Winding my way from Wendover

A Friday afternoon spent in a quintet of Bucks pubs.
A trip encouraged by the £2 bus fare cap, which some would say is a bargain for the 23-mile journey from Oxford to Aylesbury.  Whilst others may need to be paid more than £2 to endure an hour on the bus.  Or to end up in Aylesbury.

I do have a slight grump that Red Rose Travel aren't participating in the fare cap scheme and charged me £3.50 for the onward trip to Wendover.
Oh well, I guess the extra £1.50 is for the sightseeing tour around the Elm Farm estate.

After all that bus travel, I was glad to alight in Wendover, where I made my way to the towns current Good Beer Guide entry, the King and Queen.

King & Queen (17 South Street, Wendover, HP22 6EF - web)
Although it's close to the train station it's a little off the beaten track, so I guess I'm lucky they were open for a Friday lunchtime pint.  Not that there were many folk around - just myself and two other punters. 
I settled in the small and pleasing front bar, with it's good old traditional pub carpet and a superb inglenook fireplace.  Plenty of quirky decorations dotted about, as well as a glass screen through which you could peer into to the cellar - skeletons and all!

Beers on the bar were Timothy Taylor 'Landlord', Youngs 'Original' and Verdant 'Lord Summerale'.

Oooo...I've gotta pick the beer with the Wicker Man on the pump clip.  The lady serving me looked non-the-wiser when I mentioned the movie, as I remembered that not everyone knows the 2006 Nic Cage horror classic (best check I've got that right before publishing).
Verdant have brewed this in collaboration with Weird Walks, whose guides were on sale on a display in the pub.
And these generated some entertaining friendly chat, which then progressed onto the many movies and TV shows which have been filmed nearby.

Departing from the King & Queen, there wasn't much in the way of choice for another pint in Wendover.
The proper-looking pubs, the Pack Horse and White Swan, didn't open for another couple of hours.  I was too scruffy to join the wedding party in the Fullers Bel & the Dragon at the Red Lion (that name - yuck😡).
So I resorted to the one on the main road with the floral display.

The George & Dragon (4-6 Aylesbury Road, Wendover, HP22 6JQ - web)
The Thai lady laying knifes and forks on a table looked quite shocked when I walked in.
"Can I help?"
Just popping in for a beer.
"But we shut in 30 minutes"
Yeah, I think I can manage that.

I should have heeded the dubious welcome as a warning.  My Marston's footy special beer was dreadful.
The town's oldest pub may have some fine old wooden beams, but is more Thai restaurant than trad pub, and let me down on the real ale lottery.  

My plan to walk along the Grand Union Canal was scuppered when I found the towpath closed.  So I decided to find an alternative route and figured I'd seek out a pub to stop at en-route.
Perhaps not this one, though...

Pub's end at World's End?

Reaching the village of Weston Turville, the Chandos Arms looked inviting enough and had the bonus of still having an intact roof.

Chandos Arms (1 Main Street, Weston Turville, HP22 5RR - web)
Located next to a quiet crossroads, the pub has picnic benches in an appealing grassy front garden and what I suspect is a Covid-era marquee to the side.
Stepping through the door it's clearly had a recent refurb.

There were two beers on the bar from Bedford brewers Charles Wells: 'DNA' or 'Boyds Bobber'.  I don't know who Boyd is, or what his Bobber may be, but this was a reasonable light and fruity ale.

The next leg of my walk took me to Aston Clinton.
I was heading straight to the Oak, but then this looked intriguing...

The Rothschild Arms (82 Weston Road, Aston Clinton, HP22 5EJ)
A pub that seemed completely out of place in a Bucks village.  
Although Aston Clinton is home to over 3,500 folks including, apparently, Aussie F1 driver Mark Webber, so perhaps I'd misjudged the place.

The Rothschild has a thoroughly modern decor, with US number plates stuck around the base of the bar, retro tin adverts, a pool table getting some good use, and some quirky touches, like a police box painted on the wall and mannequin stood looking out the front window.

Just the one cask ale on offer, which was one more than I'd expected to be honest.  A so-so Otter 'Hawthorn Pale Ale'.
I wasn't sold on the 'beach' garden, so sat myself in the side room with an unusual retro video shop theme.  An interesting pub, which I hope is buzzing with the Aston Clinton youth of an evening time.

A quick stroll across the village and I made my way to my final destination, the Beer Guide listed Fullers pub...

The Oak (119 Green End Street, Ashton Clinton, HP22 5EU - web)
It was quiet on a late Friday afternoon, but there were lots of staff prepping for the onslaught that an evening of Shakespeare in the garden would bring later.

The room with the larger bar counter and extension beyond looked to be intended for dining, but the front room was pleasingly simple, bedecked with flags, although I'm not sure what they were up for.
And there were proper pub customers - a few folk sitting with pints in the garden and hi-vis workmen, finished for the day, and wandering around with pints of Carlsberg.

The Dark Star 'Hophead' was on very good form - challenging the first pub for beer of the day.
This was a day when the Good Beer Guide pubs did indeed deliver the best beer.  Who would have thought it.

Next up, I'll do a bit of exploring in Aylesbury itself.