191. Manor Hotel

The Manor Hotel is another pub which was visited by the original crew of The Three men in a Boat and like the Royal Stag It sits on the Green at Datchet .Today it is not a common inn offering simple accommodation but an upmarket hotel.

The Manor Hotel's name has changed several times over the years and from 1753 to 1766 it was called The Half Moon and from 1767 The Horse and Groom and sometime between 1853 and 1877 it changed its name again to The Manor Hotel . Two stories are told about this pub, of which one is true and one is not: It has been said that it used to be a prison for Windsor Castle, but this is a virtually impossible idea, perhaps arising from a modern misreading of a letter written in 1648 during the Civil War by Lady Winwood of Ditton Park.

The other story, that the pub was a mortuary, is true and not at all unusual. When an inquest had to be held after an accidental or suspicious death, the body would be viewed by the coroner at the main inn of the place where the victim was found.

When we entered the place, it was difficult to ascertain whether it had a bar or not but some shouting by the First Mate drew the attention of one of the staff who was asked” Can three thirsty sailors get a drink?” and we were then escorted via a warren of corridors to a room at the back of the hotel, which had a small, elegant and trendy bar in it. As we walked towards the bar we could see several eloquent suites available for a range of functions from corporate hospitality to weddings. These were appropriately called the Windsor, Royal and Regency suites.

As expected there was no real ales on tap, but we did manage surprisingly, to get a pint of frothy Green King IPA and even more surprising its price of $2.75 a pint.

We spoke to the barman, Nasser who was from The Sudan, although he didn't look like a typical Arab for he was dressed in a smart part suit and wasn't wearing a frock with a rag on his head.

The Captain engaged him in conversation concerning languages and Nasser told the crew “that very few English people could speak any foreign languages at all and that is was embarrassing when he’d met little kids aged three or four in far off paces such as China, India and Nepal who could speak English” .The Cabin Boy added “Don’t forget Bradford and Southall”. Nasser continued the conversation with “I can speak four languages and languages are like the sea, you never get to the end of it. The Captain whispered to the First Mate” I thought he was a barman not a philosopher”. To which the First mate whispered back in his ear “If he’s so fucking clever with all those languages, why is he working as a barman? Maybe he’s gotta a lot of customers who are Chinkies ,Curry-munchers and Sherpas “.