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.