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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Will Larter
Submitted on Tuesday, 7th May 2019
With picture contributions to 11562 other pubs
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Detail Pages
The Bell Inn, Reading
Aldworth
Postal town: Reading
RG8 9SE
Served areas
Reviews of The Bell Inn (Average Rating: 9½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Bell Inn
A well regarded pub in an attractive village, this isn’t somewhere you’re likely to stumble across by accident, but is certainly worth making an effort to get to, and for a somewhat out of the way pub, we were pleasantly surprised to find several other punters in there on our Thursday afternoon visit. A sign directed you to “parking in the field” which is up a slope behind the pub, and the adjacent field had a number of chicken’s running around and an old abandoned car that was presumably their roost.
The front door leads you in to an entrance hallway with rooms off to either side. The bar counter, if it can be called that, is inset in to the right hand room and also adjoins the hallway. It’s certainly not a bar counter in the conventional sense though, more of a small bar room with glazed windows and hatches through which to serve you. It reminded me more of an old station ticket office rather than your normal pub. The room to the left had old beams on the ceiling, dark wood panelling on the lower part of the walls, and rough, mustard colour plasterwork above. A large fireplace was a prominent feature on one wall with an unusual deep maroon paint job on the bricks at the back. Despite a couple of logs in the fireplace, it was disappointing that the wood burning stove was just an electric imitation rather than the real thing. All sorts of beer accolades were on the walls as well as a large collection of Good Beer Guide books. The room to the right was perhaps a little more atmospheric, although broadly similar in terms of décor with another attractive brick fireplace and plenty more pictures on the wall.
Beers on tap were Rebellion Roasted Nuts, Baldrick Mild, Amwell Spring’s Chairman Dave and Arkell’s BBB. The cider choice was extensive and on this occasion consisted of Lilley’s Rhubarb and Apple & Pear, BumbleBee Craft cider and a trio from the local Tutts Clump – Ridgeway, Berkshire Diamond and Traditional Farmhouse. All in all, a lovely old pub and well worth taking the effort to track down.
On 10th June 2022
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Bell Inn
Visited on a weekday lunchtime to celebrate re-opening. Inevitably it's garden seating only (uncovered bar table umbrellas) but the beer and service were as impeccable as every, NBSS 3.5-4.5 all round.
April 2017, and before
A real gem, which ticks lots of boxes:
-the unspoilt multi-roomed interior (it's a CAMRA heritage pub) where the beer is dispensed from a central booth with sliding windows, a real open fire and the tables which are inside the old bread ovens built into the wall.
-the ale range. Five local beers from West Berkshire and Arkells (always offering a mild) which are served in pint pots as standard. Real cider is available from Uptons and there’s no draught lager.
-the simple food selection which is basic but tasty, with posh hot rolls (duck and orange pate/Ox tongue, anyone?) and some other larger dishes.
-the service. The Bell has been overseen by generations of the same family for the past 200-odd years. Service is always friendly, even when busy.
-the atmosphere. No mobile phones. No music. No electronics. No pool table. Just chat (and darts when not too packed).
-the great outdoors. A nice garden and an outside gents pissoir with almost no roof, nicknamed the Planetarium.
There aren’t many ‘visit before you die’ pubs but this is most certainly one. Close to perfect and delivers every time.
On 26th June 2021
- rating: 10
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Bell Inn
My final pub on my cycle (and train) tour of the south east, visiting pubs that had been recommended by members of this site, plus a clutch of micropubs on the north Kent coast and whatever I came upon in the course of my travels. This is one of two to achieve a normally rare but in both instances well deserved 10. (The other was the Half Way House near Tonbridge.) I was staying at the hostel in Streatley, and my departure from there to arrive here at opening time coincided with a heavy shower that turned parts of Streatly Hill into a torrent and me into a rather wet and bedraggled cyclist. At opening time a steady stream of regulars found their way here - most of them arriving by car, it seems. The atmosphere was convivial and welcoming, and the choice of beers enticing. So much so that I had three halves rather than the two I had promised myself while waiting for the door to open: West Berkshire Old Tyler (which is Good Old Boy re-badged and with extra hops), Indigenous Baldrick Mild and Rebellion Roasted Nuts, also a mild. All were interesting and flavoursome, though advocates for tight sparklers and swan necks would probably say they were flat. I enjoyed all three and the only downside was the realisation of the unlikelihood of finding my way back here in the near future.
Date of visit: 2nd May 2019
On 31st May 2019
- rating: 10
[User has posted 3733 recommendations about 3470 pubs]
View more reviews of The Bell Inn (6)
No known official website for this pub.
- Facebook - Bell Inn, Aldworth
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Bell Inn - whatpub.com
- Historic Pub Interiors - pubheritage.camra.org.uk
Cholsey, 5.37 miles, 1 hr 43 min walk (show)
Pangbourne, 6.41 miles, 2 hr 3 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Car Park : Yes last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 30 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Darts : Yes last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : No - but lots of rolls and ploughmans! - last updated 30 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 20 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 20 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : No last updated 09 December 2015 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 30 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 30 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : No last updated 30 November 2018 by Quinno _
- WiFi : No last updated 30 November 2018 by Quinno _
