Old Waggon & Horses, Newbury

The Old Waggon & Horses is a particularly down-at-heel Craft Union pub with a small L-shaped front bar where cricket via Sky Sports was muted while the greatest hits of Ska were playing at a volume during a recent Tuesday evening visit. The serving counter along the rear wall to the right supports standard, premium and mainstream craft keg and one of the two hand pumps was in use drawing TT Landlord. Past the toilets at the rear is another bar that had the music from the pub blaring and disco lights spinning. There was nobody in here and the counter up the left was shuttered off. Some darts can be played, but the noise and lights make this challenging, which is a shame because it’s actually a nice waterside location that is utilised well by other businesses along this stretch of river.

Another basic boozer, an apparent recurring theme in Newbury, just two ales on Doom Bar and Good Old Boy,nothing wrong with the place but nothing special either.

Ok place worth a look

The ‘unusual’ dark orange interior is actually pretty tiny belying the fairly large façade. The bar is situated to the right and the left is dominated by a pool table and fruit machine. As seems to be a Newbury speciality it was loud piped Chav music to the fore though the punters were fairly well controlled. Two ales on, a Brains rugby-themed one and Good Old Boy at a very reasonable £2.60 even if the quality wasn’t up to much. Friendly Irish (land?)lady behind the bar. Not exactly an experience but in Newbury it might be worth a look.