Great West Way® Travel Magazine | Issue 01

Pictured left:
Aldwick
Estate Vineyard;
Wadworth’s
horse-drawn
dray delivering
its wares
Pictured right:
The Griffin Inn,
Bath
in worldwide popularity and excellent vineries can be found
along the route – we suggest you try a’Beckett’s Vineyard
at Littleton Panell, near Devizes, Mumfords near Bath, Alder
Ridge Vineyard on the edge of Hungerford and Aldwick at
Redhill near Bristol. Whether your chosen transport is by car,
train, bicycle or canal, along the Great West Way you can
discover a handsome choice of top-quality, locally-produced
drinks and some of the
country’s most perfect
pubs in which to enjoy
them. There really is a
wealth of options – some
in quaint, chocolate-box
villages, some wayside
inns and others in medieval market squares – and we are
only scratching at the surface by mentioning just a few of our
favourites. You will surely find more!
For fabulous food, in an unmatched Thames-side location,
visit TV chef, Tom Kerridge’s 2-Michelin-starred Hand and
Flowers in Marlow, Bucks, but you must book, and well
in advance. Heading westwards, Yattendon is not only the
village base of the West Berkshire Brewery where, in the
Taproom, you can sample the full range of their excellent ales
but also of the Royal Oak, Yattendon, a pub/restaurant/
hotel which achieves that extraordinary feat of succeeding on
all three fronts. The olde-worlde charm of the bar, all beams
and open fires (and West Berkshire ales), and the walled
garden blend with delicious dining and blissful accommodation.
Since the opening of the by-pass around Newbury, this
horse-racing, historic town is mercifully free of traffic and
able, once again, to
charm the tourists.
A regular in the
Good Pub Guide is
The Newbury, a
modern, town-centre
gastropub in which
the food’s high quality is equalled by that of the drinking
experience. Venturing ever westwards toward Bristol, the
rural landscape welcomes the adventurous traveller, bringing
rich rewards. Just off the M4 J14, north of Marlborough, is the
splendid Queens Arms, East Garston, an award-winning
pub/restaurant/hotel in an idyllic setting. A little further on
and the road takes the traveller past two more ‘unmissables’.
The first is the The Red Lion, East Chisenbury, a pretty,
family-run country gastropub, with five exquisite →
“If you’re lucky, you will have timed
your arrival to catch the company’s
horse-drawn drays delivering their
wares to local hostelries in the town”
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