You Seem Pretty Sad for a Boy who's Almost Completed Berkshire

I was pretty sad, as I reached the final three pubs of the Berkshire chapter of the Good Beer Guide for 2026.
Mainly, because I was always going to one short, The Swan at East Ilsley being closed since March of this year.
Perhaps also because I had to tackle the suburbs of Wokingham.

Catching a Waterloo-bound train from Reading, I hopped off after a couple of stops at Winnersh.  My second time here - pub ticking takes you to some exciting locations.

Meal deal in the bag from the superstore, I caught the 128 bus to whisk me a few miles up the road to Hurst.  Situated between Twyford and Wokingham, this spread-out sleepy village is home to just over 2,000 folks.
In the past I've been to the outlying St Nicolas Hurst to drink Wadworth 6X in the Wheelwright's Arms.  Followed a couple of years later with a trip a bit further up the A321 to the Jolly Farmer, which I thought would mark the end of my visits to this neck of the woods.  And now the Castle Inn finds itself in the Beer Guide and I ended up in Hurst two days on the trot.

I strolled into the pub through the open door and asked for a pint of 'Dark Star' only for the young chap cleaning a keg line to inform me that they weren't actually open.
Seriously?  The door's open, the lights are on, you're standing behind the bar...I could've been gone in 5-minutes if he'd only been prepared to sell me a quick half.
Being as they have an active Facebook page, their own website, and their hours on Google...all of which said 'open', I was pretty miffed.  

After that disappointment, how about a stroll up to The Green Man which CAMRA declared would be open.  Nope, well and truly closed and out of business.  No doubt it'll be resurrected, serve marvellous beer and I'll be back here in 2028.

The next 128 bus heading towards Wokingham arrived at just the right time and I cut my losses in Hurst and jumped aboard. 
First stop - a revisit to the local award winner, which I guessed rightly would serve we a cracking belated first pint of the day.

The Crispin (45 Denmark Street, Wokingham, RG40 2AY)
The Crispin looks the part as one of the oldest inns in town, the historic buildings originally being 15th century cottages.  By 1830 the central cottage was occupied by shoemaker James Green who diversified into selling beer and led to it being named after the patron saint of cobblers.

There were four cask options to pick from: Rebellion 'Overthrow', Hogs Back 'T.E.A', Delphic 'Knee High to a Grasshopper' and Bluntrock 'Ambassador'.
I picked the only non-local - the Bluntrock beer coming all the way from Cornwall, a best bitter inspired by the Burton brewing tradition.

It really hit the spot.  A proper brown bitter served in great condition.
I sat in the corner of one of the two main rooms that make up the Crispin, next to the fireplace underneath ancient beams.

Music came from TVs tuned into Now Music Summer Anthems: 2,4,6,8 Motorway, Summer of '69, Go Your Own Way... with regular adverts for Butlins, Aldi and a whole host of life insurance providers.  They know their audience.

Moving on, I set out to look for the GBG tick.

When Wokingham last exercised its right to put an out-of-town pub in the Beer Guide (the Crooked Billet, 2021) I passed The White Horse on the walk to get there - if only I'd have popped in for a quick half back then.
Since making an appearance in this year's Guide, the White Horse has been sucker-punched by roadworks.  Easthampstead Road is closed beyond the railway crossing from April '26 until January '27 ("if you're lucky" cry the residents on Oxford's Botley Road).  I foolishly figured there would be a pedestrian way to bypass this...but no. 

On foot I followed diversion signs FOREVER under blazing sunshine, eventually hitting new distributor roads through fledgling housing estates.  Wokingham is rapidly expanding with 10,000 new homes planned which - on my first grumpy impressions - looked horrible.

The White Horse (Easthampstead Road, Wokingham Without, RG40 3AF)
The 2-mile diversion for residents of south Wokingham to make what would have been a 5-10 minute stroll to the White Horse has had such an impact on business that the tenants of 10-years have decided to call it quits.  Signs around the bar stated how difficult a decision this had been, thanking the loyal patrons.
Judging by the glasses hung over beer taps and depleted stock, I guess I visited just before the pub shut down (it was already marked as closed on the CAMRA website).
There was a Tim Taylor 'Landlord' pump, but this was declared as finished, leaving just three active keg lines to pick from.  A reluctant half of Thatchers 'Gold' for me.

The pub has one rectangular room divided by pillars, a stage area in one window bay, and outdoor seating front and back.  Belinda Carlisle played in the background, a half dozen locals stood around the bar, a tiny dog raced around like it was on the canine equivalent of catnip.

A miserable pub visit through no fault of their own.

Oh well...I guess when those big new estates get built there will potentially be a massive new customer base when the White Horse can no longer be called an out-of-towner. 

45-minutes slog along the same dull pathways.
Back in the town centre, hot and sweaty and hoping for a decent ale.
Let's try The Rose...

The Rose Inn (30 Market Place, Wokingham, RG40 1AP)
The original Rose Inn was located on the northern side of the market place, prior to the landlord relocating to two 15th century houses on the current site, being as they offered better stabling.  It had a fair bit of misfortune with fires in the post-war years, necessitating a recent reconstruction.  The building became a Café Rouge until 2018 when it returned as a pub.
A fairly smart one with bookshelves, armchairs, and a rear section which is 100% restaurant.  Beers were from Hertfordshire brewery McMullens, which I don't come across very often.
The IPA for me, £5.70 for a pint of the 4.8% mild, malty trad brew.

The Rose was a big place whose average customers probably don't come out at 3pm on a weekday afternoon.  There were a few folks sat by the bar and some in the sunshine in the back garden.  But I had the wooden beams and panelling to myself, just content to be sat down with an ale in front of me after much more treading the pavements than I'd anticipated.

IPA finished, I wanted to visit somewhere else that was new to me in Wokingham, so decided to head up the Reading Road to Emmbrook.  Another Wokingham walk to an unheralded pub - I really am a sucker for punishment.

The pub sign has seen better days... 

But the pub itself was open and inviting, a number of young folk in hi-vis and polo shirts advertising local contractors sat under the significant awnings covering the front garden.

The Rifle Volunteer (141 Reading Rd, Wokingham RG41 1HD)
This 19th century pub was named after the Sixth Berks Rifle Volunteers, who were formed in 1860 when fears of a French invasion were at a peak.
It's much modernised inside - one open-plan room with TV screens initially used to play Heart FM, then switched to cricket during my visit.
Here's the beer choice... 

I paid £7.20 for a pint of Vale 'Brill Gold' and spicy Cheeze-Its.  Either the beer or the snacks were ambitiously priced for a local boozer a mile out of town.
I needed those cheesy snacks to disguise the taste of a dubious Brill Gold - a thin head dissolving to form little islands on top of the beer.  Not enjoyable, but I wasn't convinced it'd be exchanged enthusiastically.

Next evening - a bit begrudgingly - I returned to the Castle at Hurst.

The Castle Inn (Church Hill, Hurst, RG10 0SJ)
Situated at the southern edge of the village, this ancient pub is owned by the splendid-looking church on the other side of the road.
I found the place in full swing, every table outside in the sunshine occupied by locals enjoying happy hour drinks.
Less uptake for the indoor seating.

Cask options were 'London Pride', 'Dark Star' or Rebellion 'Roasted Nuts'.  My least favourite of the local Rebellion beers, so I stuck with Dark Star.
Served in good condition.  Half of it sipped outside propped on a barrel with a view of the adjacent bowling green, the rest finished sat in the corner of a good trad country bar.

After visiting the Castle, I found my way to my final Berkshire Good Beer Guide '26 tick, the Duke of Edinburgh at Winkfield...

Primarily a dining pub, with the bar to the left of the entrance the only bit without knives and forks on the tables and waiting staff ready to pounce on you.
I grabbed an Arkells '3B' ('Pile Driver IPA' the alternative Arkells brew) raising a quiet toast to Berkshire and it's beer guide pubs done for another year.

I appreciate that Berkshire is one of the less challenging counties to complete when it comes to GBG ticking but I'm an amateur at this game and am taking some satisfaction from this achievement.
How am I doing with Buckingham?  No comment.

Newbury - In Dog Beers...I've Still Had Too Many

Having barely visited Berkshire in the past year, I found myself making a flurry of trips to the neighbouring county to tick off the 2026 Beer Guide pubs I hadn't previously visited.
Even though the new edition will land on the doorstep soon, inevitably finding a gastro in a West Berks village with no public transport and an obscure cricket club bar as new entries.

My current goal was to visit the Delphic Brewery Tap in Newbury.
Delphic have upscaled a bit since I last visited the town, at which point they brewed beers in a garage in Thatcham and the Wheatsheaf was your best bet to sample their wares.

The relatively new taproom opens 4 days a week, confusingly at a different time each day.  Hence I arrived a bit too early, glanced at what else was nearby and ended up in the Dolphin.

The Dolphin (113 Bartholomew St, Newbury RG14 5DT)
At first glance, this looks like a proper traditional town pub, but it had a revamp around 2018 to turn it into a "boutique pub hotel".  Their website also promises it is "fun filled".  Uh-oh.
You probably need to visit on a weekend evening for optimum fun, unless the dolphin in the fireplace counts...

 

The pub itself is a vast open-plan place, with a conservatory and pleasant courtyard beer garden to the rear.  The route to the upstairs WCs rivals the longest of long distance toilet treks within the Wetherspoon estate, highlighting just how far back from the street the Dolphin stretches.
Cask options on the bar were two familiar brews from Yorkshire.

I don't see 'Lightfoot' in these parts very often, so picked this, a 4.1% blonde ale that was promoted from summer seasonal special to permanent beer.  It was quite acceptable although probably would have been better had anyone else in the Dolphin looked remotely interested in cask ale.
I took this to the front room which they've named the Batholomew Bar.  In an open-plan layout, why does this bit need it's own name?  At least it's reasonably pub-like with some proper seating.

Razorlight, The Hunna, The Wombats, and Blossoms provided a soundtrack that looks like my line-up from hell at a family-friendly music festival.
I declared it was time to drink up and move on when Catfish and the Bottlemen came on, strolling back to the old auto parts shop that now houses the brewery tap room.

Delphic Brewery Tap (Mayors Ln, Newbury RG14 5DR)
Delphic Brewery started out in 2017 as a home brew project, then properly established themselves two-years later with an upgrade in equipment and capacity.  The icing on the cake is the town centre tap room which opened in 2024.
No surprises within - it's a little bit cavernous and industrial, the brewing vessels lit up by coloured lights and set behind the bar and a ledge which divides the room.

From three hand pumps, two cask ales were being served.

The 'World's End' pale for me - brewed in the first week of lock-down 2020 and now a permanent fixture - and a 'Cherry Bakes Well' white stout (?) from the keg lines.
Both super beers.
I took these to the sofa in the corner which I sank far too far into, the rest of the furniture made up of a mix & match of regular pub surplus, plus one particularly intriguing tabletop...

Delphic provide this month's shiny brewing equipment picture...

And the fact that I managed to photograph WC artwork from two of the three toilet cubicles suggests that dehydration wasn't setting in...

 

The next venue on my itinerary has been awarded the accolade of West Berks CAMRA Pub of the Year 2026, so is a dead cert for Beer Guides of the future.

Weirside (Merlion House, W Mills, Newbury RG14 5HP)
This small and comfortable bar is run by a chap who was previously landlord of Newbury's Clock Tower pub in the early 2000s.
It has been set up in a unit which previously housed a Mr Moo Juice shop.  Things are looking up for beer drinkers in Newbury, but not so rosy for those wanting moo juice.

On the bar were four cask ales, all priced at £5.50: 'Old Hooky' from Oxford, Electric Bear stout from Bath, and two Arbor Ales brews from Bristol,
The Arbor 'My Little Sabrony' for me - very good.

The keg, for £1 more a pint, was a little less inspiring, the inclusion of Hawkstone lager stretching the definition of 'craft'.
The outdoor weir-side seating is minimal - no chance for me of a seat on the tiny outdoor terrace overlooking the water at the back of the pub.  Inside there are two rooms with the last free table being in the larger of these at the front.  It was doing a good trade and was certainly proving a popular place to be early on a Friday evening.

Backtracking on myself, I'd spotted somewhere en-route that looked rather interesting...

Parched (16 Bartholomew St, Newbury RG14 5LL)
Parched opened in October 2025 in premises which were previously a Japanese restaurant.
It's a typical smart modern bar which has already built up a large collection of pump clips on a beam above the bar suggesting an ever-changing range.
Current offerings included lager, pales, hefty IPAs, porters and a sour, from craft brewers you've (mostly) heard of.

Hmmm...I thought sensibility was going to go out the window with a 6.8% Azvex IPA with the tempting name 'Lethal Hop Dose'.
But actually, sensibility REALLY went out the window with the Tempest/Sudden Death collab, 'Doom Scrolling', an 11% imperial stout.  It was gorgeous though, and worth every stumble on the walk down the road afterwards.

Parched is a superb addition to Newbury's drinking scene - in fact, have Delphic, Weirside and Parched turned Newbury into a beer hotspot?
Looking back, I wish I'd returned to a couple of other pubs in the town, but - y'know - 11% stout...  It seemed wise to head to the train station and at least get one step closer to home.

Breaking my journey at Reading, I strolled up Station Road for my bi-annual check that the Bugle hasn't reopened as the best beer bar in town.
Nope.

Then trekked around onto Greyfriars Road to call in to a pub that's had a name change.

The Railway Tavern (31 Greyfriars Road, Reading, RG1 1PA)
I've passed this hundreds of times, yet never set foot inside when it was called The Gateway.  I've only known it as an Irish bar, but as of the end of 2025 it's had a refurb and rebranded to the original name.
I guess back in the 19th century, when it first opened, this was the closest pub to the station.  The name seems a bit odder now, being as you pass two other pubs and the railway club before reaching this mock Tudor corner free house.
Adding to the interest: relatives of Kate Winslet ran the pub in Victorian times; and in 1972 a group of University students set up the Reading Gay Alliance here.

It's had a smart makeover, but still offers a pool table in the back and provides a friendly welcome. 

Unfortunately, my Timothy Taylor 'Landlord' was very ropey.
I did much better in the Three Guineas at the Station.

But inevitably found I had 3½ minutes to polish off a very pricey half pint before my train departed.
Next up: Wokingham

Hungerford in a Heatwave

My afternoon in Hungerford began with a 3-mile walk north from the station to the hamlet of Hungerford Newtown where a new Good Beer Guide 2026 entry awaited.
There was a pleasant footpath to take me most of the way, starting with braving the inquisitive horses in the Wild West.

One day we will see green grass again.
And complain that it's been raining too much.

Yep, this was summer 2026 heatwave number 4.  Fortunately, much of the path was in the shade of trees, enabling me to arrive at the pub in a fairly respectable state. 

The Tally Ho (Newtown RG17 0PP)
For most of the 19th century this site was home to an inn called the Oxford Arms.  That was destroyed by a fire in 1885 and subsequently rebuilt as the Tally Ho.  Wadworth sold the pub in 2012 and it looked set to be turned into residential use, something that was scuppered by locals whose campaigning won out and turned this into a community-run free house.

There were four handpumps along the bar with two in use serving 'Farmers Best' or 'Gold' from Wiltshire brewery Ramsbury. 
Whilst some pubs' decorative display of pump clips cover the whole ceiling, the Tally Ho's numbered just seven on a beam above the bar - including Otter, Spitfire and the long-gone (and much missed) Wild Weather Brewery.  It suggests that the Tally Ho isn't a cask hotspot with ever-changing beers, but I guess they know what they like and what sells.

The 'Farmers Best' was on very good form and went down a treat - seeming much more deserved after my walk to get here.

The couple of tables in front of the bar were a comfortable enough spot, but seemingly the only ones not intended for lunchtime diners.
And it was mighty strange having an off-duty staff member ferrying milk and orange juice from the bar through a door marked private, then settling at the next table with a bowl of breakfast cereal.
The advert-accompanied music on a local radio station (Chilli Peppers, Temptations, Queen...) also seemed a little out of place for the rural pub.
But I do rate the foxes on the mantlepiece...

After making the reverse walk back to Hungerford, I decided I'd revisit to the one pub I have been in previously, the John O'Gaunt.

John O'Gaunt (21 Bridge St, Hungerford RG17 0EG)
I was surprised that this dropped out the 2026 Good Beer Guide after making the previous six editions, but I see that the lease changed hands in 2025 which I expect is the reason why.  

They had a superb selection of beers on cask: Skinners 'Betty Stoggs', Vale 'Black Beauty', Tiny Rebel 'Rave Nation', Left Handed Giant 'Titan' and Bass.  That's before you even delve into the keg range which included Double Barrelled and Oxford's own BMan Brewery.

Predictably, a Bass🔺for me, on decent, if not exceptional, form.  Priced a little steeply a £5.70.
I settled on the high tables by the bar.  The other room is more comfortable with various nooks and crannies, but I didn't want to get in the way of a steady stream of folks coming in to eat.  It was also quieter than the bar, where the music came from a portable stereo on the end of the counter, the pop soundtrack definitely picked by the young staff.  Cardi B and Bad Bunny scared off one chap who sat down, scowled at the speaker, then scurried away with his pint.
PropUptheBar is youthful, was drinking 2026's trendiest beer, and can cope with modern pop for 25-minutes.  Just about.

Next up: the Hungerford Club, which slipped out of Beer Guide favour for a couple of years but is now back, also crowned the West Berks CAMRA Club of the Year.

The Hungerford Club (3 The Croft, Hungerford, RG17 0HY)
The club was founded in 1901 with a library and billiards table in a room at the Church House.  As the local vicar opposed a bar, the club members purchased the current building for the sum of £400 in 1925.
Step inside and there is a snug single table to the left of the door, then a long narrow lounge with cushioned  bench seating hugging the wall.

The bar counter is set back midway along this room with two hand pumps offering Jennings 'Castle Bitter' or Ramsbury 'Farmers Best' on this occasion.
It's been a while since I had a Jennings beer - the 'Castle' being a 3.4% trad English bitter, priced very reasonable at £4.10 and served in tip-top condition.

There is always some trepidation strolling into a Beer Guide Club and if I need to explain my presence I invariably stumble over my words and come across as a complete dolt when announcing myself as CAMRA member or Beer Guide owner.
No such qualms here - no 'ring buzzer for entry', no scowls or suspicious "Can I help you?"  A marvellous welcome from a friendly member of staff who had me sign in the visitors book then got chatting about other pubs in the area.

There are a couple of snooker tables in a room to the rear, briefly glimpsed through a serving hatch to the side of the bar.  Other than some snooker players in the distance, I had the place to myself.

With time to visit one more venue, I had a choice between the Borough Arms or the Three Swans Hotel, both highly rated for cask by CAMRA beer scorers.
The hotel won out, being as it was closer and I didn't fancy Wadworth's at the Borough.

The Three Swans Hotel (117 High St, Hungerford, RG17 0LZ)
Since the 17th century the Three Swans has been a coaching inn serving travellers on the road to Bath.  
Their website uses words like 'Elegant', 'genteel' and 'heartfelt hospitality'. 
I'm not gonna like it, am I?
Sure enough it was very bright and modern and smart, with three distinct areas.  It was busy though, with a range of coffee drinkers, families with suitcases, folks on laptops, and gentlefolk passing the afternoon away in somewhere providing respite from the sun.
Not a lot of custom for the two cask ales, though; Ramsbury 'Gold' and 'Farmers Best' offering me the same choice I had at my first pub.

A 'Gold' this time - on good form.
For around 5,500 residents, Hungerford has 7 pubs and 2 clubs, 3 of which score the top three-pint-pot rating on the CAMRA website.  There's either some great cask in town or some generous scoring going on.

Leaving the Three Swans, I arrived at the station platform on time, which was more than could be said for the South-Western train which was running 18-minutes late.
18-minutes loitering on the platform....or in the Railway Inn?

The Railway Tavern (Station Road, Hungerford, RG17 0DY)
This pub was built in 1847 to coincide with the arrival of the Great Western railway at Hungerford.  It's an L-shaped design with two areas at the front and a barn-like room at the back with tall ceiling, pool table and stage.
Here's the cask range - decisions, decisions...

The one on the left please - by far the better pump clip.
 
I was entertained by '99 reasons '90s rocked' on a TV music channel - with a tracks by Def Leppard, The Prodigy and Green Day.
Even though the 'Pride' was on pretty dull form, there are worse ways to spend 18-minutes.

Did I end up finding the level crossing gates down and jogging across the car park to the footbridge just as the train was coming?  Yes, of course I did.
Next stop: Newbury.