Leeds Football Pubs No.4
Thames Valley Whites
Home Pubs
Since the set-up of the Thames Valley Whites by Steve Griffin in 2009 pubs have been a vital part of our constitution. We don’t have a TVW pub per se but certain pubs are vital to our routine unless, of course, the rescheduling of games for TV buggers up that routine
Home games involved a pre-match drink at The Nags Head in Holbeck for many of our formative years until it got raided by West Yorkshire’s finest and closed-down for being a cannabis factory (I thought it smelt funny but just assumed it was the toilets!!). It was ideal for us – cheap beer served in real glasses right next to an excellent chippy within walking distance of Elland Road. True, it was hardly sartorial elegance, and it’s unique feature was bring your own bog roll, but it served a very good purpose for many years and we were very upset to lose it. I knew I was “in” with the guvnor when he started allowing me use of the disabled toilet where people tend not to piss on the seat or floor!!
Our alternative, thereafter, was The Peacock – a fine pub with excellent beer – but plastic glasses and long queues produced grizzle after grizzle from the growing membership (numbers and waistline).
Purely by chance we discovered The Bay Horse at East Ardsley – just off the M1 and 10 minutes to Elland Road if you leave at 2.30pm for a 3.00pm kick off. The ale is quaffable and served in glass and the food has always been good although the kitchens are continuously being refurbished this season!! The current landlady has an interesting purple hue to her hair but she is friendly enough and always willing to hand out plastic cups to the slow drinkers when we leave promptly……ish.
he return journey for many years involved a comfort break at Leicester Forest Services until we realised that whilst we were dropping off young Jack “the lad” Frake at Lutterworth we could partake at the hostelries on the outskirts of town. This worked well for a season or so until the new manageress of the carvery told us that Leeds United fans weren’t welcome; we told her we didn’t like her shit hole establishment anyway (so there, yarboo sucks) and we dared to venture up the hill into the town centre, finding The Shambles – an aptly named pub for our lot, I am sure you will agree.
The kebab house and chip shop serve the masses well next to The Shambles and the opening of the Classroom (an excellent real ale facility rather than a pub) nearby in recent years has meant that Lutterworth caters very well for the TVWs despite our growing numbers and remains our stop off location of choice.
Our final drop-off point is at Didcot Parkway railway station with the Prince of Wales opposite. Many a home (and away game) has been rounded off with a session in there with our Swindon Massiff (The Magic Roundabout – as in they couldn’t take the), Reading, Eversley, Haslemere lads waiting for their train connections joining the Didcot locals. The main problem here, being that once we get inside, the bright lights of Didcot lure us in to missing the next train out!!!
One problem is the frequency that irritating non-entities masquerading as Reading fans – “we support our local club”, “yeah, all five of you tossers” – appear and want to make out that they understand what it is like to follow a real club everywhere just because they once reached the Premier League but curiously, never the First Division!! These evenings tend to round of with “Leave them alone, they’re a waste of space and not worth getting nicked for hitting” before I remember I’m 58 not 18 and would probably break my hand and get caught on CCTV. Happy Days!!
