The Black Horse, Princes Risborough

A fairly characterful pub in a late 70s way and as it is GBG listed I had high hopes on entering and arriving at the bar. First the positives – black beams, brasses, plenty of bric-a-brac, local cricket club photos, a decent garden and a general air of timelessness. Downsides - awful cliché slogans on the wall and try-hard comedy prints. Still, there’s the beer, right? A nice barmaid presided over four pumps and all operational on a hot summers evening. Brakspear Bitter, Gales Seafarers (NBSS 2.5), Holts and a terrible warm, pishy Butcombe (1.5). For A GBG pub this was a massive disappointment and is another filed under ‘Buckinghamshire – what goes wrong?‘

Official site of The Black Horse - www.blackhorselaceygreen.co.uk

Official site of The Black Horse - www.blackhorselaceygreen.co.uk

The hilltop village of Lacey Green is a lucky one, blessed as it is with three very good pubs - The Whip, The Pink & Lily and this cosy old school establishment. Located on the road running through the village, this is lightning bolt-shaped internally, with the bar facing on entry with a dining area to the right of the bar and beyond. A carpeted floor seems slightly out of keeping, but black beams, a brick bar, horse brasses, old photos of the village, bric a brac above a fireplace alcove (where a modern strive fire resides) and unashamedly pub grub menu (and accompanying home cooking smell) are further ticks in boxes. Add a four ale line-up consisting of Brakspear Bitter, Otter Ale, Box Steam Piston Broke and a superb Marston's 61 Deep means this is a high scorer for me, although the only the only negatives were a live football match being shown to no-one in particular and some tired old drinking cliches painted on the dining room walls from Churchill, WC Fields, et al.