The Carnarvon Arms, Newbury

A decent looking pub in this small village, it is named after Lord Caernarvon of the nearby Highclere Castle, which of course, is better known to millions around the world as Downton Abbey. I was expecting all sorts of Downton memorabilia inside the pub, but in fact the only thing that I noticed to appeal to tourists was an A-board outside enticing them in to try our world famous afternoon tea. There’s a good sized seating area out the front and inside it’s a little more contemporary than I was perhaps expecting with a tiled floor, a very pale brown paint on the ceiling and much of the walls (unfortunately they had pained straight over all the old ceiling beams) and green painted wood panelling on the lower part of the walls. A fireplace was off to the right with a plasma screen stuck up on the wall above it, although fortunately this was not in use on our visit. A pile of board games were on a shelf near the bar. A smaller room off to the left had a parquet wood floor, whilst another at the rear had carpet and wallpaper depicting fox hunting scenes. Most of these looked to be more geared up for dining. Beers on tap were Wadworth’s Farmers Glory, West Berkshire’s Good Old Boy and Deuchars IPA. A fourth pump appeared unused. Ciders meanwhile were Orchard Thieves and Strongbow Cloudy Apple.

Official site of the Carnarvon Arms, contains menus and wine list - www.carnarvonarms.com