Well I don't think I'll be going to Barcelona for the semi!
Can Maidenhead provide a decent crawl? I seem to recall it being tricky to make worthwhile suggestions when I was considering a trip, quite a way back.
Re 'forthcoming plans', I got a bit excited with the megabus/train cheapies to south coast & don't think I'll be holding beer vouchers to cover 02May (Southampton) AND 07May (Portsmouth) so, if anyone might like to use a couple of freebies Waterloo-Southampton on the bank holiday Monday, watch this space. If I don't use the booking (& it currently seems unlikely I will), then I can email the booking (no tkt, just show 'em the reference). Arr 13:15, dep 19:55, so 6.5hrs to scoot round some pubs, and there are some good ones, despite its rep.
Never been there but the ground (now the oldest continuously used football ground in the world) is right in the town centre and there are half a dozen reasonable looking pubs closeby with a couple a bit further out. I don't think there are any "essentials" but there does seem to be a decent mix of beers between them. Admittedly there are 2 'Spoons but they appear to be traditional pubs rather than converted car showrooms so should at least have a bit more character than normal and 1 will be used for a breakfast starter! As Quinno says, it is the Darts last league game of the season so there will be a few travelling and the fans do like an end of season party!
We are taking the caravan to Old Windsor for 6 nights at Easter so that we can do the much acclaimed Egham United Services fest.
Hope to get to pubs in the area while there as it is a new slate for us.
From there we go to Oxford for 7 nights so that we can get a train to Reading for the fest and have a mosey round Oxford pubs and any worth getting to in the area.
Next we head over to Banbury for 5 nights to do the fest there and any pubs worth visiting.
Should be a good 3 weeks.
Some very good pubs in Oxford though they can be a bit tourist overkill at weekends especially the better known ones like the Lamb and Flag , Eagle and Child , Kings Arms , Turf and the White Horse , the Turf is a sod to find but allways busy . One of the good lesser known pubs is the Grapes by the Theartre a good city centre boozer
Theres a Man with a Mullet going Mad with a Mallet in Millets !
The Grapes in Oxford is a new one for me. Go to the others you mentioned, although I had an issue at the Turf a few years back when they had glasses under taps with beer in. It was being used to top up glasses when someone asked for that beer.
I was told beer doesn't stand for more than about 10 mintes when I queried it after standing to the side so I could watch what they were doing, but it was a dodgy practice and I always check where my beer is coming from now when I go there.
Another we go to is Far from the Maddening Crowd, and St Aldgates that used to be a Hobgoblin pub is worth a visit too.
Theres a Man with a Mullet going Mad with a Mallet in Millets !