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
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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)