The Miller of Mansfield, Reading

This is a pleasant and interesting old building, sitting at the side of the road that links the two villages of Goring and Streatley at the point where the village ends and the riverside begins. The larger of two street doors (the other being blocked, as I discovered) leads into the central one of three rooms which adjoin the bar. There's a large fireplace here, and several good-sized armchairs and a variety of tables and seating of various kinds. The other rooms seemed to be mostly set up for dining. The bar had three hand pumps with just two beers, though both are local: Rebellion IPA and West Berkshire Good Old Boy. The latter was fine, though at £3.50 a pint a bit pricier than the Brakspears at the other two pubs in the village that I tried. My notes tell me that I should deduct two points from my rating for the dreadful lounge-bar type music which was playing at hard-to-ignore volume. Did the world really need another version of American Pie? Wasn't the Don McLean original horrendous enough? I found myself squirming irritatedly in my seat and finishing my drink sooner than intended in my hurry to get away.

This is an attractive and fairly imposing ivy clad building situated on a slight bend in the main street of the village. The interior however is at odds with this initial appearance, being of a curious supposedly modern appearance that is hard to describe. Panelling is painted grey, and the two fireplaces curiously have seemingly random words stencilled on, the one where I was sitting said "Being". The area to the front of the bar is subdivided into three, the central bit having "gentleman's club" style armchairs and small tables, another area has tinny round tables and uncomfortable hard seats, the area I sat in had silver and black wallpaper on one wall, and a huge TV on the end wall (switched off). The low beamed ceiling timbers appear to have been stripped back to bare wood...I wouldn't have thought that was a good idea. The rear area is given over to a large restaurant with tables laid out in regimented lines. There were three handpumps on the bar, two on, Rebellion IPA and West Berkshire Good Old Boy (£3.30). The Good Old Boy was a decent pint however, but this is a rather strange place.