Good Beer Guide Ticks - 548-550
Approaching Newbury on the Avon and Kennet Canal, we were greeted by the grizzled old seadog, operating the electric swing bridge.
"Are you coming across?" - he shouted, before pressing go and cutting off the opposite bank until we had at least walked another 50m.
"Is the Good Pub on that side?" - I replied - which was met with "Yes, its the best pub in Newbury. And also the most expensive".
He was correct. It was a Fullers House - who need to make money since they stopped the brewing.
Lock, Stock and Barrel, Northbrook Street, ESB
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| Technically, still on the Walk from Hungerford |
Nothing - and I mean nothing would be stopping me from my first cask ESB of 2021.
Not the velvet rope.
Not the man asking if we had booked.
Not the thought of taking out a second mortgage.
Negotiation with "The Man" - who left us at the rope to watch him de-fumigate - and we were offered a little table under the right hand umbrella you can see in the above photo.
I left Mrs M to work out the App booking and went in search of facilities.
My return was both greeted with a prime example of what I had been missing and a cry of "£11.50".
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| TBF, her Stowford Press was more expensive |
The Catherine Wheel, Cheap Street, Otter Ale
A pork pie on a bench (don't ask, I forgot to include a lunch stop on the walk) and an amble through the pretty town that is Newbury. Less thirsty punters would have stopped to peruse the street market but I was on a mission to get the three good ticks before the 15:03 train.
To explain - the micro - the Cow and Cask - although easily on route would not have presented the most socially distanced of experiences and there probably would have been low odds of gaining entrance in any case. Regular blogfans will now that Mrs M will not cross the threshold of a JDW.
So this left the Cathernine Wheel - a fine traditional pub, that we briefly saw as we were shown to a rather charming courtyard. Observations? No one wants the news on the 65" screen when they go for a pint. Its all 3rd Wave this, Prince Harry that.
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| The footpath was narrow. The road was busy. |
A menu was presented and if the sun was over the yard arm, I may have experimented with bottles of 10% Belgian Dancing Juice.
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| Otter in a Good Old Boy Glass |
Instead, I settled on a unexpectedly thin Otter Ale. I suspect gravity fed barrels but have little proof.
Mrs M found a dog - and its owner to talk to. She explained that we were ticking off the good beer guide pubs - which he found more fascinating that the reaction normally elicited. He may be the next ticker, as despite living in Newbury for 16 years, he was unaware of the Cow and Cask.
He agreed with us about JDW - where he had previously been chucked out for sitting at a pavement table outside with his dog. He recommended the next pub, the KC and gave us the lingo that meant we would be accepted by the regulars.
The King Charles, Cheap Street, Exmoor Ale
This is all going swimmingly well, this is both a short distance away and we are making our way to the station.
But wait - Mrs M spots a problem. "Aren't Greene King Pubs a bit shite?" she asks.
Sometimes I don't know whether she is joining in with the pub ticking a little too hard.
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| Eezer Goode... Mrs M spotting danger signs |
Anyone who had tasted Greene King IPA would surely agree with Mrs M, but I am reasonably sure that this was not on offer.
Instead, on our side of the bar, we had a choice of many of the West Country's finest. Dartmoor Jail Ale, Wickwar Bob and Exmoor Ale. It felt like we were on our holidays.
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| Pub Ticking - 2021 Style |
Train tickets ordered from the above table - with realisation that a 12 minute journey for two could have bought a round at the Lock Stock and we are whisked away for a freshen up before tea at West Berkshire Pub of the Year.
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