andybarton Posted September 30, 2006 Share #1 Posted September 30, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) ... it's pretty darned close. I was weaned in this place, and made a deliberate detour yesterday morning, just to see whether it had changed in the 20 years since I have been. Not much, from what I can see. Another one to revisit when the skies are nicer, and when someone else is driving and you have more time I could tell you where it is, but you'll have to find it for yourselves. Less than 25 miles from Heathrow, though. [ATTACH]10282[/ATTACH] Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 30, 2006 Posted September 30, 2006 Hi andybarton, Take a look here If this isn't the finest pub in all the land..... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
abrewer Posted September 30, 2006 Share #2 Posted September 30, 2006 Clever name and fetching setting for it, too. Thanks for sharing, Andy. Allan Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted September 30, 2006 Author Share #3 Posted September 30, 2006 Cheers, Allan. Before someone else has a go [ATTACH]10284[/ATTACH] Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotandcom Posted September 30, 2006 Share #4 Posted September 30, 2006 Andy, Just happened on this, drawn by the irresistible title. I like both images, though the blank sky remains a problem with the b&w. The warmth of the red brick comes through better in the first, of course. I know where it is, but since you're not offering a pint to the first correct answer I'll let others have fun trying to guess. The brick and flint rather narrows it down. I was going to ask if you've tried the Bull and Butcher, not a million miles away, but I seem to remember some sort of esoteric dispute about it in the old forum involving you and William Lamb, so I presume you are indeed familiar with it. What do you make of Brakspear's since the brewery in Henley closed and production moved away? I don't rate it as highly now, but perhaps I just have over-fond memories of the Henley brewery's products. Sorry for rambling on. Thanks for showing us a charming building. All the best, Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted September 30, 2006 Author Share #5 Posted September 30, 2006 Chris If you know where it is, I think it only fair that I buy you a pint in there some time This is obviously one that is in the "To Do" book - again. My Grandfathers used to walk here of a Sunday in the summer, so my family "association" with the place goes back to the mid-fifties. I am too far removed from Henley to be able to judge the "new" beers very well, although when I do get a chance to taste, they do still taste much better than just about any other pint you can care to mention. I do buy their organic beer which is sold up here in Sainsbury's, but it's not the same as a proper pint. Given that the water in the old brewery was drawn straight out of an artesian well in the floor of the brew house and into the beer, relocating the brewery to the other side of Oxford is bound to change the taste. (My uncle, who doesn't drink bitter at all, always said that the beer was made out of river water, and he wasn't far wrong) However, they still use the same recipe, and all the original equipment, so they are trying hard and if the new beers are a facsimile, it's pretty impossible to tell now. They have the perfect balance of sweetness and hops, especially in their "Ordinary", which is my "Desert Island Pint". (We stayed in Henley on the weekend that they closed the brewery, and had a celebratory pint or three with some old friends in the Three Tuns in the middle of town. Bit sad really, losing part of your heritage like that) BTW, the Bull and Butcher isn't a patch on this place, as you will know if you've been here (at least, it wasn't 25 years ago) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotandcom Posted September 30, 2006 Share #6 Posted September 30, 2006 Andy, I have always assumed that local water is critical to the taste of beer, as it most certainly is to whisky. I'm sure the new brewery does its very best, but the water cannot be the same. I do agree, however, that it is still a superior pint. I might be wrong but I'm thinking that the Dewdrop is in Maidenhead (the place, that is). I haven't been there in many years. I was recently in the Bull and Butcher, however, which is currently run by a couple of very enthusiastic South Africans. How the world turns! It serves excellent food, and the drinks of all variety are good. It could be dismissed as a 'gastro-pub', but it has a bar area that seems to retain a strong local following. Incidentally, if anyone is still reading, the name Maidenhead is even more interesting than it seems at first sight. The 'head' element derives from the Old English word 'hythe', meaning landing place or wharf (e.g. Rotherhithe in London = cattle ('rother') hythe). As for 'maiden', I have read a claim that the old name for Taplow Hill was 'mai dun', but I'm sceptical: the name Taplow occurs very early and is a perfectly pukkah name in its own right. An alternative suggestion is that the hythe provided such an easy landing place that even young ladies might land without getting wet or dirty. Hmmm. Someone more expert than me needs to enlighten us. Etymologists step forward, please. All of which takes us a long way from your photograph, even further from photography in general, and has no relevance to Leica whatsoever, but I think the meandering nature of some of these threads is part of their charm. All this is giving me a thirst. Cheers, Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 30, 2006 Share #7 Posted September 30, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Pubs aren't meant to serve food, and pubs most certainly don't have children in them - wacky warehouse or not! Pubs don't have juke boxes or gaming machines. Pubs have tap rooms and a slighlty faded barmaid or landlady. Difficult to find a pub these days. Just my prejuduces :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted September 30, 2006 Author Share #8 Posted September 30, 2006 Chris I am a Maidonian. It's not far from Maidenhead, but much closer to Hurley and Burchett's Green, near the top of Ashley Hill. My grandparents lived in Littlewick Green, about 3 miles away. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotandcom Posted October 1, 2006 Share #9 Posted October 1, 2006 Steve, I said to the landlord, 'I miss the old spittoon'. 'You always did', he replied. All the best, Chris Pubs aren't meant to serve food, and pubs most certainly don't have children in them - wacky warehouse or not! Pubs don't have juke boxes or gaming machines. Pubs have tap rooms and a slighlty faded barmaid or landlady. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotandcom Posted October 1, 2006 Share #10 Posted October 1, 2006 Andy, I didn't think there was anyone left who was actually born there. I think of the area (which, after all, prides itself on being a mini Silicon Valley) as inhabited entirely by hi-tec incomers and City types. House prices are terrifying. Anyone born there should at least be allowed the privilege of referring to himself as a maiden birth. Best, Chris I am a Maidonian. It's not far from Maidenhead, but much closer to Hurley and Burchett's Green, near the top of Ashley Hill. My grandparents lived in Littlewick Green, about 3 miles away. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share #11 Posted October 1, 2006 Andy, I didn't think there was anyone left who was actually born there. I think of the area (which, after all, prides itself on being a mini Silicon Valley) as inhabited entirely by hi-tec incomers and City types. Best, Chris Why do you think I now live 200 miles away? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtharvie Posted October 1, 2006 Share #12 Posted October 1, 2006 I like the B&W version . . . I can imagine Dick Turpin stopping in for a pint at sundown before he sets off to work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share #13 Posted October 2, 2006 Thanks John Funny you should say that about Dick Turpin. The stretch of road between Maidenhead (about 5 miles east) and Twyford (about 3 miles west) was notorious for highwaymen 250 years ago. So much so, that the coaches which used the main road to get to Bath and Bristol from London, would over-night in Maidenhead and only pass along the road during the day. This pub is some way off the main road, at the end of a single track lane and near the top of a densely wooded hill. Even today, it's extremely dark out there at night... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted October 2, 2006 Share #14 Posted October 2, 2006 Andy, a quaint place but seriously in need of patrons! David Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share #15 Posted October 2, 2006 Well, it was only 11 o'clock... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neila Posted October 3, 2006 Share #16 Posted October 3, 2006 This is one of my favourite pubs - unfortunately my car took centre stage in this particular shot!! Can anyone guess where? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share #17 Posted October 3, 2006 Somewhere in Devon? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted October 3, 2006 Share #18 Posted October 3, 2006 Wiltshire/North Dorset? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neila Posted October 3, 2006 Share #19 Posted October 3, 2006 Close - but no (to both).... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share #20 Posted October 3, 2006 Isle of Wight? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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