Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Tris39
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Black Horse, Reading
Checkendon
Postal town: Reading
RG8 0TE
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 9 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Black Horse
Approaching this pub up a narrow country lane, I thought I'd taken a wrong turning.
However, the pub appeared in front of me and I have to agree with Quinno that this is a classic country pub.
Ales and ciders are listed on A4 sheets of paper on a wall which splits the bar in two. Four ales were on offer. Rebellion IPA & West Berkshire Good Old Boy are regulars, whilst guests were Timothy Taylor Landlord & South Oxfordshire Mr Toad's. Real ciders were both from Winkleigh in Devon - Sam's Poundhouse Crisp & Sam's Cloudy Crush. The latter was a new one for me and was definitely on the sweet side.
All beers and ciders are fetched from the cellar and the pub has now succumbed to allowing card payments, presumably as a consequence of the pandemic.
The main bar area was busy with a couple of groups of locals. A second adjacent room was also fully occupied. So, I found myself in the furthest room from the bar, where a group of people with their dogs were just in the process of moving outside, as the dogs were becoming a bit too boisterous. A drink was knocked over during the exodus, with a clear-up ensuing.
Another table had 3 people playing some sort of fantasy game involving playing cards, which seemed far too complicated for my liking.
There are tables out at the front, to enjoy the country air, whilst a peak outside into the rear garden revealed a couple of muddy ship chomping their way through the grass.
Toilets are all outside. The gents is a simple wall to pee against. I'm not sure what provision there is for a number two! There is no sink. Although hand sanetiser is provided!
Easily the best of 10 pubs I visited in Oxfordshire today and the only one to stock real cider.
On 2nd April 2022
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Black Horse
A wonderful time-warp pub with a lot of charm, situated in the rambling hamlet of Checkendon. Finding your way here can be tricky in a car, especially at night (don’t fall for the ‘Quiet Lane’ signs like I did once!). Run by the same family for many years, the long red-brick building is around 200 years old but the interior and parts of the exterior detail are very much as it would have been in the mid-1930’s. There are three separate rooms inside; a spartan main bar, its walls yellowed by years of tobacco smoke, offers simple wooden furnishings and is often the focal point for the regulars. To the left, through a doorway, lie two further rooms which are essentially lounges which one suspects were proper pipe-smoking rooms a few years back. All three rooms have a real fire but may not all be open in the winter. Beer available is usually West Berks (Butlers was also served until it went out of business a few years back) with White Horse Bitter also appearing. All ale comes direct from the barrel. Check out the old wooden ‘till’ which is basically a drawer – no card payment here, just cash. No hot food is served; the best you’ll get are sandwiches, pickled eggs and crisps (and I won’t complain about that). Carrying on the basic nature of things, the gents is a comedy outside affair and a right git in the winter. The pub works in all seasons – in the winter it is a cosy, welcoming retreat with its fires and warmth whilst in the summer the outside areas are great for drinking and playing traditional pub games. Also in the front garden you can cross over the road to say hello to the horses in the field opposite.
Unspoilt by modern frivolities, this is a super country pub and well worth a visit - combine a stop here with a trip to the Bell at Aldworth (15 minutes up the road) and you should have an evening to remember.
On 5th September 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]