Paul Humphreys rambles on....

This weekend we went and stayed at a pub in Berkshire in a village called Stanford Dingley. Despite doom and gloom on the weather front it has been quite successful.

We started out doing a walk around Checkondon which is near Henley. The walk was three and a half miles. We got back as it started to rain. We had lunch in the pub there and headed out to Stanford Dingley.

We checked into the pub and then went to a National Trust property Called Basildon Park . As it turns out they have just finished filming a new version of Pride and Prejudice . This meant the house was closed while they put it back together. We had a quick walk in the ground before it rained again.

We had dinner in the pub and visited the other pub in the village for dessert ! I write reports for the Good Pub guide . Both pubs are in the guide. On Sunday morning we got up, had an English breakfast and did a walk around Beenham starting from the Six Bells pub. Again luck held and we got back before it started to rain. I prefered this walk as there was bit more to see. This area of Berkshire is very pretty and the andscape is a little more interesting to our part as the countryside has a few more hills and less houses ! We saw a newly built abbey at Douai which was started in 1928 but it had to wait until 1993 when the church was dedicated. I prefer the other buildings on the site to this 'modern' structure. The site had once a well respected Roman Catholic school. Further round the walk we saw some children playing football. I think the parents were more vocal in their support of the them and this support did not seem to make much difference to the playing ability either !

We returned home and I have just cleaned the car and our muddy boots before writing this blog...

Comments:

Back in the 70', when I was working at ECMWF (when it started up in Bracknell) we would run over to Rutherford Labs near Didcot to run programs on ECMWF's Cray 1 loaner. It was there because ECMWF didn't have a building yet. On the way we'd stop for lunch somewhere near the labs at a pub called the Plough and the Ploughman, I believe. It was an original thatched roof place, in the middle of fields. The ceilings were very low (Elizabethans were short, we were told) and lots of small rooms. The food was superb. Seemed authentic enough. I always wanted to go back but couldn't find it. Any ideas? My favorite pubs in London still are the Museum Tavern and The Lamb, and the Spaniards (in the Heath). Lucky you to be writing for the Good Pub Guide. I've used in the past many times.

Posted by Richard Friedman on October 03, 2004 at 09:01 PM PDT #