Thames Valley Pubs
 

Last night we found out that the Flowing Spring pub will not ever be serving food on a Tuesday. As a number of us come directly from work, this is a bit annoying especially for me as I need all the protein I can get to help me grow! I would therefore like to propose that we dump the Flowing Spring and find a new pub to replace it. Does anyone have any ideas for decent bike friendly pubs in the Reading area?

Also - it strikes me that there is an oppertunity here to maybe add an extra location into the mix (maybe one that is nice and central to everyone as the current three are all pretty much on the outskirts of the TV area). If you have any suggestions then let us know so that we can check them out.

Jon

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I'm sure we found that out last time... which is why we went for the rideout towards Henley for food!

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You are right, but it is time to put our foot down and not return!

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Its a reasonable enough pub and the road its on makes it a decent ride to get there.

We know it doesn't do food, but IMO it should still be kept as an option. The ape mentioned that they served food for the darts players....maybe they will do something similar for us, if we ask in advance.

Having said that, im open to suggestions on other locations.

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I agree that it is a decent ride to the pub and maybe it is a better option in the summer, but they were adiment that they would not serve us food irrespective of dart players etc. The problem is that hungry people like me will most likely go home to get some grub before coming out and that means that we wont get there until late (8-8.30 in my case). As Nick proved this week, when the 8th hour hits it takes a whole lot of motivation to get back on the bike to go to the meet in the dark when the lure of a warm sofa and TV are available.

Jon

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:oops:

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I'm sure there are loads of others that will serve food.. Thinking cap on now..

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This website can be handy.

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Yes it was rather useful:

"Go there to meet Reading chavs who've driven across to Henley in their souped up Saxos looking for a fight. Kill one if you can."

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See, I knew it would have some handy tips. ;)

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Here's a couple- Black Boy - Shinfield Road, Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 9BP (really close to M4 junction 11)

Pack Horse - Chazey Heath, Mapledurham, Reading, Berkshire, RG4 7UD

Six Bells - Church Lane, Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 9DA (again really close to M4 junction 11)

All of those do food too.

Is this going to draw up a huge list of possible pubs to go to, and do a different one each meet? Or keep to something like what we're doing at the moment of having a handfull of places, where the meet gets rotated round each time?

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theres a decent pub in wantage not to far from fox's diner called the lamb..... closed atm due to flooding.....does v nice food and also the women in there aint bad at all lol

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Yeah something a bit further north would be nice, now that it is getting cold and dark.

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This might be asking for the impossible, but I think we should just pick one or two and rotate each week. That process has worked well so far so why change it. I have posted those pubs on the TV map to help us choose.

Jon

PS - maybe we should pick the pubs at the next meet?

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BTW any pubs south of the M4 are starting to get too far away from me :(

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Have you considered that that may be our plan?

Pack Horse seems like a decent replacement...any objections?

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:smt097

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Cheers then. :sad:

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I guess pubs around Englefield Green are out then :p

Somewhere around Maidenhead would be good for me.

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The Shire Horse is fairly close

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Oh Si I'm sorry, I thought Newbury was north of the M4. South of the M4 towards London is further away from me, but if we went more West then it would be closer to Newbury and me, like Wantage, Harwell and Wallingford. We had this idea on the rideout to draw a line from where we all are, and where they all bisect, thats where the pub is. Jon said he would do it, he is a project manager :-P.

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I'm pretty sure this would work out around the area i live in, judging by the map.

Somewhere around Henley/Maidenhead anyway.

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Thanks for the nomination, you obviously know that I have too much time on my hands.

The primary groups of people seem to be located in the Reading, Maidenhead and Slough areas. We also have 3 fringe members (who are never the less core members/the most important member - our admin) BigApe, Warthog and Philbut located in Newbury and Oxford.

Now I am sure that Warthog would love for us to have one of the locations right outside his house, but unfortunately we do need to accomadate the majority of our members and we therefore need to locate each pub closer to the center of the TV area to ensure that we get a good turn out for each meet.

4 pubs should be plenty and here are my suggestions:

1 - Maidenhead area close to the majority of members. The Shire Horse works perfectly as everyone knows where it is and it has that nice heated area outside.

2 - Near Simon in the Reading/Wokingham area (Simon works in Reading so I am hoping that he doesn't mind doing his usual commute home?). The Pack Horse therefore seems like a good candidate as it is close to work for Simon but is also to the North of Reading making it easier for the Oxford lot.

3 - Near the Oxford boys Philbut and Warthog. The Wallingford, Abingdon and Didcot area seems like a good bet as it is a quick commute for Simon down the A34 and a straight forward drive for everyone in the Maidenhead area. If anyone has any suggestions of pubs please let us know.

4 - Somewhere in the middle which is relatively central for everyone. The general Henley area would seem to be a good idea but again I dont know of any pubs that would be suitable. Please post suggestions.

You may have noticed that I haven't included the Fleur De Lis pub near the M40. This is because it isnt close to anyone and there may be other pubs that are more suitable. It does have one redeeming feature though...it is cheap.

Let me know if you agree/disagree. One thing is for certain though, once we have deceided on the pubs lets not change them for at least 6 months.

Jon

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I do have a suggestion, should we decide to have a meet up nearer to Oxford, or even just a one off: Mondays are bike night at Fox's and usually draw a pretty big crowd, bigger than weekends in my experience. Not sure about the situation now the nights are drawing in, but maybe one to bear in mind when we are on the other side of the rubbish weather. I'm gonna go down tonight to check it out and try and find out if they continue through winter.

Food till 9pm too:thumbsup: so could be an alternative if we get bored of the usual tuesday pub meet. more bikes to drool over too.

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I was going to say that Fox's was in an ideal location for the oxford meet. I cant say that it would be a bad thing having one meet that is on a different night. That way anyone who regularly cant come out to play on a Tuesday can still see us.

Lets discuss at the next meet.

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Seems good to me Jon.

Just one issue though. I though the ape wanted to have one pub that is revisited regularly, so its the main meet and people can just turn up.

If that the case, i reckon the main pub should be central(maidenhead/henley-ish). Then perhaps the other 3 can alternate over the other weeks.

Everything i have said might be based on b*ll*cks though :)

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Baskerville Arms? RG9 3NY . Apparently has very good reviews, but I haven't been there myself. Jus tbrowsing the beerintheevening website.

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The Unicorn? RG9 5LX . Also nice apparently although small.

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Surely people will check the TV section if the want to come along to the meet. All the info will be in there well in advance of the meet. Don't see why we need main meeting place.

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Like i said, i seem to remember it being a point BigApe made! Assuming i'm remembering correctly im sure he will explain.

Talking of the ape where is he? The sunday rideout thread hasn't been moved yet and his general air of oppression isn't around :D

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Some of us actually work for a living you know. :lol:

Yes, I would like (but of course the ultimate choice is a democratic one) to have a centrally located dedicated meeting place on Tuesdays.

We can however, on occasions, change the venue and even the day of the week, to accommodate such things as bike night at Fox's diner.

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Sounds like you need a deputy to take some of the pressure off....i know the perfect candidate...an all action hero type...a one man sex whirlwind. :smt077

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:D

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Well im too modest to offer myself up, but its nice that you've thrown my lid into the ring! ;)

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It is soo kind of you to put me forward for the duputy role ASM.

:winner:

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i dont really mind where we meet or on what day as long as i can eat and others show up.

edit: oh and that my bike is working as well

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:p

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A decision has been made, there is no turning back.

Our bi-weekly meets will now take place at the Shire Horse and we will not be rotating pubs anymore. We have also agreed that on the alternate weeks group members would be able to set up a pub meet in a location of their choice on an ad-hoc basis ie if someone wants to go to Fox's on a Monday then we are more than happy for them to arrange that themselves separeratly to the regular meets.

Jon

PS - I think the main reason we chose the Shire is because it is central to everyone and the food is spantastic.

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The food was indeed good. I will scout around the eare to the north for a guest pub, but the Shire Horse suits fine so far.

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So it's been decided :?: Cool :cool: but I don't remember actually voting on it :confused:. I guess I must have done that bit subconsciously. :smt017

Have to say, don't quite understand what has been agreed. Every other Tuesday we meet at the Shire Horse, but a member of Thames Valley can vote a different location on an ad-hoc basis. Does this mean that come a Tuesday meet up day, I can then decide that the meeting is going to be in Newbury instead of the Shire :?: Or does it mean that we can vote a different day as well as a different location :?:

Hey, things at work have got extremely busy. Damn promotion means more work. :roll: So I'm tired and confused. :lol:

Was this decision made yesterday at the Shire :?: