The Sun Inn, Mill Road, Kislingbury, Northampton NN7 4BB

A beautiful sunny but cold Saturday, I was driving up north with D. Looking for a place for lunch near the motorway, armed only with a copy of CAMRA’s 2012 Edition of The Good Beer Guide, D expertly navigated us to the picturesque village of Kislingbury near Northampton (and just a few minutes from the M1.
On a tiny narrow lane we found The Sun Inn.  Looking beautifully rustic with it's thatched roof, we found it to be warm and cosy inside and without any pretensions.  Old-fashioned and friendly with a good number of real ales on the pumps and some ciders too. 

 We experienced lovely hospitality from the landlady and once we’d ordering some substantial lunch from a small menu of big pies, we settled down in one of the three seating areas (it was nice to have it to ourselves) with the paper, and relaxed.

After assembling a wide collection of condiments, and enjoying a giant cup of tea and a pint of 'Gobblers', our food arrived.  My stilton, peppered mushroom and onion pie was ultimate comfort food, and served with delicious gravy and the homemade cottage pie was also huge, and very much enjoyed by D, who felt the cabbage was also very tasty.

A lovely discovery.    We would have happily whiled away an afternoon there.  Well worth a visit should you be near Junction 16 of the M1 and very much recommended by ourselves as well as CAMRA.

The Charles Dickens, 160 Union Street, Southwark, SE1 0LH

The Charles Dickens on Union Street is an unpretentious and unassuming real ale pub in central London.  It was the ideal place for a beer and bite before going to see Dr Faustus at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Whilst super close to the Tate Modern, it was tucked away from crowds, and pleasantly quiet when we arrived.  It was a warm afternoon, so discovering the small outdoor area at the back was particularly great.

The choice and quality of the beers was very good (a lemon beer being a particular highlight for D), which is to be expected given that we’d found the pub in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

Being a former English Lit student, I was admittedly a bit snobby about the quality and authenticity of the Dickens’ memorabilia.   But, this was saved by the food.  With all the meat provided from nearby Smithfield, the very simple British pub food, was totally in keeping with the atmosphere and feel of the pub.

Huge pie, throughly enjoyed by D's Dad

Fantastic chips with my chicken (above), and D's steak, (below)

Very reasonably priced with large portions, and fantastic quality, everything was good.   Service wasn’t always as attentive as it could have been, but it was friendly and little touches such as condiments being bought without us needing to ask, were definite plus points.  

If I had to mention a negative it would be the lack of dessert menu. 

Even with the Dickensian theme, this didn’t appear to be a pub that pandered to tourists, avoiding the prices and pretensions of most places in Central London.  Would certainly visit again!

The Hinds Head, High Street, Bray, Berkshire SL6 2AB

It's exciting to go somewhere that you recognise from the telly!  It was a special occasion, and neither of us had ever been to Heston Blumenthal's Hinds Head in Bray, despite living so nearby.  Billed as his more accessible restaurant (ie, we only had two book around 10 days in advance, and hopefully the experience wasn't going to bankrupt us),  my parents and sister had already visited, and had given it rave reviews (my sister particularly raving about triple fried chips and the best pie she had ever tasted). 

Rated as Michelin Pub of the Year in 2011, I wasn't sure whether it would be more like a pub, or a restaurant.   Our booking was at 8.45pm on a Friday, but it was very busy as we arrived, and it certainly did seem like any busy pub at upon first appearances.  We were a little early, but we were immediately shown to our table in the much more tranquil restaurant upstairs.  A cosy, low-timbered room, with a warm atmosphere, the majority of the tables were full, but we'd been given an optimal large table in the corner of the room, so we had plenty of space.  It reminded me of a brilliant place I'd eaten at in Germany, in a watermill. 

Everything exuded quality and attention to detail, from the service, to the super-light, shapely water glasses (lovely, the waitress agreed, but a nightmare to clean).    The dinner menu looked great but eye-wateringly pricey (steak and chips for £26 - although nothing compared to The Fat Duck's offerings at £180 per head), but the three course set menu, with two options for each course was bargainous in comparison, at just £27.50 each.

Naturally, we took great pleasure in ordering "everything from the set menu," as it all looked appealing, and we intended to each try a bit of everything.  Having heard so much about the triple-friend chips, we ordered one of those too. 

The service was spot on: very friendly and incredibly professional.  (Although perhaps re-folding my napkin when I was away from the table was a bit too much!)  We admitted that our plan was to share, and we were immediately bought enough cutlery to be able to share each of the six dishes we'd ordered between us. We were assured that "anything is possible at The Hinds Head" and it certainly seemed that was true.

Although there was no mention of beer on the drinks menu, when we passed the downstairs bar, D had spotted locally brewed (in my home town of Marlow) Rebellion's Smuggler, which was in very good condition.  I went for pink and fizzy Rose de'Salici Brut Col de'Salici  - a delightful fruity prosecco.

There was bread to nibble on, but it wasn't long before the starters arrived.  These were truly excellent.  The Pea and Ham Soup was the ultimate comfort food.  Very green (and served in something was was not dissimilar to to a mini-cauldron), it was full of very fresh whole peas, and delicious chunks of ham.  The flavour, texture and quality of ingredients were astounding. 

It was so good, I wasn't very keen to share it, but I'm glad I did, as I got to sample the other starter - the Tea-Smoked Salmon with Soda Bread, which was exquisite.  D described it as the best smoked salmon he'd ever tasted, and I could see why.  It had a complex, delicate flavour and almost melt-in-the-mouth consistency.  It was quite brilliant.  (We also very much liked how the wedge of lemon was ingeniously covered in a little 'jacket' to catch the pips as you squeezed it). 

With truly top-notch starters, the bar had been set very high.  When mains arrived, we were perhaps a little concerned that pie looked a little... petite.  The macaroni dish looked impressive - not at all cheesy, but beautifully gratinated with tiny pasta, so that it almost looked like rice, with a poached egg delicately balanced on top.

The fears of the pie being too small were completely unfounded, given the richness of the dish.  Lovely pastry packed with the chicken and ham - there was very little sauce, just really good quality ingredients.  The macaroni was in a different universe to the tinned macaroni cheese of my childhood (which holds a special place in my heart as comfort food).  The tiny pasta shapes, were bound with such flavoursome wild mushrooms, that they almost tasted fruity.  The dish sung with flavour, but was very rich, so again, I was glad we were sharing, as a full portion would have been difficult to eat single-handedly. 

The triple fried chips were chunky, salty and very very crunchy.

Utterly stuffed, we asked for a little break before dessert time.  We enjoyed the ambience and relaxed feel of the restaurant, and marvelled at how close it was to Maidenhead Rail station.  We commented on how the toilets were the second best D had ever seen (he said they lost a point for not having real fluffy handtowels), but we both agreed the cool 50s style made for very nice bathrooms.

In preparation for dessert, we were handed this introductory note for the 'Quaking Pudding':

I still wasn't entirely sure whether a 17th Century pudding was going to be tasty, but I knew there was always going to be the fallback option of the blackberry fool (and in normal circumstances, I was too full for dessert anyway).

The desserts then made their grand entrance.  The pudding was as promised 'quaking' and wobbling away, as if it had a life of it's own (whilst the blackberry fool looked more conventional), but had the unexpected added bonus of pistachios. 

Forgetting how full I was, I dug into the Quaking Pudding, and was almost taken aback by how familiar the taste was.  The warm flavours of cardamom, cinammon, a hint of ginger, in a milky base, meant it tasted exactly like 'chai' (indian tea, just like my mum makes).  It was quite disorientating to taste something that was so reminiscent of home in such a restaurant, but it was absolutely delicious.  Ingeniously, it was served with what looked like cucumber, but was actually delicate slivers of sweet and tangy sugared apple. 

The blackberry fool was very creamy, but well punctuated by the blackberries, pistachios, meringue pieces and a hint of aniseed - delightful.

We'd come to the end of our food extravaganza.  Expectations had been high but the food, service and atmosphere were absolutely perfect, and I couldn't recommend The Hinds Head highly enough.   

Cake of the Day, The Butterleigh Inn's Butterleigh Brownie

The highlight of my brief trip to Devon was this warm and deeply chocolately brownie at The Butterleigh Inn in the delightful village of Butterleigh (near Cullompton).  It had a spongy consistency, rather than feeling heavy and dense, and served with clotted cream it was heavenly. 

I had it instead of lunch!

The Bounty, Cockmarsh, Bourne End

Accessible only by boat or on foot, The Bounty was one of those pubs that I had heard plenty of great things about, but I hadn’t managed to ever visit. It was a warm and sunny day, perfect for our walk from Marlow. With its beautiful riverside location, I expected the place to be heaving with people, but whilst it was certainly busy, we were delighted to find plenty of outdoor tables available as we approached.

The Bounty manages to be quirky without being pretentious – there’s a skull proudly displayed by the bar, which as well as booze, sells greeting cards, Curly Wurlys and ginger beer (on tap). As well as a lovely range of bar snacks and a hot food menu, there was a cake of the day (my kind of place!) and ice cream also on sale.

The sign above the entrance to the pub welcomes punters to ‘The People’s Republic of Cockmarsh’ where “the laws of common sense apply”, and upon walking into the pub, my immediate reaction was that I’d walked into some other land. There was a queue at the bar but the bar staff were lovely and the wait didn’t seem to matter, as there was plenty to look at inside.

Given the heat of the day I drank lashings of firey ginger beer through a pink straw (I wanted to make the most of finding somewhere that served it on tap), but on the beer front there were some local Rebellion Brewery offerings (the fresh and hoppy Rebellion Blonde was sampled) and a fantastically named ‘Grumpy Cow’. The cider option was the extremely potent scrumpy, Old Rosie. D commented on the good condition of the beer which was at the optimal temperature.

The food is simple but brilliant.

Cheesy chips are great, but The Bounty goes one better and offers…STILTON CHIPS! Utterly utterly divine chunky chips covered with slabs of melting Stilton. The simple things taste the best. Other food sampled included an old school but still lovely bacon toastie, and a ham Ploughmans. Portion sizes were more than generous. The home cooked ham was clearly of good quality and there was plenty of pickle. Quavers were served on the side!

The outdoor area stretched out on either side of the pub, with a children’s play area (complete with Big Scary Tree) on the opposite side to where we were. Truly a place with something for everyone, I can’t wait to visit again.

The Artichoke, 162 Yarmouth Rd, Broome, Norfolk NR35 2NZ

As expected we were waiting outside The Artichoke before it opened at 12 noon (in keeping with D’s Mum’s pride in punctuality). And for good reason. This is a very popular pub. My second visit, I was looking forward to both the food and the drink. A regular entrant of the Good Beer Guide, it won Norfolk’s CAMRA pub of the year in 2009. Once the home of Crowfoot Brewery (a very long time ago), it truly boasts a great selection of drink –D likes the choice of real ales (they always have 4 on the hand pumps, 4 on gravity in the tap room, and my personal favourite, there are always three fruit beers on draught!) I’m always filled with excitement when I find fruity Belgian beers on offer!

I also love the look of the whisky bar, with around 70 varieties of malt whisky, decorated with pump clips and mugs hanging from the ceiling. The drink list is handwritten and presented above the bar, along with a note (consider it an old-school ‘status update’) about one of the regulars ‘Terry,’ and his new tow bar. It’s a cosy, welcoming place, with a real fire in the corner in the wintertime. The staff are exceptionally friendly, treating us like old friends (which D’s family almost are), and the bar seemed to fill up almost immediately after opening time.

My first beer was my favourite, ‘Kriek’ (Belgian Cherry beer), served in half pints only (due to the 6% potency), in an authentic Belgian Beer glass.

The menu is simple and traditional, with a daily changing specials board. We took our seats in the original restaurant area (a bit more atmospheric than the newer conservatory dining area in my opinion – and closer to the bar), and the huge portions of food arrived. Scampi and chips for D’s Mum and Gran, Plaice and Chips for D, and a Chicken and Mushroom Pie and chips for me (healthy wasn’t really a theme of the afternoon, as you can tell).

D’s plaice was “hoooge” (as the Norfolk folk would say), extending a long way underneath the peas and chips on his plate.

My pie was divine. Very generous on the filling, with large meaty chunks of chicken, ham and mushroom, topped with a slim rectangle of rich short-crust pastry, served with greens, carrots and wonderful crispy chips.

D’s Mum is a scampi expert, sampling all the pub scampi and chips, in the local area, and she rates The Artichoke as having consistently the best of the lot. Again, portions were large, with D benefiting from extra chips from his Gran.

Stuffed, I was somehow talked into sampling another Belgian beer. This time I opted for raspberry (Bacchus Frambozen), which I found less sweet and slightly less enjoyable than my initial Kriek. D went for the third available fruit beer, Peach (Timmermans Peche). This was a little too beery for my liking but it had a subtle peachy aroma and taste.

I really was going to decline dessert, having eaten far too large a lunch to manage the delicious sounding but hefty options of crumbles, sticky toffee puddings or bread and butter pudding. D opted for his favourite, Summer Fruit Pudding whilst his Gran went for banana fritters. D’s mum’s choice of Maple and Walnut ice-cream was my downfall though, and I found myself helpless to resist ordering such a magnificent sounding dessert from local ice-cream maker Parravani.

I was not disappointed – deliciously nutty and maple-y sweet, it felt luxurious and light at the same time.

We finished everything. Everything ordered that been wonderful. I’d more than happily visit a third time – highly recommended for both food and drink!

The Nag's Head, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 2JG

I am a fan of The Malvern Hills.  Not too far from where I was born, I'd only visited once before, and despite being a grumpy teenager at the time, I couldn't help be impressed by the beauty of the countryside and enjoy scrambling up (and down) the rolling hills.

It was the hottest weekend of the year so far - endless sunshine and blue skies.  We walked up hills, down hills, in woodlands, through fields, on tiny footpaths and on country roads, taking in some amazing countryside.  D's dad marched on ahead, putting us young folk to shame.  Our circular route took us around 5 hours (with time for a picnic lunch) and we covered around 10 miles.  It was definitely time for a drink! 

Luckily, the trusty Good Beer Guide had a suggestion.  D could vouch for it's quality (and thankfully, could direct us there).  Late afternoon was a great time to visit The Nag's Head as we found a table in the sun.   We sat at the front of the pub, as the small, almost secret, beer garden is well-hidden and not immediately obvious.

Upon entering the pub, I was astounded by the sheer choice of real ales and ciders - 14 cask ales (including 6 guest beers).  Whilst I might expect one or two real ciders, the 5 or 6 on offer made the Nag's Head feel like a veritable goldmine! 

Given the heat of the day, my first choice was a refreshing raspberry twist cider served as recommended, with ice.  D enjoyed ordering 'a pint of Dragon's Blood' (extremely dark beer).

Once I had my drink, I began to notice the quirks of the pub.  The 'no swearing' rule, the warnings that food would be slow, the long list of riddles inscribed on the wall above a towering pile of Good Beer Guides and board games...

I like this kind of quirkiness in a pub, and thought all the nooks and crannies would make The Nag's Head an appealing winter pub, as well.

I continued sampling ciders - going for a lovely crisp Sheppy's, and then a Weston's '1st Quality'.  D moved onto the 'Shropshire Lad' which had an initial caramel taste (but too bitter an aftertaste for me), and then discovered the 'Kinver Crystal' which unexpectedly was his favourite of the day - full of floral hops.

We were in need of some crisp sustainance, so I stuck with the cider theme, and was pleasantly surprised by the tangy flavour of the Piper's sea salt and somerset cider vinegar flavour.

This pub was an amazing find, given that it had the potential to be quite touristy.  The Good Beer guide entry was definitely well-deserved, and I would very strongly recommend it should you be in the Malverns - be it on a day where you need a sunny beer garden, or a cosy inglenook.



The White Horse Inn, Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, SN11 8RG

There are some places which absolutely tick all my boxes.  I had a good feeling about The White Horse Inn from the very start. 

D had entrusted me with his latest copy of The Good Beer Guide, which he had painstakingly annotated using a unique rating system, marking places he thought I'd like with a little 'u' and places he thought I'd LOVE with a BIG 'U' (he is exceedingly thoughtful like that).   I'd fired off dozens of emails to various little and big 'U' places in an attempt to find a last minute countryside getaway to banish those recently-back-from-holiday-blues, and I wasn't expecting much luck.

But suddenly, in one afternoon I suddenly found my inbox filled with a number of potential places to visit.  The email from proprietors Tara and Danny Adams somehow seemed the most friendly.  The White Horse Inn was described in the beer guide as a 'real gem' (hence a big 'U'), and best of all, as I explained to D, it shared it's name with this pub (our favourite pub in the world, not least because it was where we met).   Our minds were quickly made up, and we looked forward to a weekend of adventures with Wiltshire White Horses.

Compton Bassett is a tiny village, but  we found it without any problems at all.  The sun was shining as we got our first view of the beautiful countryside, the idyllic beer garden and the lovely characterful building.  There were geese and even a couple of very cute pigs behind the pub, and a separate building for the accommodation (8 rooms in total).  We received a very very warm welcome at the bar, and Tara showed us to our light and airy room.  Newly refurbished to a very high standard, everything was perfect - lovely shower, lots of attention to detail, tea making facilities and yummy biscuits!  The sheer peace and quiet of the location felt good.

We headed off to Avebury (very close by - and we passed the first of three chalk White Horses on our way), and enjoyed watching the antics of a group of energetic lambs, scrambling back and forth across a steep hillside as if in training for a lamb marathon. 

 Lots of fresh air meant we'd built up quite an appetite as we returned in the evening for dinner.  It transpired that one of the other buildings at The White Horse, was a skittle alley, hosting a group of twenty!  The restaurant was fully booked (a good sign), but we had a great table in the smaller pub area.  One of the last free-houses in Wiltshire, there were three real ales on and a magnificent pear-cider (or more correctly, a perry), called Bee Sting.   Sweet and very pale and entirely clear, it was dangerously drinkable for a 7.5% beverage (I happily drank it all evening -  the intriguingly named Black Rat Cider is only on in the summer, being a scrumpy).    D thought the 'Tunnel Vision' was a nice malty bitter in very good condition.  He later moved onto 'Innocent' which was a pale, heavily hopped offering, and then his favourite, the 'Bath Ale Gem', which boasted some caramel flavours.

The frequently changing menu made the most of locally sourced produce.  There was a good range of dishes (all of which sounded delicious), so myself and D made the decision to share everything we ordered (fairly and equally), so as to sample as much as possible.

Starters arrived in perfect time for our hungry stomachs.  I started with the beautifully presented mushrooms on toast with garlic cream sauce. 

 The juicy mushrooms were decadently rich and perfectly paired with the rustic bread.  (We ate the flowers too - they tasted good!)  True to our word, halfway through we swapped plates, and I sampled the tasty strong-flavours of the breaded Camembert (crunchy on the outside, and fantastically gooey on the inside) with cranberry syrup,   We were delighted and hoped this was a sign of great things to come.

We were not wrong.  The main course I started on were thin sliced of juicy pan-seared duck breast, with scrumptiously salty roasted salsify, crispy saute potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke puree and some very tangy red berries.   As great as this was, this actually couldn't prepare us for the sheer divine nature of the other main meal, which D somewhat reluctantly shared with me.  It was pork belly, that had been slow-roasted for 12 hours, and sourced very locally from Bishops Cannings (a mere 10 minutes away).  It was utterly incredible.  Incredibly soft and flavoursome, served with amazingly crispy (but not-teeth-breakingly so), crackling, crunchy greens (savoy cabbage) and sage mash, a mouthful of these components combined was heaven on a fork.  I can't remember the last time I'd tasted anything that worked so well together.  Once again our plates were soon completely clean.

Somehow, we still had space for dessert, and stuck to our sharing policy (mostly).  My Chocolate Crunch dessert was paired with D's choice of Plum and Sloe Gin Sorbet.  (Both good, but I preferred mine, as it was more indulgent.

It had been an absolutely wonderful dinner - every single thing we sampled had been delicious and we hadn't left a thing.  We had been so well looked after, even though the restaurant and pub was at full capacity, that it had been a very chilled out experience (particularly as we knew our beds were in stumbling distance). 

The next morning, any normal person would have still been full.  I don't seem to be a normal person when it comes to good food (and thankfully neither is D).  Full english breakfasts are one of our most guilty-pleasures, and we thought we may as well continue to indulge.

Tara was amazing looking after us yet again, (even though she was about to help with a charity fun run before dashing back to serve what would be a fully booked lunch service!)  We weren't in a rush so we took it easy, eagerly anticipating another fine meal.

And what a meal it was!  All the ingredients were of the best quality.  A hugely chunky sausage (such a good flavour), two thick slices of bacon (D's favourite component), rustic bread toast, Stornoway black pudding (the best black pudding I'd ever had), beans (an essential binding ingredient), and a wonderfully soft-friend free-range egg (as good as the ones from my chickens, and with a yolk that was just as orange).  A blissful end to a visit full of gastronomic delights and exceptionally wonderful hospitality.   I'd strongly recommend a visit and hope I can return!

The White Horse Inn
Compton Bassett,
Nr Calne,
Wiltshire
SN11 8RGTel: 01249 813118
thewhitehorseinn@comptonbassett.com

The Pineapple, Lake End Road, Dorney, Bucks, SL4 6QS

Beautiful weather and many weeks of hard work, called for a well deserved lunch-time escape to the village of Dorney.   Although Dorney is home to a manor house, a rowing lake (a venue for the 2012 Olympics), and the first pineapple grown in England, in the eyes of the hungry folk who work round this way, it is most importantly home to sandwiches of IMMENSE proportions at The Pineapple pub.

Immense isn't a word I'm using lightly... it applies to the gigantic size of the sandwiches, the generosity and quality of the fillings, and perhaps most of all, the choice.  Lunch here is such a ritual for anyone working in the area, just about every person in our office has a menu saved somewhere on their desktop.  And for good reason.  Each trip is preceded by much deliberation pouring over the menu (sometimes for hours, or even sleeping on it before making a final decision), as the menu is extensive.  The imaginative menu  of almost 80 selections, extends into around 400 different options as each can be served on "crusty white bloomer, wholegrain brown, toasted bagel, tortilla wrap or french baguette" and then technically into over different 1000 variations as each can be served with chunky chips, soup or salad.  Always generously filled (for example with substantial slices of just-roasted meats), it's a fine art to construct an option that won't be so huge it defeats you (although, if it does, they will obligingly pack it up for you to take away).

(C) The Pineapple

Understandably, there is a downside.   Options inevitably lead to much time between ordering and eating.  But this is ok, as whether it's a group of 12 or a group of 2, you can phone in orders before 11am, and spare the lengthy wait.

My love of beer gardens is well documented on these pages, and The Pineapple has an enviable one (which appears to be recently revamped).  A bit of a sun trap, it's quite a delight even when one considers the proximity of the main road.  With plenty of tables it is always a far better option than sitting indoors during a busy lunch service, as although the pub has character, it often feels cramped rather than cosy.

We enjoyed some beautiful sunshine out on the decked area of the garden today.  Being experts at dining at The Pineapple we were there early to beat the crowds, and we'd of course pre-ordered.  Some dishes, such as The Screaming Banger (sausages and chilli relish) or The Christmas Dinner, are best enjoyed on hugely thick slabs of bread.  However, a bagel or a wrap, whilst perhaps seen as a bit of a cop-out, are good for The BBC (Bacon, brie, cranberry), or the Smokey Blue Mountain (bacon, blue cheese and leafy salad).  The advantage of wraps, are that they leave space to enjoy the satisfyingly chunky chips, so even though Sharon was fondly remembering the Fisherman's Friend (fishfingers and tartar sauce), wraps were quite literally the order of the day.

'By the Bayou' was a previously untried choice for me, and I was  pleasantly surprised.  'Blackened' chicken was thankfully not charred, but had a Cajun seasoning that wasn't overpowering, but with a good kick, tempered by a honey mustard dressing, which wasn't too sweet on account of the leafy salad and the spicy chicken, but was a little too much in Sharon's Chicken Licken (but she reported the avocado to be a good addition).

We had in summation, a really lovely lunch (and even though we split a portion of chips and a portion of salad between us, we didn't manage to finish either - with a fixed price of about £7 for a main course this is pretty great value if you go for the giant sandwich option).  Despite it only being a Thursday the indoors and outdoors soon filled up, so it is worth noting that arriving early can dramatically improve your dining experience.  The car park is always overflowing, but parking can always be found on the road, or in the small (free) car park by the Jubilee River, just about 100 yards down the road from the pub.  The toilets could definitely do with a revamp, and this isn't always a great place to visit in winter in a large group, but for a relaxed summer afternoon, it is pretty great and definitely worth a visit.

(To preorder or reserve a table, call The Pineapple on 01628 662353.  Lake End Road, Dorney, Bucks, SL4 6QS)

The White Horse, Village Road, Hedgerley, SL2 3UY

I'm amazed I'd not written about The White Horse until now. Originally a Beer in the Evening find, it's my most favourite (relatively local) drinkery, and the place where I take all my distinguished visitors, in order to counteract the smokestacks and trading estate view from my flat. True to form, I whisked Laura from Slough Rail Station to the gorgeously rural village of Hedgerley.

From the moment we headed up 'One Pin Lane', and took delight at 'Christmas Lane', Laura expressed incredulous shock at the opulent houses and lush greenery - Toto I have a feeling we're not in Slough anymore...

Village Road itself is exactly how you'd imagine it - flanked by fields and a tiny church - we parked a short walk away, and found we weren't the only ones walking the final few yards to The White Horse (it's always busy- I've never attempted to squeeze into the car park). The timber-thatched building dates back to 1679, with nothing incongruously modern in the decor. Always busy, this is everyone's favourite pub. Two bar areas (one so tiny, I've frequently had to sit in the fireplace cubbyhole -see picture below courtesy of Lee on a previous visit), and a wonderful rambly garden, makes this place a delight.


The winner of many a Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) award, it boasts an immensely wide ranging selection of booze - from the aforementioned real ale, to properly potent cider, to a selection of Belgian Bottled Beers so large it's presented to those who ask, in a ring-binder.

 But my visit with Laura, was no normal day. The sun was shining to herald not only the start of the Bank Holiday Weekend, but also the 18th Annual White Horse May Bank Holiday Beer Festival, as we discovered with delight as we walked into the beer garden.


Although not yet 6pm on Friday, the large garden was full of relaxed drinkers, taking advantage of the huge bar tent serving 100s of beers - the atmosphere very much like we were in the garden of a friend. We found a quiet spot upon the steps of the children's playhouse, got ourselves a suitably frivolous raspberry beer and basked in the sun... Fruitily, frothily, delicious we marvelled at our good luck.

The Cricketers, Coronation Road, Littlewick Green, Maidenhead, SL6 3RA

It was dark. Whilst we could see a distant glimmer of a pub upon a village green, finding the road by which to reach it was a little more challenging. Once parked outside, I was pleasantly surprised by the bustle of people inside. As much as I love the Beer in the Evening website, the last Sunday night pub it led us to managed to be simultaneously hostile and empty. The Cricketers looked pretty from the outset (I imagined even more lovely in the summer when the green wasn't just a dark expanse), and once inside we were met with one of the friendliest and most chatty landlords experienced in a while, (how many times have you been entertained by an Alexander the Meerkat impression, by the person serving your drinks? And introduced to the selection of meerkat memorabilia behind the bar).

There was much in the way of Badger ales and slight touches of quirkiness in the knick-knacks dotted around the pub. Deep in conversation I didn't realise for a while that the crowd had disappated by about 9.30pm, and we were the only ones left (well, us and a couple of chubby birds...I'm sure they had lovely personalities):

I am quite a fan of slightly weird pubs (the appearance of the tiniest dogs in the world firmly put this pub in that category), particularly when they are friendly, old-fashioned and cosy as The Cricketers is. The toilets did let the side down somewhat- the Ladies are in definite need of a refurb, and I have it on good authority that there is a very unconventional colour scheme going on in the Gents. But hey, all good conversation topics! Didn't sample any food, but I hope to visit again and can highly recommend a visit.