Dave Richardson helps with scoring CAMRA’s Central Southern champion pub
It’s becoming a bit of a habit for the Bell Inn at Aldworth, a small village in Berkshire just a few miles off the A34, overlooked by the Ridgeway. It was voted CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year (POTY) in 1990 and again in 2019, and now it’s in with a chance again as one of 17 pubs around the UK vying for that title in 2024.
We reported in a previous post about the Oxfordshire POTY, when the Cross Keys at Wallingford was up against the Royal Blenheim in Oxford, White Horse in Banbury and King’s Arms in Wantage. The Cross Keys was the winner, but was now up against the Bell and the Buckinghamshire winner, the King’s Arms in Tring.
Stepping inside the Bell is like stepping back in time – not to a quaint re-invention of what someone thinks a traditional pub looked like, but to the real thing. It’s a wonder that it’s survived and thrived in a small village where most visitors drive, when the only food it serves is sandwiches (£4.60), soups and puddings and it closes at 8pm each night. The pub has been run by many generations of the same family, so let’s hope that continues. It is very popular with walkers along the Ridgeway, but do check the opening hours.
Beer is the big thing, and atmosphere. And what beer! The Bell brews its own, with Aldworth Brewing operating from a shed in the garden where James Macaulay, son of landlord Hugh, is head brewer. Its signature brew is Five Giants, with the pump clip having caricatures of the five friends who created it. Naturally this 4% Best Bitter slipped down wonderfully well.
The brewery is tiny and you may not find any of its beers available, but four other beers, all local, were on offer: Arkell’s BBB, Amwell Springs’ Chairman Dave, Indigenous Brewery’s Baldrick, and Rebellion’s Roasted Nuts, plus a couple of real ciders. This superb range of different styles of beer is served from a hatch, not a bar. Many awards line the nooks, crannies and walls, not just from CAMRA. The two antique rooms give it a place on CAMRA’s list of historic pub interiors, so do make time to look around when you visit. But if you’re going to the Gents then hope it’s not raining, as the urinals are partly open to the sky!
So, how do you match that? The short answer is that you don’t, as the Bell was the clear winner among the three regional pubs although the organisers had to use a tie-breaker to rate the Cross Keys as runner-up and the King’s Arms as third.
For more on the Cross Keys see our previous post, but we made the short drive to Wallingford next before heading for Tring. This is actually in Hertfordshire although the King’s Arms was Buckinghamshire champion (blame CAMRA’s branch boundaries, a sore point for some members).
I found this to be a very attractive pub serving wonderfully well-kept beer, like the other two, but without that Wow! factor. Once you’ve got used to its “striking fuchsia pink” colour scheme, as the Whatpub database puts it, you find a very convivial back street local dating from 1830.
Four of the five hand pumps were in use, and it was no surprise to find that three of the real ales were from Tring Brewery – my favourite Side Pocket for a Toad (3.6% golden), Blockbuster (3.7% pale, the monthly special) and Moongazing (4.2% red-amber). Again, this was a good range – complemented by Wantsum Brewery’s Imperium (4%). A sandwich menu (from £12.50) is served.
The King’s Arms is quite small, but has a separate large sports bar called the Coach House which was showing the Euros (it was early July) and has no fewer than three darts boards – proof it is a “proper pub”.
Let’s see now how the Bell Inn fares in the national contest. Fingers crossed!
