The Bell, The Blueberry & Cup Final Misery for the Blues

It was the first weekend of August and, for some further local explorations, we took the train to Goring & Streatley.  
On the agenda for the day: walking on the Berkshire Downs, three great pubs, wood-fired pizza and the FA Cup final.

We started by crossing the Thames at Streatley... 

Streatley's pub, on a busy road junction, is the rather fine-looking Bull.
But today we had a schedule, and it didn't allow for an 11am beer before we'd barely got started, so a visit to the Bull will have to wait for another day.

We poked our head into the library that's developed in Streatley's red telephone box, which is where I procured a Foo Fighters CD.
That's why it features alongside my beer in the picture at the top of the post.

Although anyone in the pub garden watching me faffing around with my camera to take the photo probably thought I was a bit odd.

Nothing new there, then.

Onward, along the Ridgeway national trail...

A great map extract, but this little section is not the Ridgeway at its best.

There are some nice views once you've reached the top of Thurle Down, but to get there the Ridgeway route trudges along roads before turning into a gravel track which isn't kind on the feet.
Branching south to Aldworth, we reached the village pub by twelve-thirty. 

The Bell (3 Ambury Road, Aldworth, RG8 9SE - wiki)

This has been CAMRA's National Pub of the Year twice, in 1990 and last year in 2019.
It's also on the National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, but this poses a problem today, as no-one is allowed into the interior.
Service was from the front door where you paid, collected your drinks and took them to the garden.

Despite not being able to poke around inside, it does still look great from the outside.  And the pub garden was lovely.

Moving on, we had our longest stretch of walking ahead of us - somewhere in the 5-mile region, northbound, crossing the Ridgeway, and onward through some pleasant countryside (still stomping along those horrid gravel tracks though).

Our route took us across the A417 to Aston Terrold.  So we figured we may as well check out the village pub whilst there.
This is the dubiously named 'Fat Frog at' The Chequers, so no doubting it's very foody orientated.  Alas, I can't report on it, as we arrived ten minutes too late, with a hastily made sign pinned on the door: "Closed from 3pm - 6pm today". 
They must have seen me coming.

No pub visit then, but I was mightily impressed by the very ancient-looking Church of All Saints in neighboring Aston Upthorpe...

A footpath took us past an Iron Age fort and west to the next destination, Blewbury.
I wonder if you can make out what the pub's called from the picture below.

The Blueberry (London Road, Blewbury, OX11 9NU - web)

This is a 1930's roadhouse which was previously known as the Barley Mow.  It's been the Blueberry since 2014 when it was refurbished and given a new lease of life.
On the bar was West Berkshire's 'Good Old Boy' or a Loose Cannon seasonal offering called 'The Cask and the Furious'.

We'd walked up an appetite and ordered a couple of the wood fired pizzas which were absolutely splendid.

Pictures of blueberries at the Blueberry

Once we'd stepped away from the busy London Road that the pub sits on, Blewbury is a picturesque and peaceful place, with lots of charming timber framed buildings and these wonderful walkways weaving through the village...

Even the footpath walls are thatched.

There is an older pub in Blewbury, The Red Lion, but this was another one that was closed when we passed by.  And another one that is more of a food venue by the looks of it.
We took a path at the top corner of the village leading just over a mile to East Hagbourne.

Fleur de Lys (30 Main Road, East Hagbourne, OX11 8LN - web)
This is the second visit I've made to this pub, which is currently crowned as South Oxford CAMRA's pub of the year.
The pub is vaguely divided into two sections, the first looking slightly more geared up for eating...

...whilst the far end has a handful of tables by the fireplace and TV screen, ideal for just sitting and nursing a pint.  With the car park being used to extend the garden, most of the punters this evening were opting for outdoor drinking.

There was a choice of four ales on this visit, with both the Timothy Taylor 'Landlord' and local Lovebeer 'Wibbly Wobbly Whippet' selling a reasonable amount whilst we there.  Hence I tried both of them, both good beers, both in good condition.

I'd gotten MrsPropUptheBar to the pub (almost) in time for the FA Cup final.  Although she missed the Chelsea goal, probably whilst I farted around outside taking a picture of the pub.

By midway through the second half, with Arsenal taking the lead and players getting injured and rolling around on the floor every few minutes, she'd grown bored of it. 
I still don't know why she picked Chelsea to support anyway.  It's a well known fact that all the best teams play in the Championship!

Mrs PropUptheBar takes the prime spot in front of the football.

If I learnt nothing else from the day, it's that leaving 30 minutes to get from East Hagbourne to Didcot station to catch your train is really pushing it.
We raced along Hitchcock Way, making it just in time.  Just as well, as if we'd have missed the train we'd have had to endure an hour of Greene King IPA in the Prince of Wales.  😱