37.
The opportunity was taken to do a last pub
crawl before the holidays, so Dave and I decided to crack the
Gunning up the road, we hoped that things
would improve in
A bit of a cycle allowed us to sober a
little before reaching the Shillingford Bridge Hotel
which is one of the only pubs I know with its own swimming pool. We had an
inordinately long wait as no-one could be arsed
serving behind the bar before some over-priced mediocre halves of Brakespear appeared. Still, I suppose the riverside
location was quite nice... Finding that a couple of pubs that we wanted to
visit were closed, we had a change of plans and cycled through a field,
eventually making our way to Benson where we went to the Crown. They had three
beers on - IPA, Original and Abbot - but the place was a bit 'big fish, small
pond' with lots of stupid aggravated locals and squaddies
drinking, the sort of place where it might all go off quite regularly.
Some more closed pubs followed, notably at
Ewelme. Why oh why do these places shut on Saturday
afternoons? My theory is that we're just too near London and too many
middle-class sorts live there, who wouldn't dream of lowering themselves to
visit the pub in the afternoon. Snobs. But we were
finally happy to find the Fox and Hounds open in Watlington,
and quite rewarding it was too. Brakespear Bitter and
Hooray Henley were on, the Hooray being dirt cheap as it was on offer, and very
nice too. This was about the first decent pub of the day and we made the most
of it sitting in their comfy chairs, safe in the
knowledge that cyclists were welcome. Just round the corner was the Carriers
Arms, which did Adnams, Bass, 6X and Toby (keg). This
was a modern pub with a low ceiling and had the feel of a hotel bar, but was
pleasant enough for the football results. Outside the garden affords views
eastwards towards the big hill which Christmas Common is on. Notable points
include a good array of bar snacks and pint glasses with the number 16.
The chip shop was shut, but we managed to
keep ourselves going a bit with some nutrients from the incredible range of bar
snacks on offer at the Watlington Memorial Hall - the
cockles and pork scratchings were superb. Full marks to the barman for getting
us get a couple of pints in at the splendid prices they have. We chose
Spitfire, which was a tasty pint, but Brakespear and
Hook Norton Best were also in the pumps. A little bit of a
cycle followed, taking us to the Lord Nelson at Brightwell
Baldwin. And what a splendid pub! A must to take people for dinners!
Fantastic pints of Lodden Hoppit,
West Berkshire Good Old Boy and Hook Norton Best were available. The solids
look to be excellent too, not that we had any, and to boot, a man in a bow tie
came out with a ramikin dish of olives/gherkins/other
pickles on the house.
A second decent pub was soon to follow,
the Home Sweet Home at Roke. It was pitched at a
similar level as the Lord Nelson. It nearly suceeded,
but the beer was just 6X, albeit very good, but pricey too. Ancient Carling
glasses with the numbers 472 on the side contained our halves which we decided
to consume in some excellent old bastards chairs. Certainly a
pub for an evening session if you could tolerate the prices. Good
toilets too. Just up the road was the Chequers at Berrick Salome which
left us a little disappointed. The beer was Brakespear
Bitter and Special, and the latter was of good standard, but there was nothing
else noteworthy to the pub, having two spartan
looking bars, though there was a bar billiards table.
Finally we managed to get into the Six
Bells at Warborough which has previously been closed.
This was a thatched pub next to a cricket pitch so we had high expectations,
but in the event it let us down a little. Again Brakespear
Special and Bitter were available, but were expensive, and the bar was a bit foody, with Aussie blokes and no bar snacks either! At this
point we decided that in fact it might be more sensible to go to Culham, surely we could collect the intended Cholsey train there, and I discovered that I had a
puncture. With this new plan and on a flat tyre, we
went to Dorchester and stopped at the first pub for repairs which was the Fleur
de Lys. I took my front wheel of and into the pub and
was greeted by the usual banal comments from the locals, very bloody funny, and
I supped some IPA while swapping the innertube. Ruddles Best, Abbot and pissflow
Mild were on offer too. Apart from this it was a very formulaic Greene King
pub, aren't they all?
Passing some other pubs in Dorchester, and
then out in the pitch black cycling along the centre line of the A road to Culham because it was so dark (we did have lights but they
were somewhat crap), we finally arrived at Culham
station where we thought we could intercept our train. In their wisdom, British
Rail decided that the one that passes through at about 10.20pm doesn't stop
which we hadn't bargained for, so our only alternative was to wait for an hour
in the Railway Inn next door. During this time we consumed a pint of John
Smiths (on draught!) and Fiddlers Elbow each and became rapidly pissed whilst
swearing very loudly and playing pool. Fortunately we were the only punters in
the pub, which was a bit of a shame as it was actually quite roomy and pleasant
in there. The bar snacks were also very good, opting myself for scratchings and
a pickled egg. Eventually, we staggered out and on to the train, then to Hussains for a bad bab
and finally home where I don't remember much. I have a feeling those last
couple of pints put us over the edge, though perhaps the empty stomach had
something to do with it ... still, 38 miles can't be bad.
Dan
Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com
Last updated 9th September 2003.