Beaconsfield Beckons

The Microsoft news feed on my work PC seems confident that I want to read stories about George R.R. Martin's never-happening next Game of Thrones book, Man City's unlikely-to-ever-happen 115 fines, Wetherspoon's latest pub openings and closings, and behind-the-scenes insights into the Traitors. 
They haven't really got me sussed yet, but I do like keeping up to date with Spoons.

Which is how I came to pick Beaconsfield as a wintery Saturday afternoon destination, providing me the chance to visit the newly opened Chiltern.

The Chiltern (12 Station Road, Beaconsfield, HP9 1QR)
And wow!  It was doing a roaring trade - the new kid on the block bringing out the locals in force.
At first glance the building doesn't look especially old or cinema-like. Yet it opened in 1927, designed by Leathart and Granger of London in an unconventional style for a picture house.  In 1989 the credits for Nick Nolte crime thriller 'The Three Fugitives' rolled and the popcorn detritus was swept up for the final time when The Chiltern closed.  In the interim it's been a pizza restaurant, but now finds itself as one of the newest Spoons outlets.

In a Beaconsfield bid to be released from Bucks and incorporated into the capital, The Chiltern was taking part in the Wetherspoon London Beer Festival.  Presenting me with too much choice at the bar, with a cracking range of styles represented over half-a-dozen guest ale hand pulls.  The Wimbledon 'Hounds of Helles' drew me in with the dramatic pump clip and my fondness for a dunkel.  Although it was a bit light-bodied and not as good as I'd hoped.

I returned to the bar for a Mad Squirrel 'Amberillo', a super beer in great condition.  Keep this up and I'll expect to see The Chiltern in the GBG before too long.
The 'bustling' heart of the pub is the high-roofed auditorium where the bar is, whilst there are quieter seating areas in a front section and around the entryway.  
Toilets are, inevitably, a climb up the stairs, with a glass-walled passageway to them providing the birds-eye view of proceedings.

Time for a quick shot of the carpet before departing...

Then onward into the chill afternoon, my next destination no more than a couple of minutes around the corner...

The Taps Beaconsfield (5-7 Gregories Road, Beaconsfield, HP9 1HG)
This is a shop conversion, turned into a modern bar which is too smart and large to be called a micro.  It's not going to please anyone looking for a traditional pub, but it instantly gets my thumbs-up for Violent Femmes 'Blister in the Sun' playing on my arrival.

Here's the beer list...

Not a bad selection. No bargains to be had, though.

I ordered a half of the Otherworld 'Lycan' pale ale, having had a superb stout from the Dalkeith brewery in Oxford's The Grapes a couple of days earlier.
And a half of the local cask - Stardust 'Roses'.

Two decent beers.
Football chat from the three gents on the next table who turned out to be Hadley FC's Ultras (Beaconsfield Town 4 Hadley 1, hmmm...perhaps you should stayed in the pub).
And bespoke beer mats...what else can you ask for?

Moving on from the Taps, it was a three-quarter of a mile walk south from the station and shops to 'old' Beaconsfield.
Which was quite charming...

By the roundabout where the A40 and the road to the station meet, you've got the old Royal Saracen's Head on one side and the untraditionally named Vinny and Ted on the other.
There are a couple more pubs in this part of town, but lots of 'No Cask Ale' notes on the CAMRA website.

Vinny and Ted (10-12 The Broadway, Beaconsfield, HP9 1ND)
The entrance porch suggests an old pub, although I can find no record of what this used to be before becoming the second Vinny and Ted (the first being nearby in Chalfont St Peter).
It's a bright modern place within. Stylish lighting. Shiny polished wooden floors. Blankets to drape over yourself if you opt to sit outside.

Professional bloggers would ask the bar staff to pose for a picture.  I give you the bar staff's back as my Verdant murk is being expertly dispensed...

In my defence, I snapped the pic to remind myself what beers were on offer.
A really decent selection from the likes of Anspach & Hobday, Wiper & True, and Glasshouse.  There were also two hand pumps offering cask from Deya ('Steady Rolling Man') or Swannay ('Chance Your Arm').

I was foolish, spending £7.50 on a half of Verdant's 'Putty 2026', one of those concoctions which they make a new version of each year, rave about the latest variety, and charge an arm and a leg for it.  Very nice, mind you.

I'd left myself a hefty walk if I wanted to continue local explorations.  Back up past 'Spoons, past the station, and straight up the road for another mile to reach Knotty Green.
I was so chuffed to make it without any rain falling from the gathering grey clouds that I didn't notice the very neat topiary in the front garden.

The Lion of Beaconsfield (Penn Road, Knotty Green, HP9 2TN)
The oversized houses lining Penn Road with their security gates should really have given a clue that the residents of Knotty Green wouldn't be clamouring for a down-to-earth trad boozer.  Maybe this was just that at one point, but in its latest incarnation, The Lion is very much the smart and respectable dining pub.

It's unusual to get this far into Buckingham pub explorations and not have encountered ale from Marlow's Rebellion Brewery.

I boldly took a bang average pint of 'Overthrow' to the best seat in the house: the table next to the fireplace, where I disregarded the 'reserved' sign.  Actually, I think every table had a reserved sign - it was that kind of place.

 

Not a bad fireplace, I thought. But wait 'til you see the next one!

I quaffed the second half of my beer rather too quickly, keen to move on.  I was just down the road from the self-proclaimed oldest pub in England, the historic inn that will most likely be the reason any pub afficionado has hopped off the train at Beaconsfield station.

The Royal Standard of England (Forty Green Road, Forty Green, HP9 1XT)
It was autumn 2020 when I last visited, back in the time of table-service and getting told off it you wandered around too much trying to find the room where they filmed Hot Fuzz or Midsomer Murders.
To be honest, it's a tourist attraction - enormous car park (just me getting stuck in the mud on that footpath through the field of horses then...) - folks not quite knowing what to do at the bar - no-one blinking an eyelid at the odd chap taking pictures...it's almost expected here.

Two cask ales from the Chiltern Brewery, two from Rebellion, one mysterious house bitter.
All at premium prices.
I picked the Rebellion 'Roasted Nuts', served in a heavy, pub-branded, handled glass which seemed to make it last longer.

 

There are so many nooks and crannies and cosy rooms within this pub - settles and wooden benches galore, antlers and shields hung from wall throughout, and enough character to make me accept the higher-end pint prices after all.
I plonked myself in the rear banquet room...

Now that's what I call a fireplace!

Although vegetarians may not be so keen on the slabs of meat in the fridge next to it.

Finishing my pint, I raced back over the muddy footpath under a dusky sky, then through the leafy Beaconsfield suburbs, only to reach the station approach road and see the Oxford train departing.
Bugger. Forty-five minutes.  A patient wait on the platform? Back to Spoon's for more festival beers? Somewhere new?
The new 'tick' won...

The Beech House (17 Penn Road, Beaconsfield, HP9 2PN)
I'd walked past the Beech House earlier on my trek to the Lion, although it hadn't jumped out at me and got me hoping I'd have to time to spare before a train.
It's a large single-storey modern pub which has been open since 2013.  Still described as 'newly open' on CAMRA's website description, suggesting Beaconsfield really doesn't get much love from the local branch.

Huge dining room to the right, spacious drinking areas to the left.  A fair crowd in early on a Saturday evening, although I wonder how many they've lost to Spoons?
The sole hand pump served a below par Fullers 'London Pride'.

I not only kept one of the Boothe party seats warm before 18:00 but also covered half their reserved sign in London Pride due a wobbly table.  The bits of rubbish aren't mine though...I take my litter away with me.

And with that, it was time to catch a train.
Regrettably, I don't think I'm quite committed enough to be heading to Alicante to tick off the most recent of new J.D.Wetherspoon openings.

From the Skirrid Inn to the Hunter's Moon

"It rains in Wales", my mum warned me when I told her we were heading to the Black Mountains for a long weekend. And as I stood in the middle of a field with mud up to the ankles in a persistent downpour, I realised she was absolutely right. (She always is).

With the hilltops shrouded in cloud and the rain looking set-in for the day, we regrettably scrapped out plans to clamber over Skirrid Mountain and went straight to the Skirrid Mountain Inn for an early lunch instead.

Skirrid Mountain Inn (Hereford Road, Llanfihangel Crucorney, NP7 8DH - web)
Set back from the road beyond some cobblestones and picnic benches, the Skirrid Inn has a fantastically old chunky wooden door that looks the part for it's claim to be Wales' oldest pub.

This took us through into a grand main bar with high ceiling, enormous fireplace, and a couple of fine old high-backed benches amongst the more conventional furniture. 
To one side is a lobby area with the modern trappings of a flat-screen TV above the bar, and the wood-panelled Mountain Restaurant room beyond this.

Available on cask was Wye Valley 'Butty Bach' or 'HPA', with an unused handpump between them.  The Butty Bach was on good form and was so quaffable that I wondered how my glass had become empty so quickly.

Legend has it that there has been an inn on this site since 1110, making it one of the countries oldest.  As with all claimants to this title, it's tricky to verify.
The current building dates back to the mid-late 17th century and has an almost castle-like feel which gives it plenty of character. 

History

And when you claim to be one of the oldest pubs in the land it's obligatory to have a ghost story or two.
The main source of these at the Skirrid Inn surround the speculation that a first floor room was used as a courthouse, possibly presided over at one point by George Jeffrey's, the 'Hanging Judge', who conducted the trials of those accused of taking part in the Monmouth Rebellion.
A small store room midway up the staircase is said to be the old holding cell where many a soul spent the night awaiting their fate.  Supposedly over 180 people were hung at the Skirrid Inn, who've handily popped the rather macabre noose in the stairway to remind you of their grisly past.

Fueled by some filling & good-value pub fodder and Butty Bach, we decided to brave the weather and tackle the walk to the nearby Beer Guide pub in Llangattock Lingoed.

If I ever produce 'Prop Up the Bar's Prodigious Pub Walks' (which will contain ways to navigate Port Meadow to reach the Wolvercote pubs with your feet still dry), I doubt this will be included.
But perhaps I'm just negative about our walk because of the miserable weather.

We struggled over pop-up streams.
I dropped our map in the mud.
The sheep and horses looked at us like we were mad as we trudged across their fields.

Fields

The final straw that turned me into a full-on grumpy wet rambler was that those red dots between Pen-Rhos and Old Court weren't a navigable path at all.  Necessitating back-tracking on ourselves and the journey taking way longer than it should have.

I was relieved to finally arrive in Llangattock Lingoed - home to 171 folk, the charming whitewashed church of St Cadoc, and the Hunter's Moon Inn...

Hunter's Moon Inn (Llangattock Lingoed, NP7 8ER - web)
It may not lay claim to be the oldest inn in Wales, but the Hunter's Moon still traces it's origins back to 1217.  This was the  time that the village church was being built and it's believed an inn to accommodate and refresh the workmen was constructed at this time.
Enter through the front door and you're in the bar with it's stone-flagged floor, warming fireplace and four large tables.  It all gets a bit brighter and more modern through the archway to left where tables are set for dining.

I ordered myself a well-deserved pint of Wye Valley 'HPA' ('Butty Bach' and Grey Trees 'Diggers Gold' being the other options).
Then laid out the map on the table so I could look like a hardy walker and scowl at the people who arrived in the comfort of their over-sized cars.  That said, I'd have accepted a lift back if anyone was offering!

Hmmm... I wonder what effect taking on the 3½ Pint Boot challenge would have on my ability to tackle the footpaths and make it back to civilisation.
Surely I could beat Henry Drooper...

We did make it back.
And shortly after we finished walking the sun came out.
Which at least provided me with blue sky pictures in Abergavenny, which is next up on the blog.

England's Oldest Pubs

Originally hailing from Nottingham, I would of course tell you that the oldest pub in the country is 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem'.

After all, it says so in big bold letters on the side of the pub.

But upon a bit more investigation it isn't quite so clear-cut.  I decided to visit some of the most prominent claimants; safe in the knowledge that having done so I'd still be none to wiser as to which really is the oldest.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham

Claim:  According to signage on the side of the pub, it is "the oldest inn in England" and dates back to 1187.

Evidence: Archaeological digs have shown that the caves to the rear of the pub were used for brewing beer
In reality... The date of 1187 appears to be plucked from the history books, being the date when Richard the Lionheart ascended the throne.  The connection being the legend that crusader knights stopped here en-route to the Holy Lands.
Whilst beer is likely to have been brewed in the caves, there is no evidence that an inn of any kind was attached to this.
Parts of the current Trip date back to the mid 1600's and the first evidence of its existence is an appearance on a 1610 map of Nottingham.

I've spent many a happy hour in this great pub.
It's age may be dubious, but if you snag a seat in the ground floor Ward room, partly within the sandstone rocks, you're basically drinking in a cave. 
And what could be more medieval than that?!

The Old Man & Scythe, Bolton, Greater Manchester
Claim:  Dates back to at least the year 1251
Evidence: A Royal Charter from that year, permitting the market to be held here, mentions the pub by name.

The current building is mostly a 20th century affair with a mock Tudor frontage.  A date-stone inside the pub suggests it was re-erected in 1636, with some of the current wooden beams apparently originating from this date whilst the cellar beneath is older.  Along with the written mention, it's safe to agree there's been a pub here for a helluva long time.

This is a pub that is full of character, with multiple dimly lit rooms, old fireplaces and creaking wooden beams.  It's certainly got an 'oldest pub in town' feel about it, although a '90's grunge and hard rock soundtrack featuring Megadeth and Foo Fighters wasn't assisting ye olde pub vibes when I visited!

An autumn 2019 trip to Norwich gave me the chance to visit another oldest pub claimant, just beating the Old Man & Scythe by 2 years...

Showing modest confidence...
"Probably" the oldest public house in Norwich

Adam & Eve, Norwich, Norfolk
Claim:  There has been a pub on the site since at least 1249
Evidence: It's said there are records which date back to the time Norwich Cathedral was being built when the workmen received bread, ale and lodgings at the inn.

The present red brick and flint building looks to have originated in the 16th century but has, of course, changed much over the years.  A section of an old cellar wall and the brewing well appear to be part of a much older structure.

Turning up just after opening time I had the place all to myself - even the staff disappeared into some distant room, leaving me in the company of Radio Norwich whilst supping my pint of Wolf Brewery beer.
Big wooden benches, stone floors and beamed ceiling give it quite a country-pub ambiance.

The bar was only installed in 1971.  Prior to this jugs of ale would be brought up from wooden casks in the cellar.

Next, we're moving into Buckinghamshire, where a 2020 pub ramble took me to a pub that appeared in the Domesday Book...

The Royal Standard of England, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
Claim:  "The Oldest Freehouse in England" is proudly displayed at the top of their website.
Plus they're confident enough to have www.theoldestpub.com as their web address.
Evidence: Mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as an alehouse called the Ship Inn.

The Royal Standard claims to have a very colourful history, described in much detail on their web pages.
Over the years Charles I may have hid in a priest hole here and Charles II is reputed to have met his mistress in secret at the inn.  Not to mention the highwaymen and ghosts and modern day appearances in TV shows and movies.

With a good range of ales and various different rooms, alcoves and snugs in which to settle, this is a pub well worth visiting.
Although it faces some stiff competition to that oldest pub claim.

The next four pubs claim that their origins date back even further than the Domesday Book, back to times when you only needed three digits to write the year...

The Porch House, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

Claim: Dates back to the year 947
Evidence: During alterations in the early 1970's some timbers were carbon dated to 50 years either side of 1000AD.  That's some old wood.

The older half of The Porch House, Stow-on-the-Wold.

Historians believe that part of the building was once a hospice built by order of Aethelmar, Duke of Cornwall in 947AD.  The stone building was erected in the 16th century incorporating the original Saxon timber construction.

An old building it may be, but it doesn't appear to have been a pub for that long, which some would say disqualifies it from any claims as England's oldest inn.
It became the Eagle & Child pub in the heady modern days of the 1700's.  By the middle of the 19th century the building was turned into two houses, the Porch House and Holmlea, before being converted to a hotel around 1970.

I looked forward to visiting all the pubs on this page... except this one.
...hotel and foodie pub in a Cotswold tourist mecca?  Urk!
But, sneaking in at midday before the dining crowd, this turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable visit.
There are various extensions and modern-looking dining rooms, but the bar to the right of the entrance retains some simplistic character, with flagstone floors and low beamed ceiling.

The staff were friendly and happy to chat about the pub history, with one chap insisted on taking us through to the dining room to see the 16th century fireplace with it's symbols to ward off witches. 

Witch warding marks not very photogenic

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, St Albans, Hertfordshire
Claim:  Dates back to the year 793
Evidence: A one-time Guinness book of records entrant, a sign on the wall tells us that the building dates to 1100 and was then re-erected, built on the 793 foundations of the Palace of Offa, King of the Mercians.

In reality... Trouble is, there are no clear rules about this oldest pub lark.  In my humble opinion, the pub doesn't date back to 793 - the palace that used to be situated here does.
As with the Porch House, there's also the issue that the building hasn't always been a pub, whereas others on this page can boast many more years history of serving ale.  The first records of this being a pub are from 1756.
There are a fair few doubters out there.  This article goes to great lengths to dispute its age.

More of my pictures and waffle about Ye Olde Fighting Cocks from my Spring 2019 visit here. 

All of which brings us, arguably, to the two most serious contenders...

The Old Ferryboat Inn, Holywell, Cambridgeshire

Claim:  According to their website, "This thatched white stone inn is said to be the oldest in England.  There are even records of drinks being sold here as early as 560 AD".
Evidence: Herein lies the problem.
In reality...Historians have struggled to put an accurate age on the building or to verify claims that the foundations are Anglo-Saxon.
Although a ferry crossing would be an ideal spot for an inn there is - unsurprisingly - little evidence dating back this far.  Pub tickers with spreadsheets were few and far between in those days.

As with the Royal Standard, there is mention of a pub at this location in the Domesday Book, so even if it's not quite as old as that remarkable claim, it's still right up there in contention as the countries oldest inn.
A foundation stone on the site places the present building at 1400AD.

We visited the Old Ferryboat on a sunny Bank Holiday, walking along the Ouse from St Ives (more about that and more pictures here).  It's a nice enough pub in a charming location, with a fine ghost story attached to it.  But did it feel like you were stepping into a pub that could be 1400-or-so years old?  Nah, not really.

So, finally...

Bingley Arms, Bardsey, West Yorkshire
Claim:  Dating back to somewhere between 905-953.  According to the website their 1000 years of history make it "officially the oldest in Britain".
Evidence: Recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.  It's the oldest inhabited inn and brewhouse with a complete set of records detailing all the brewers and innkeepers since 1000AD.   
  
The pub used to be known as the Priests Inn, as it was on the route between Kirkstall Abbey and York and made for a convenient spot for those holy folk to be fed and watered and rested.   And the pub had a priests hole in the chimney to hide 'em when they became less popular after the dissolution of the monasteries.

The Dutch oven dates back to 1783 and is one of the few
remaining in it's original location.

This was the last of the pubs I visited on this 'oldest pubs' quest. 
And quite appropriate if I had indeed finished at the oldest of the lot.
As with everywhere on this list, it's had a rebuild or two since those early origins and is now very much a 19th century affair.  There are a couple of smart dining rooms, one of which the staff tried to usher us into before we asked to sit in the more traditional bar.  

The Trip to Jerusalem and it's "oldest inn in England" sparked an interest in me which took me around eight pubs in eight counties.
I still don't know which is really the oldest in the land.
But I did enjoy visiting them all in my half-arsed attempt to find out.

If there are any other old pub claimants that I've glaringly missed, or any facts that I've got horribly wrong, do let me know.  There usually are!