The Royal Oak, Bedford

Good to see this one open again, which I believe happened in May last year after being closed since my last review below and at some point the new owners buying it from Charles Wells. From what I can remember of the old pub internally it’s had a fairly major makeover and refurb throughout and although the old main pub building bar is still in situ a large dining room area has been added. Wooden floored throughout the smaller front and larger main bar sections are connected by an open doorway and have a shared wood burning stove set in the connecting room. As well as the new restaurant area the outside has been improved considerably and there are now two outside areas, an undercover terrace section and then a large lawn area with plentiful wooden tables and chairs. This is now a free house and there are three hand pumps on each of the sections. For my visit there were two ales available in the shape of Phipps NBC India Pale Ale and another local microbrewery beer that I didn’t note down. We didn’t eat here but I did get the impression that the food side leads this establishment now, but that is perfectly fine if that’s what it takes to keep it open.

The Royal Oak has now shut down and is currently undergoing planning permission to be turned into a residential dwelling. Carlton village used to support five pubs at the turn of the century and there were still three up to the late 70's when the Angel shut down. And with this closure this now leaves the Fox as the only pub in the Village of Carlton.