The Catherine Wheel Newbury, Berks

“This used to be the worst pub in Newbury!” a regular in the Catherine Wheel told me, a tangible note of pride in his voice. “People used to speed up as they walked past.” It is difficult to believe that now.

Behind its crenellated front, complete with a built-in tiled sign, which makes the building resemble a small fortified manor house, the pub has depth – though it was cut short in the Eighties by the Kennet shopping centre.

It’s still roomy, however, with a secluded area behind a double-sided open fire and a covered outside bar on the side called the Gin Yard, where you can try one of a bewildering 220 gins. Here, TV has been banished, and live music events take place from time to time. (Before Warwick and Pauline Heskins took the pub over and turned it around, nearly five years ago, this was an alleyway that contained rubbish bins and a Ford Sierra.)

The main bar area has been lightly Farrow & Balled, but retains a “proper” pub ambience. Six real ales are always on tap – two regulars from local breweries, and the rest on rotation. (I enjoyed the well-kept 4.3% Dark Blue Oxford, a rich, malty chestnut ale from the White Horse Brewery at Stanford in the Vale.)

There is also a dizzying selection of bottles and cans, including more than 200 continental beers, and the pub has been the local Camra branch’s Cider Pub of the Year for three of the past four years. Food is on the hearty side, centred on a selection of Pieminister pies and patties but also running to sizzling skillets, not to mention several thrillingly retro variants on the ploughman’s lunch,

This is very much a drink-and-chat pub but, as well as live music, there are occasional quiz nights; the pub’s poker team plays every Tuesday evening. Nobody speeds up as they walk past the Catherine Wheel now: in they stroll – and, in due course, out they roll.

Roy Bailey

35 Cheap St, Newbury, Berks RG14 5DB 01635 569897; thecatherinewheel.com