curiosity Killed the Cat song, which you don't get every day.

Shipton also has the fantastically historic, and fantastically posh-looking Shaven Crown pub, which we passed as we made our way through the village in search of the more down-to-earth Lamb Inn.

The Lamb Inn (High Street, Shipton-Under-Wychwood, OX7 6DQ - web)

Uh-oh, Greene King.
However, the solitary ale on the bar wasn't GK IPA, instead being a St Austell 'Tribute'.  Still a nationwide-monster of a beer, but I will admit it was in fine condition at the Lamb and went down well.
I liked the Lamb - it had a simplistic rural charm, with thick stone walls, old wooden furniture and a real fire burning.

We were well behind schedule on our walk and had veered ¾ mile off the route to get to the Lamb, so it was time to get a move-on to ensure that we reached Charlbury before dusk.

Heading back to the path we passed the elegant looking Shipton Court, one of the largest early Jacobean houses in the country, built about 1603 by the Lacy family. 

Not all pubs n beer on the blog y'see.

A couple of miles on and we were in the neighbouring village of Ascott-under-Wychwood.
For completest sake, I should really have called in to The Swan, but it looked very smart - much more a restaurant than pub.
And with current restrictions (sign-in, table service, waiting for the beer to be delivered, waiting to pay...) there is no such thing as a swift half.

Instead we soldiered on to Charlbury - another 5½ miles without a pub!
We've drank in the pubs and the beer festival at Charlbury in wonderful weatehr in the past, when the village looks great basked in sunshine.
But here, you get the dreariest picture ever of the Rose and Crown...

Rose and Crown (Market Street, Charlbury, OX7 3PL - web)
Rose and Crown regular, the Beery Moose, could be found in the busy main bar - shame his epic crawl around every bar in Oxford has been rudely curtailed this year.
Fine beers and ciders could be found on the bar - a reduced range, but still the best to be found for miles around.

We followed the instructions and ordered by WhatsApp message, then were visited by a staff member 5 minutes later taking our order directly because the messaging system was down.

My reward for all the walking today was a great pint of Holden's 'Shropst*r' pale ale.

Covering this stretch of the line, I'm most of the way back to Oxford now, with Hanborough the only regular stop still to alight at and report on.