John Barleycorn, Reading

A pleasant old village pub which retains two rooms either side of the entrance. There is also a garden accessible from the rear of the bar. Very low beamed ceilings, the preferred room for the locals seems to be the bar, with the lounge being empty late afternoon. I received a genuine friendly welcome from the landlord and the group of locals collected around the bar. The handpumps were not visible being in the lounge side, so I had to ask. Brakspears Bitter and Oxford Gold on plus Ringwood Fortyniner. The bar has a quarry tiled floor, a few pictures, a random layout of seating with rickety pew style seats and small tables. A side room off the bar has a bar billiards table and a collection of commemorative Bells Whisky porcelain bells in a display case. The bar fireplace is a more recent brick built affair, however the large timber beam over suggests it was once a much larger opening. The pub has the smallest pub TV I think I've seen, being a portable type balanced in the corner with the scores and league tables showing on Sky Sports News via an attached Freeview box. The 1965 Brakspears price list displayed made interesting reading. I enjoyed it here and would recommend a visit