retiredmartin

That’s the thing about Maidenhead. It creeps up on you. One minute you’re in a safe part of the country like Reading Chesham; the next you notice the sign for Pinkney’s Green.

The A4 Bath Road escapes west out of the den of iniquity that is Maidenhead and takes you past a string of decent pubs, not all of them catering for the pashmina and Prosecco crowd.

Bing Maps denies the existence of the Royal Oak, so here’s a rare outing for Google.

I’ve been to the Cricketers, and the Bird In Hand, but Save the Sash (top right) was a new one on me. Disappointingly, not a loyalist micropub, it supplies dark curtains to Maidenhead “fun” pubs.

Our GBG debutant looks very “Proper Pub”, hiding away up a dead end.

There’s one Old Boy watching whatever game show ITV are showing (my Mum would have known) and a lot of activity behind the bar.

Oooh. Doom Bar.

Now, it must have been about this point I was kicked in the head by one of the donkeys in the field behind the bar, as my notes show I eschewed the Doom in favour of the dark. Even though the chap who served me had just said that the DB and the Brakspear were the regular beers.

Having the guest Stout (NBSS 3) from up the road (M**d***ea*) marked me out as a beer nerd, as the chap then practically forced me to have a taster of the Woodfordes Christmas beer with the same urgency shown in the red light area 5 miles away.

You know my views on tasters, but I don’t like to be rude, and had to agree it was better than Wherry.

Then the chap went back to watching the TV with his mate, and I wondered if he did actually work there, or was just a regular helping out. Who cares ? Regulars pulling pints for strangers is always a good thing.

Nice pub, but I was pleased to leave the vicinity of the ‘Head.