EXPLORING BERKSHIRE: Wonderful Wargrave and Warfield

Two attractive Berkshire villages that offer a little bit of everything

- Sarah Rodi and Thomas Newport

WARGRAVE

“Wargrave, nestling where the river bends, makes a sweet old picture as you pass it, and one that lingers long upon the retina of memory.” So said Jerome K Jerome in his book, Three Men and a Boat.

Wargrave is a curious place. Despite what the rather gloomy name suggests, the word ‘Wargrave’ is derived from ‘WeirGrove’ rather from the literal meaning of war grave. Looking around, my thirst for intrigue and adventure needed satiating. My first drink was in The Bull Hotel. This quaint low-beamed little place seemed to be populated with a few farmer types and is also rumoured to be home to a ghost. One day in 1934, a sobbing woman was reported to be visiting here. A former landlady of the inn, she had been banished from here after her husband had caught her with her lover. According to folklore, she died from a broken heart. She probably really died from the cold or suicide. Her ghost is reported to be heard sobbing, and her teardrops are said to have stained the wallpaper.

The Greyhound is another low-beamed charming pub where the crowd is decidedly younger. A small brass plaque is nailed to the bar with the words ‘Wally’s stool’. A fellow drinker told me that Wally was a well-known pub frequenter during the 1960s, and by all accounts, “a bit of a character”. At the far end of the High Street lies The George and Dragon. Having changed hands a few times in recent years, this establishment is now more of a restaurant than a public house. There is a fantastic terrace where you can enjoy sipping your drinks in the sunshine. Occasionally, a mock steamboat from up Henley way makes its way past this spot providing a Tom Sawyer moment.