The Belle Vue, High Wycombe

A fine schlep from the railway station, this pub has been highly regarded over the years, but my slog from the town centre saw a missing pub sign and a very tired and unkempt interior. Four ales out of five pumps with a disappointing line-up of Sharp's Doom Bar (£3.60), Adnam's Ghost Ship, Marston's 61 Deep and St Austell Proper Job. Appearances can be deceiving, and my pint of Proper Job was superb. I sat in the garden, which was also rather tired, but did see the missing pub sign; hopefully they'll re-hang it soon.

A street corner pub located just a short walk up hill from the town centre on past the railway station, it has a rather austere, plain grey appearance, and first impressions were how do you get in? The most prominent door on the corner was unused, and instead you had to walk up the side to a much less obvious entry point. Internally, it’s largely all one open plan, L-shaped room, although there did look to be a more contemporary room at the front with a rolled-up projector screen. I did not investigate this as it appeared that they were in the process of setting it up for a function. The rest of the pub was quite traditional with wooden boards on the floor and a mixture of deep red and mustard paintwork on the walls. A free-standing dual aspect chimney breast separated the main part of the pub with the function room, although it appeared that this was perhaps unused. There were a couple of small sections of exposed brickwork, and the beamed ceiling had been painted entirely white, and rather oddly sported a glitter ball which seemed a little out of place. A large number of beermats were displayed above the bat, hinting at a frequently changing selection. There were a couple of Chesterfield sofa’s, with more conventional tables and chairs elsewhere. Beers on tap were Adnams Broadside and Ghost Ship, Rebellion IPA, Bath Ales Gem and Banks Lock 16. A barrel end chalkboard on the wall hinted at a decent selection of ciders, but unfortunately all were crossed out leaving just Stowford Press on the bar. Whether this is a temporary issue or they no longer have much in the way of cider I’m not sure, but I did notice that the Thatcher’s pump on the bar appeared to be taped up and permanently out of use. All in all, not a bad little boozer, but equally not somewhere that I’d particularly make a point of going out of my way for.

Official site of The Belle Vue - www.thebv.pub

Official site of The Belle Vue - www.thebv.pub

This was the last pub I visited on my day in High Wycombe so I could only have/manage a half ! The Windsor and Etons beer,Windsor Knot was in great condition and enjoyed fully. Not really a lot to add to previous reviews apart from next time I visit it will the first port of call not the last.