There’s a lot of great countryside around the Chiltern counties, some attractive towns, but pretty slim pickings for pubgoers. From Watford to Luton to Bicester, there’s very few urban pubs in the Beer Guide at all, let alone characterful classics. We stopped at Bicester for a coffee. It might have been a beer, but nothing… Continue reading SLIM PICKINGS IN BICESTER VILLAGE
GOOD OLD BOY BY THE THAMES
While the CAMRA revitalisation project debates the protection of pubs, I still view increasing the quality of beer in pubs, or not serving it at all, as the fundamental challenge. It’s the not serving it at all bit that many CAMRA members will struggle with. That said, beer quality has been impressive this year, though I do… Continue reading GOOD OLD BOY BY THE THAMES
DRAUGHT BASS AND SCOUSE IN THE VALE OF THE WHITE HORSE
South Oxfordshire is rarely the most rewarding part of the Beer Guide, the new entries seemingly reflecting the dining pub’s occasional flirtation with Locales. It’s not so much the food, which pretty much all pubs rely on, as the feel of the dining pubs that I don’t much enjoy. The triangle between Didcot, Thame and… Continue reading DRAUGHT BASS AND SCOUSE IN THE VALE OF THE WHITE HORSE
CRICKET ON THE GREEN AND WARM BEER
I will soon be a bigger expert on Huntingdonshire and its pubs than the bloke who (allegedly) drove up and down the A14 in a Ford Cortina collecting last minute entries for the first Good Beer Guide. It’s a county of modest pleasures, but I can recommend the circular walk from little Eltisley to the… Continue reading CRICKET ON THE GREEN AND WARM BEER
TOP 100 PUBS – KING’S HEAD, AYLESBURY
Oh look, a Home Counties pub in my Top 100; the end of the world may arrive before next Thursday. What’s more, it’s actually a smart pub with uniformed staff, Prosecco and genteel patrons. I wasn’t going to put it in my Top 100 after yesterday’s revisit on the basis the staff called me “Sir” rather… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – KING’S HEAD, AYLESBURY
A BRAKSPEAR REBELLION IN THE CHILTERNS
A second day in the Chilterns gave me the chance to finish Buckinghamshire and put BRAPA in its box. If Simon continues averaging 20 pubs in 3 days he’ll have caught me up by next Christmas, and that won’t do at all. I was looking forward to exploring the Ridgeway but my walking boots haven’t… Continue reading A BRAKSPEAR REBELLION IN THE CHILTERNS
EURO WATCHING IN WOOBURN*
Wycombe is a large drab town surrounded by great countryside and a few classic pubs. It also has the hardest football ground to get away from at the end of the match. Wooburn Green feels like the end of the straggle of habitation drifting east from central Wycombe, after which you enter a great expanse… Continue reading EURO WATCHING IN WOOBURN*
FIVE MILES OUT OF LONDON OFF THE WESTERN AVENUE
Hanwell hasn’t been celebrated in song in the same way as nearby Perivale was in 1980, though admittedly Costello wrote about 80 songs that year and I haven’t heard them all yet. Never mind, the equally venerable Stonch wrote about his Hanwell walk recently. That ended up with a pint in the Fox, one of West London’s… Continue reading FIVE MILES OUT OF LONDON OFF THE WESTERN AVENUE
THE 179 FROM CROYDON TO PECKHAM
Despite my reservations on this site about the gentrification of London’s pubs, and inconsistent beer quality, I do still love the place. Weekends are the time to visit, with Travelcards less than half-price and those yummy-mummy Sunday lunches to enjoy. A light drizzle wasn’t stopping me finishing off South-east and South-west London’s Beer Guide entries.… Continue reading THE 179 FROM CROYDON TO PECKHAM
BLACK SABBATH, MUD AND DOG TOOTH
I really tried to get Matt to write this, as you really need a 14 year old to explain the appeal of a day listening to old blokes playing old heavy metal tunes in the mud. No joy this time. Download at Donington is the successor to what I remember as Monsters of Rock from my own… Continue reading BLACK SABBATH, MUD AND DOG TOOTH
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