Old Millwrights Arms, Aylesbury

From the outside a fairly average-looking pub with a large Greene King sign, but going in I was pleasantly surprised by a nice row of handpumps facing the door. Generally U-shaped round a central bar, tastefully furnished with tabled areas to each side and soft chairs in the middle, plus a garden behind. Perhaps a little bit too comfortable for comfort, and the large screen showing a jungle waterfall for no apparent reason was rather unnecessary. On the pumps were an excellent range of beers from the likes of White Horse and Hook Norton, while I was drawn to a rather nice Elgoods Blackberry Stout in excellent condition (Cask Marque). Well worth the walk out from town.

Pleasant L-shaped bar, lots of space, a little bit out of the mail town centre. Good choice of real ales

A substantial street corner pub located just a short stroll across the canal from Aylesbury town centre, first impressions weren’t great with a Greene King sign outside but fortunately there was a very extensive range of beers on tap, by no means just the run of the mill offerings that one associates with that brewer. Add to that a delightfully cheerful barmaid (despite her tattoos and purple hair) and I could quite imagine settling in here for a few had I not had a table booked at the nearby Broad Leys. Internally, it’s a single, open-plan L shape room with a wood strip floor. Dark brown painted wood panelling was on the lower part of the walls, with some flock wallpaper and plain plasterwork elsewhere. A large map on the ceiling was an unusual feature and a small brick fireplace with wood burning stove was off to one side. One table had a massive pile of board games stacked up on it, whilst a large TV screen was showing a football match. Some pale brown Chesterfield style bench seating was at the front of the pub, whilst a number of chairs had apparently been laid from old beer barrels – not just sawn off to make a stool, but a proper arm chair. A courtyard garden was at the back of the pub, and whilst not especially attractive this was still a pleasant enough spot. We didn’t study the food menu, but did see a few pizzas and burgers coming out. Beers on tap were Tring’s Colley Dog, Greene King IPA, Tring’s Side Pocket for a Toad, Loddon Reading Best, Farr Brew Bitter, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Abbott Ale, whilst a board on the wall displayed a further selection that was coming soon. Ciders too were well represented with Abrahall’s AD, Farmer Jim’s Rootin Tootin and Aspall’s Suffolk. All in all, well worth a visit.

An old exterior but a modernised interior, don't be put off by the Greene King sign outside only three out of nine beers were tosh and the line up included 2 Yorkshire beers, Black Sheep Bitter and Taylor's Landlord (the pub's landlord is from Scarborough) in excellent condition which would put some Yorkshire pubs to shame. A large U shaped room with a mix of furniture ancient & modern and nice wooden floorboards. Only a few old photos as decor. I did make it a two hander with the Bricklayers before a stroll back over the canal to the town centre.

Nearing the end of a pleasant stroll along the canal into the centre of Aylesbury, the heavens decided to open, so we made a quick dash to this smartly refurbished Greene King pub, to wait for the storm to pass. We found a rather pleasing U-shaped pub which seemed to be angled towards diners, although our late Saturday afternoon visit found several groups of locals enjoying drinks and not a single plate of food in sight. Entrances at either side of the building lead into the main bar area where a sturdy looking U-shaped servery stands to the rear, with some new mirrors on the bar back bearing the pub's name. Comfy seating was arranged under the windows in the space opposite the bar including some rather excellent looking tub chairs fashioned from old wooden barrels. To the right of the bar there is a fairly large area which seemed to be popular with the locals and offered more comfortable seating and extended into an additional space to the right, with a fireplace and various pointless knick-knacks dotted around the place. Large windows to the rear here made this quite a bright space, in contrast to the more muted lighting in the main bar area. To the left of the bar is a smaller area with tables and chairs down the left hand wall, although some of this had been cleared away in preparation for some live music which was due on that evening. Lots of interesting old local photos adorn the walls here, alongside a few bits of breweriana. A good playlist was chugging away in the background throughout our stay and there were a couple of friendly, if rather damp, dogs mooching around looking for a bit of attention. The pub's last refurbishment seemed to coincide with an expansion of their guest ale policy, as evidenced by the Greene King/Morland staples IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Old Golden Hen and seasonal Back of the Net being available alongside XT 4 and XPA, Hornes Triple Goat Pale and Weston's Old Rosie cider. I'd never heard of the Hornes Brewery, but having been told it was a Buckinghamshire based micro, I decided to give it a try and received a well kept, if rather one-dimensional pint. The staff were very polite and seemed to have a good rapport with their regulars, although my other half interpreted this differently, leaving with the impression that the place was a bit cliquey. The decision of this pub to go down the food route seems a little at odds with its location on the periphery of the town centre and the refurbishment couldn't entirely hide the fact that this is a local's boozer at heart. I found it a smart and comfortable place to shelter from the rain over a well conditioned pint and would suggest it makes a good addition to a crawl around Aylesbury.