Not derelict, but certainly abandoned, this is The Lower Ship Inn, or possibly The Horse and Barge, Duke Street, Reading, mere seconds from the centre of town. I've been walking past it for 16 years, on and off, and only recently found out what it was.
The pub has been boarded up since about 1990 - twenty years. Prior to being boarded up, scaffolding had been observed on it. It's not known what work was being done, but as soon as the scaffolding was removed it was boarded up, and has remained so to this day. One record states that two properties - this and one next to it - were empty and due for demolition in 1990; the other one has gone, but the pub remains. The diagonal boarding-up is a familiar sight to Reading people, and it's rather more fancy than most of the boarding-ups we see (but see the rear of the building!) It's rumoured that Samuel Smith's own it at present, and that, extraordinarily, they've kept the licence valid. The most recent report was that it was to reopen in February 2010. Clearly it didn't.
There is very little other information to be found on the pub, and I can't even find out whether it was called the Lower Ship or the Horse and Barge when it was closed. A friend recalls drinking his first ever pint in there, at which time it was The Horse and Barge.
When the sun is shining in the right direction you can see that it appears that the interior decor has been stripped; naked brickwork is visible through the windows.
It's such a shame that this lovely building has sat unused (and apparently unsquatted and unchaved) for two decades.
Those curved windows are just brilliant.
Around the back it's not such an attractive building. There is clear evidence of active surveillance, and it looks as though nobody - chavs or pikies - have ever really infiltrated it.
I'd love to get a look inside, and investigate the weird split-level architecture.
So there you go, the Lower Ship. Personally I can't see it reopening; Reading is already awash with town centre pubs, all on the main streets.
The Lower Ship, around the corner on quiet Duke Street, would be a bit off the beaten track and unlikely to catch much passing trade.
The pub has been boarded up since about 1990 - twenty years. Prior to being boarded up, scaffolding had been observed on it. It's not known what work was being done, but as soon as the scaffolding was removed it was boarded up, and has remained so to this day. One record states that two properties - this and one next to it - were empty and due for demolition in 1990; the other one has gone, but the pub remains. The diagonal boarding-up is a familiar sight to Reading people, and it's rather more fancy than most of the boarding-ups we see (but see the rear of the building!) It's rumoured that Samuel Smith's own it at present, and that, extraordinarily, they've kept the licence valid. The most recent report was that it was to reopen in February 2010. Clearly it didn't.
There is very little other information to be found on the pub, and I can't even find out whether it was called the Lower Ship or the Horse and Barge when it was closed. A friend recalls drinking his first ever pint in there, at which time it was The Horse and Barge.
When the sun is shining in the right direction you can see that it appears that the interior decor has been stripped; naked brickwork is visible through the windows.
It's such a shame that this lovely building has sat unused (and apparently unsquatted and unchaved) for two decades.
Those curved windows are just brilliant.
Around the back it's not such an attractive building. There is clear evidence of active surveillance, and it looks as though nobody - chavs or pikies - have ever really infiltrated it.
I'd love to get a look inside, and investigate the weird split-level architecture.
So there you go, the Lower Ship. Personally I can't see it reopening; Reading is already awash with town centre pubs, all on the main streets.
The Lower Ship, around the corner on quiet Duke Street, would be a bit off the beaten track and unlikely to catch much passing trade.
