The White Horse, Slough

This was a long overdue first visit here. A classic traditional country pub whose reputation went before it, rustic and two roomed, a small public bar and slightly larger lounge, where I ended up.The floor is carpeted , some black beams and posts, exposed brick walls and white plaster ceiling. The beer menu is displayed on a blackboard, 7 real ales, 2 craft keg and a couple of real Ciders. I had a couple of pints, Two by Two New England Simco and First And Last Equinox combined with a very tasty Spicy Sausage casserole. A really good pub.

Official site of The White Horse - www.thewhitehorsehedgerley.co.uk

Official site of The White Horse - www.thewhitehorsehedgerley.co.uk

As a fairly regular visitor to the White Horse, I rate this village pub very highly. It is one of very few pubs I would award a 10/10 for across the UK, having been to almost 7,000 to date. The approach from the motorway is along a narrow lane. As previous reviewers have said, the exterior of the pub is a picture postcard image of an English country pub, with hanging baskets and the like. Inside, there is a small bar and a slightly larger lounge, where food is served only at lunchtimes. At the rear, there is a reasonably large garden and an undercover tented area with patio heaters. Service is from either bar, or from a hatch in the tented area. A further marquee is generally added for the 3 annual beer festivals. On my last visit, there were 8 real ales. Rebellion IPA is a regular. Guests were Mighty Oak Maldon Gold, Green Duck Blonde, Three Sods Boho Bitter, Treen's Smolder, Bond Brews Kaptain Chaos, Rudgate Dragon's Gold & Cold Black Label Pirate Bay. All real ales are served directly from the cask. In addition, there are generally 2 craft beers. Last Wednesday, these were Northern Monk Don't Mess With Yorkshire & Big Smoke Electric Eye. The pub is also good for cider. The range has recently been reduced from 3 to 2. Hayward Farm Medium & Nightingale Kentish Perry on my last visit. During the pandemic, the pub was open for take-outs served from the cold store in the garden. I was probably visiting more regularly then, as few other pubs were open. A great pub that most will enjoy if you don't mind ales served direct from the cask.

Having walked across the fields from Gerrards Cross on a scorching hot summer's day, the sight of this pub, with its colourful floral displays on the front, was a most welcome sight. This is a marvellous old rural pub with bags of character in a Grade II listed building. You enter into a passageway of sorts with a small snug-like room to the left offering a few nice seating options around a fine fireplace on the end wall. There is a small section of servery to the rear and a dartboard as well, although I can't imagine it can be used once a few customers have settled down in here. Carrying on, you emerge into the main bar, with just a small hatch on the back wall acting as a servery. A board next to the hatch lists all of the ale options and opposite, under the front windows, there is a very appealing deli-counter with an amazing array of cheeses, pies and other such delights. The room is carpeted and surprisingly dark on a bright sunny day. Tables of various sizes fill the room supported by numerous benches and chairs. The place has a nice rustic feel thanks to the dark ceiling beams that cross the room, adorned with a wagon wheel, various pump clips, pans, tankards, horse brasses, lamps and a small collection of ceramic chickens among other things. The walls are partly bare brick and covered with paintings, old documents, hunting horns, photos and CAMRA certificates. Most of the tables were laid for lunch on our Sunday afternoon visit, so we headed out to the very well tended beer garden which has a covered area near to the rear door and a smart patio and lawn area beyond. The pub seems to be a CAMRA favourite and there was certainly a wide selection of cask ale available, all served straight from the barrel. Options on this occasion were Oakham Scarlet Macaw, Neepsend Helios, Wadworth Filthy Clucker, Blue Square Moonlight Blonde, Black Hill Towneley, Dancing Duck Back Sack and Quack(!) and Rebellion IPA, plus three real ciders. I tried the Scarlet Macaw, which was in great condition and passing back through the village later in the day, we stopped off again and I enjoyed and equally good pint of the Moonlight Blonde. We also had some lunch here and I plumped for the homemade chicken pie which was fantastic and very good value too. I thought this was a wonderful pub that was fully deserving of the various accolades it's received over the years. There is a suggestion that I may have got lucky with the quality of my pint, but they seemed to be coping well in the kind of hot weather that would flummox many a pub and my two pints were outstanding. This was an idyllic spot for a day of summer drinking and felt very much like a destination pub to me.

Hard for me to rate this. The pub is superb - old school, 8 real ales on, full of charming locals with a real buzz. However, my Little London Pryde was ghastly, in look (flat), taste (vinegar) and price £3.85. Dont like gravity fed beer direct from the barrel. Its needs to be hand pulled to get some life into it. Maybe it was a bad pint or an ill choice, but it left a real bad taste in my mouth. A Shame. Photos and story at my walking blog - http://bit.ly/1YyYaor