The Horseshoe, Olney

A good sized Charles Wells pub in the centre of the village, it has a large car park at the side as well as a few more parking spaces and some picnic benches at the front. Judging on some of the pictures on the walls there is also an attractive beer garden at the rear, although I did not investigate this on my visit. The pub is divided in to two halves, with a bar area to the right and a lounge/dining room to the left. The bar looks quite attractive with a large brick fire-place at one end, and a Northamptonshire skittles game in a smaller room adjacent to it. As I was dining though, I opted for the other half of the pub. This is an L-shape room with the dining area separated by some painted wood partitioning up a couple of steps at the rear, and this was in darkness until a couple of other punters turned up and wanted to sit there. There are plenty of beams on the ceiling, which was sagging considerably in the middle and consequently supported by a wooden post. Paintwork was a mixture of maroon and cream, with some khaki green wood panelling in the room at the back. A stone fire-place with a copper hood was at one end and a pile of logs were in the grate ready for the colder weather. Food wise, the menu offered a decent selection of pub grub dishes such as Fish & Chips, Steak & Kidney pudding, Gammon Steak, etc., and most of the main courses were around the £9 - £10 mark. There was also a specials board offering another three or four options. My Chicken & roasted ham pie, in a cream, white wine, garlic & oregano sauce served in a puff pastry case with seasonal vegetables & gourmet chips was a hearty dish and reasonably good value at £9.25 I thought. Beers on tap were Eagle IPA and Courage Directors. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately. Overall I quite liked this pub, although personally I would have preferred it if the landlady’s toddler wasn’t running around. Not only that, but the grandmother was actually encouraging her by getting her to “help” collect plates, take orders, and such like. I guess some people might think it’s cute, but personally I’ve always felt that pubs and kids, especially ones as young as that, don’t really mix.

Official site of the Horseshoe, contains menu - www.horseshoelavendon.com

Official site of the Horseshoe, contains menu - www.horseshoelavendon.com