Flower Pot, Aston

Reading Ale Trail: Final Leg

Almost there: 23 pubs ticked off since we started on the 10th February.   We'd saved one of the trickier pubs to reach until last. 
To get there we caught the Thames Travel 'River Rapids' (not as cool a bus as the name suggests) from Oxford to Henley-on-Thames.  This was something of a white knuckle ride, shaking up the Titanic Plum Porter and Cappucino Stout that we'd stayed far too long drinking at the Royal Blenheim last night.
This week we also had to contend with Storm Graham, bringing us prophetic dark clouds and unrelenting strong winds.
Braving this, we crossed the Thames and followed the Chiltern Way over gentle hills.

This took us through woodland and fields of crops, in countryside that I'd be declaring as lovely if only we had nice sunny weather.  Reaching the small village of Aston, the Flower Pot was pretty much impossible to miss
.
Flower Pot (Ferry Road, Aston, RG9 3DG - web)

Grey day.  The Flower Pot, Aston

To the right of the entrance is a narrow bar, whilst to the left is a more 'restauranty' area.  Here, in front of the bar there is a spectacular fire with enormous logs on it, emitting so much heat that everyone coming in immediately began to unzip jackets and shed layers. 

There are a lot of fishy decorations...

Winner of the prestigious Prop Up the Bar
Real Fire of the Year 2018/19 Award.

Yep, river-orientated decorations dominate the Flower Pot.  There are countless prize-catches displayed in cases.  Plus useful maps of salmon fishing pools in Scotland, fish pictures, bits of oars, paintings of ducks and swans...
And more fish.   
The beer selection on offer was Brakspear 'Bitter' and 'Old Ale', plus two more beers from the Marston stable, 'Saddle Tank' and Ringwood 'Boondoggle'.
I picked the 'Old Ale', which I've not seen available previously and which was a fine choice on this stormy afternoon.

The menu is a very retro laminated page of green paper, listing traditional pub fodder.  You know you're not in gastro-pub territory when you spot the Happy Shopper £1 ketchup on the condiments shelf.  We ordered a big plate of food to give us the energy to walk back along the Thames against the wind.

The Flower Pot was one of the more unusual pubs on the Ale Trail - a country pub which retains a bit of a vintage feel.
The 24 pubs that we've visited have been widely different and have taken us to a number of new places in the region.
It's provided us with some great days out, so my utmost respect goes to all those who put in the hard work organising it all.
From here we made a couple of stops in Henley at Lovibonds tap room and the Bird in Hand, but with the weather being so miserable we were eager to catch the return bus back today.
I'll now look forward to collecting my t-shirt at the Reading Beer festival on the 2nd May.
Cheers!


Reading Ale Trail Part 1   (Woolhampton - Sheffield Bottom - Tilehurst - Shinfield)
Reading Ale Trail Part 2  (Tidmarsh - Woodley - Reading)
Reading Ale Trail Part 3  (Waltham St Lawrence - Twyford)

The Bell Inn - Waltham St Lawrence

On the Reading Ale Trail - Part 3

A couple of weeks on from our last train ride down to Berkshire and we're back on the mission to complete the 24 pubs in the Ale Trail, as devised by the CAMRA folks behind the Reading Beer Festival.

Today began with grey clouds and rain so I was delighted that by the time we alighted the train at Twyford station the sun was out and the sky was blue.  Ideal, as we had a few miles of footpaths ahead of us.
We found a route through the fields which took us to the village of Waltham St Lawrence. 
Having made it faster than expected, The Bell Inn was still shut when we arrived.  
We took the weight off our legs and grabbed a bench next to the spectacular yew tree in the nearby church yard.

Waltham St Lawrence Parish Church

By the time the front door was opened there were a handful of visitors loitering around, waiting for 12 o'clock.  Typically we were first to arrive at the pub, last in the queue at the bar.

The Bell (The Street, Waltham St Lawrence, RG10 0JJ - web)
The 16th century publisher Ralph Newberry who lived nearby at Beenham's Heath gave this pub to the church in 1608, although it appears to have operated as an inn as early as the 1400's.

The front door took us past the stairs down to the cellar and into a cosy room with the main bar.  To the rear there is another room set up for dining which I didn't poke my head in, whilst through a doorway (complete with chunky wooden step to trip over) there is a second great pub room with wooden beams and wood panelling on the walls.  We settled here, next to a fire burning in the hearth.
Four hand pulls offered up a pleasing beer range, with ales from Wild Weather, Loddon and Branscombe Vale on offer.  Not seeing Branscombe in this neck of the woods very often I picked this and enjoyed a pint of their 'Golden Fiddler'.

Checked carpets, wooden beams and a real fire greet us at the Bell 

There's also a good-size pleasant garden to the rear of the pub, which would be great in warmer weather.  From the traditional charm of the pub interior, to the friendly locals who commended us managing to spend so long in the same room as them, to the great beer, I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to recommend finding your way out to the Bell.

Leaving the pub, we opted to follow several footpaths to take us in a loop back to Twyford rather than simply retracing our steps.
Recent storm Freya had left added wind-fall for us to negotiate along the path.

Obstacles

We couldn't spend too much time prancing around avoiding the muddiest bits as our next pub had a closed period in the afternoon, with 12-3 and 6-11 opening hours.  But we made it in ample time onto the lanes of Ruscombe, just to the east of Twyford.
The Royal Oak (Ruscombe Lane, RG10 9JA - web)
I'm struggling to work out the identity of this place.  Is it really Burrata's at the Royal Oak as the pub-sign says, or has the Royal Oak become Burrata's?  It certainly has more the feel of a restaurant than a pub, albeit one which is pretty relaxed where we didn't feel too guilty about wandering in with muddy boots.

There's an eclectic collection of ornaments and furniture in here, from guitars and corkscrews hanging on the wall to a display case full of vintage photographic equipment.  
I think we were the only customers not eating a meal this afternoon.  But I did have a great pint of Bingham's 'Twyford Tipple', which has travelled just a few meters from their brewery in the industrial estate across the road from the pub.
Being so close, we called in to Binghams and took away a litre of 'Bricks & Mortar' stout.  One for the road.
In the meantime, just across Twyford and close to the train station, was our next destination...

The Golden Cross (38 Waltham Road, Twyford, RG10 9EG)
Now this is a proper pub, no doubt about it.  No food - just drinks and crisps.
It was doing a good trade on a Saturday afternoon, helped in part by the televised Six Nations.  But there's a pretty wide range of punters in the pub, not just a crowd hooked on the TV screens and all-in-all this has a good atmosphere of pub that is doing things right.
I was expecting beers from Upham Brewery at the Golden Cross, but the two hand pumps were both dispensing Ascot Ales on this visit.  Which was great as I had a marvellous pint of 'Gold Cup', their very drinkable 4% session IPA.

Twyford's Golden Cross

There's a handy TV screen above the bar showing live departures from the nearby railway station.  Yet even aided with this technology we managed to arrive at the station just in time to see our train pulling away from the platform. 

Note interchangeable sign, in case something
other than beer is good next week.

We made the irresponsible, but highly predictable, decision of getting off the train at Reading, which led to Brewdog and the Castle Tap. Then the Nags Head, then the Greyfriar - so much for a quite day out (for the record, none of this was my fault - I was all for getting home early and watching Pointless Celebrities).
With 26 days left to return our completed Ale Trail booklets, we just have the Flower Pot to visit now.  Then we have to find something else to do with our weekends!

Reading Ale Trail Part 1  (Woolhampton-Sheffield Bottom-Tilehurst-Shinfield)
Reading Ale Trail Part 2  (Tidmarsh-Woodley-Reading)

The Greyhound Tidmarsh (& Further Ale Trail Pubs)

Sunshine and unseasonably warm February weather were what greeted us on our fourth excursion on the mission to complete 2019's Reading Ale Trail.
We alighted the train today at Pangbourne.  If I had a little time to spare when passing through on the return journey I figured I could go shopping for cars in the dealerships near the station.

Yep, the green one looks like a nice little run-around and will solve my problems about how to get to The Bell at Waltham St Lawrence in a couple of weeks time.

Walking southwards following the River Pang took us through some thoroughly pleasant countryside.

PUB 15: Greyhound (The Street, Tidmarsh, RG8 8ER - website)
It was around a 1 mile walk to get to Tidmarsh where we soon found our first destination of the day, the Greyhound, a picturesque thatched pub.
The building dates back to the 12th century and has reportedly been a pub since 1625.  We're fortunate that it's still around, with a destructive blaze in February 2005, then firefighters being called back again in 2017 to put out a chimney fire.

If you could all just move your cars for the perfect pub picture, please.

No denying that it's looking glorious in the sunshine today.
The ceiling of the front rooms is not designed for tall customers with a clearance of 5ft 8in and soft cushions attached to the lowest beams to prevent injuries.  This being a Fuller's pub, 'London Pride' appears on the bar alongside Gales 'HSB' and Dark Star 'Partridge'.  With a half of the Dark Star we sat in the front room where a TV had been set up for the Six Nations rugby coverage.  The low-volume commentary of France v Scotland on TV was competing with Elton John and Kiki Dee from the pub speakers.  All things considered and Elton notwithstanding, this was a great little relaxed country pub.

Inside the Greyhound at Tidmarsh

From Tidmarsh we re-traced our steps back to Pangbourne and caught a train to Reading. And from there it was a bus ride out to Woodley. 

PUB 16: Good Companions (194 Loddon Bridge Road, Woodley, RG5 4AG)
I'd imagine that this is the pub that would have raised the most eyebrows when the selection of 24 chosen for the Ale Trail was unveiled.  
An estate pub?  In Woodley?  Serving Greene King IPA?

We arrived with impeccable bad timing, as the lone barman suddenly became engulfed with customers arriving ahead of Wales versus England rugby excitement.
I'll be fair to the barman, it may not have been service with a smile, but he served everyone efficiently in the right order and didn't let the onslaught of punters phase him.
Ho hum...GK IPA, Abbot or Rev.James on the hand pumps.  All my favourites...
The Good Companions essentially does the job an estate pub should be doing - it has a local following, big screen TVs for sport, a pool table and pub grub.  It's not going to turn out to be my favourite pub of the Trail, but I'm the first to bemoan huge housing estates without a pub, so wish it a continuing success.


From here, back through town and out west to....

PUB 17: Forester's Arms (79-81 Brusnwick Street, Reading, RG1 6NY)
There's a big 'To Let' board attached to the Brewers Tudor frontage of the Forester's Arms.  With this being a regular in the Good Beer Guide and listed for it's heritage interior, I do hope that they can get the right tenants to take this pub on.

Today the front room is busy with folks just returned from the football and moaning about something the referee did or didn't do, with rugby action on the TV.  We retreat down the side corridor into the quieter back room.  This is a bare-bones pub room, with darts board, pool table and a scattering of dumpy stools to sit on.
The Forester's sticks to serving just two beers with the choice today being Timothy Taylor's 'Boltmaker' or Fuller's 'Swing Low'. 
Why oh why do I keep picking these rugby beers? Not a contender for beer-of-the-day this one.

PUB 18: The Butler (85-91 Chatham Street, Reading, RG1 7DS)
As per the Forester's, I've covered the Butler and the nearby Nags Head on this blog in a recent post.

Their beer mats advertise that they're part of Timothy Taylor's "Champions Cl
ub", so I guess a 'Landlord' may have been the right choice on the bar. But instead I went with an Andwell 'King John' in the search for something darker.

We settled into the big armchairs in the quiet side room of the Butler. Then struggled to get out of them again....four pubs in and we're worn out.

PUB 19: Nag's Head (5 Russell Street, Reading, RG1 7XD)

Somewhere that all Ale-Trailers will undoubtedly be very familiar with. Busy, with a great selection of beers to cater for all tastes.  Need I say more?  Nope, not today.

PUB 20: Castle Tap (120 Castle Street, Reading, RG1 7RJ)
The Castle Tap was celebrating its 4th birthday this weekend, with the 'books 'n board games' corner set up as a stage for some live music.  This is a pub that I've often called into, although generally of an afternoon so I've never seen it anywhere near this busy. 
We squeezed into a corner as best as possible and watched some chap with a guitar swear a lot.
The beer selection may not be as extensive as at the Nags, but it's always damn fine, with craft keg lines and five cask ales on offer.  Finally I was onto the dark stuff with a pint of Wander Beyond Brewery 'Great Rift', a pleasant 6% milk stout.
We stayed for another whilst a country-rock Ramones cover-band took over from sweary bloke.

The Castle Tap in Fourth Birthday Party Swing

And that's another chunk of the Ale Trail complete - four left on the final leg to be tackled sometime in March.  Cheers!

Reading Ale Trail 2019

We'd begun the challenge of the 2019 Reading Ale Trail a week ago and clocked up 10 of the 24 pubs so far.  This weekend our plan saw us setting out early on a Saturday morning, catching the train to Reading, then grabbing a day-pass for the buses.  The aim was to tick off a couple of pubs on the western and southern fringes of the map.
Jet Black 1 (not quite as cool a bus as the name suggests) took us to the village of Woolhampton and our first stop of the day...

PUB 11: The Rowbarge (Station Road, Woolhampton, RG7 5SH - website)

The 18th century Rowbarge pub at Woolhampton

Smart interiors - the Rowbarge

I've not knowingly visited a Brunning and Price pub previously and various pub blogging reports of them hadn't made me excited to break that duck.  B&P's own website claims "each pub has it's own style and flavour", although plenty of folk contest this and accuse them of being very formulaic.
Cut flowers on the table, lots of black & white framed pictures on the walls, scatter cushions, Baylis and Harding soap in the bathrooms...
But their pubs have a strong presence in the Good Beer Guide due to commendable dedication to cask ale. The Rowbarge holds the crown of West Berkshire CAMRA regional pub of the year, and justifying this there was a good range of beers on with several local breweries represented. We settled down in the front room with an Indiginous 'Nosey Parker', a great 5% mild in good condition.
The Rowbarge has a wonderful location, next to the canal with a large outdoor area which would be a winner in the warmer months.  Arriving just after 11am there were only a couple of other customers and we'd left before an inevitable bottle-neck on the single-track canal bridge as family 4x4's arrive for gastro-pub dining experiences.  The phone at the bar had been ringing constantly for table reservations whilst we'd been there.

Heading back to the main road we hopped back on the Jet Black 1 in the direction we'd come and alighted at Theale.
South of the village, past the railway station, our second destination was a short walk away... 

PUB 12: Fox & Hounds (Station Road, Sheffield Bottom, Theale, RG7 4BE - website)

This pub is around 200 years old, previously a farmers inn called the Drum and Monkey.

Fox & Hounds, Sheffield Bottom, Theale

Not a recognised pub snack.

I was initially sceptical as the beer guide entry stated that "the emphasis is on food" and sure enough, on entering, the staff hit us with a "will you be dining with us?". 
On this occasion we decided it would be a good option for lunch, but visiting for just a drink would have been fine.

The Fox and Hounds advertise themselves as "Britain's dog-friendliest pub" and have won a string of accolades for this.  Almost every customer who walked in seemed to have brought their dog for a lunchtime pub experience.
But today the show is well and truly stolen by Bear, an enormous St Bernard and apparently a bit of a pub regular.  Something of a celebrity, he's stroked and photographed and his owners answer a string of questions whilst diligently mopping up the copious amount of saliva that Bear deposits behind him.

St Bernard, Bear, blocks the route to the bar

The pub is a Wadworth house and, whilst okay, I never really get overly excited by their beers. But lunch was excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend visiting here.  The sticky toffee pudding for dessert fueled us with the energy required to tackle Tilehurst.

There are no less than THREE Fox & Hounds on this year's Reading Ale Trail - we'd started the trail in the Caversham one, had thoroughly enjoyed swooning over big slobbery dogs in the second and were on our way to the third, to achieve Fox and Hound completion.
We'd decided to tackle the next leg of the journey on foot and had roughly a 3-mile walk ahead of us.  This involved following the Kennet & Avon canal, then branching off to the right into fields, across the railway line and finally into residential streets.  I'd made a detailed map of how to navigate these suburban crescents and cul-de-sacs. 
But I left it at home, so we inevitably got lost.
Walking through an alleyway I was still insisting I knew where I was and proclaimed that the pub would probably be right in front of us at the end of the alley.
And it was!

Fox & Hounds No.3

PUB 13: Fox and Hounds (116 City Road, Tilehurst, RG31 5SB - website)
We were the odd ones out here, being obviously the only non-locals.
At all previous pubs on the Ale Trail we needed to request the stickers for our booklet, but the girl behind the bar offered them to us here, without us asking.
Strange folk arriving and ordering half's of real ale...."how did you know we were collecting the ale trail stickers?"
"Sometimes you can just tell..." she replied.

A chap in the front room near us was talking about Frank Carter's circle-pit around the tent at Reading Festival last year.  Which is the sort of conversation I'd happily have joined, but this was a quick visit, plus whoever heard of doing crazy things like talking to strangers in pubs?!
A pretty ordinary half pint of Hogsback 'T.E.A' finished, we moved on quickly to catch a bus.
The number 33 took us on a touristic route through the housing estates of Tilehurst.
Bus fatigue was setting in as we caught another from the centre, southbound to the village of Shinfield.

PUB 14: Magpie & Parrot (Arborfield Road, Shinfield, RG2 9EA)

Strange things you find in pubs

The Ale Trail had promised to throw up somewhere a little different in its selection of pubs.  And the Magpie and Parrot was just that.
Located just off to the edge of the village, this is a roadside country house, with the bar housed in the extension to it's right. It is a fantastically quirky place  with two small rooms, filled to the rafters with a treasure trove of odd decorations.  On one side of the fireplace the pub dog is curled up in an armchair, to the other side the landlady is sitting reading her Stephen King paperback.
There's a framed long-service award stating that she's been doing this for 35-years - running the pub that is.

The Magpie and Parrot has limited opening hours, serves food at lunchtimes only (with the exception of a popular Friday evening fish supper) and just features the one hand-pull on the bar serving up Fullers 'London Pride'. But this was well kept and an enjoyable pint in a pub that I really liked. 

It's a dogs life...  The Magpie and Parrot, Shinfield

With ten pubs remaining on the Ale Trail, we called it a day and caught the train back to Oxford.  The Pint Shop on George Street was closing on this evening, so we made an effort to get back there for a last visit.
More Ale Trailing next week...