The Old George, Milton Keynes

Official site of The Old George - www.theoldgeorgestonystratford.co.uk

Official site of The Old George - www.theoldgeorgestonystratford.co.uk

A 400-year-old building which is pleasingly still a going concern along with several others on this (now) quiet section of the old Watling Street. As mentioned below, the bar area is sunken below the level of the High Street, so you descend a couple of steps to enter. The bar is an L-shaper, located to the left, with seating at the bar, in both bay windows and to the right and beyond. There is also what appeared to be a dining area towards the back on the pub, but as the lights were off, this was not explored. Various Olde Worlde framed adverts including one for manure for sale and another for potatoes: Blackthorn_'s bread oven from 2011 still remains in situ. The bar appears to have reduced its number of handpumps down to just two now, dispensing Ringwood Razorback and St Austell Tribute (the latter NBSS 3). A TV just above and to the left of the bar showed Wales v Bosnia in WC Play-Off to one punter, with another two watching a darts match on a smartphone at the bar (annoying or what?). A trip to the Gents necessitates tackling a creaky set of stairs, and once at the top, any NBA players would at a disadvantage, the corridor showing its four-century age and design. Note: the dated pub sign hanging from the bracket out front states 'Fullers Beers' but the house is free of tie.

A traditional black and white building unusual in that there are several steps down from the street into the pub. The bar faces you as you walk in complete with a few stools with most of the space to the right filled with tables and chairs and mainly occupied on our Friday evening visit. It was certainly full enough to create a decent atmosphere but access to the bar wasn't a problem and we were quickly served. Beers on were Ringwood Fortyniner, Hobgoblin and Frog Island Shoemaker as the local representative. The Fortyniner was ok but no more and didn't warrant a second. A decent stop on a Stony Stratford crawl but it wouldn't be my first stop for beer.

Pleasing old exterior,you step down into a sunken bar room with an atmospheric low ceiling.The bar is unusually curved,and the barmaids chatty and cheeky which created a good vibe.The front bar has different sections while there is a cosy back bar,where a band was setting up in a seperate section.The gents are up an old staircase,which also leads to the letting rooms. It was popular and lively on my Friday night visit ,and there were 4 handpumps.My Ringwood Fortyniner was clear but not in top condition,but it felt like the sort of pub to include on a crawl around town not least because all the other customers also turned out to be pub crawling that evening.

A pleasant traditional, old high street pub in the middle of village. It’s an L-shaped main bar furnished with green carpet and has an unusual conical brick-built chimney over the fireplace as well as a brick built bar. There is also an old bread oven built in to the wall as well as a selection of tables and chairs, fruit and quiz machines, an old cart wheel on the ceiling, a couple of large mirrors and a few pencilled drawings. It’s clearly a very old building, and there is a definite tilt and unevenness to some of the flooring upstairs as you go to the loos. At the rear is a small room that looks to be more geared up for dining, and there is also a courtyard out the back. Food offering was a small selection of pub grub, with most of the main courses being around the £8 mark. There was also a specials board, although with this listing dishes such as a couple of curries, Chilli con carne and Gammon, Egg & Chips, I would suggest that the dishes on the regular menu were in fact more special. Landlady seemed friendly enough. Beers on tap were Jennings Laughing Gravy, Ringwood Best and Wychwood Hobgoblin. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.