The urban guide to the countryside -

Well, hello!

I'm Rachel, editor of Muddy Berkshire, here to bring you the quirky, cool and downright unmissable in the area.

Gotta Have It

Making plans? Find your perfect Pub, Inn, Hotel, Café, Restaurant or Bar across the Muddy counties.

FRI 25 – SUN 27 JAN

MON 21 – SUN 27 JAN

JANUARY 2019

The latest handpicked businesses we think you’ll love

The best cheap but chic eats

If you caned the credit card at Christmas swanky dinner dates are probably off the menu this month. What you need is a Muddy-approved cheap but chic dining spot.
- Cocktail-swigging carnivores unite!
  
  All the fuss about clean eating and vegan this-and-that driving you insane? Here, get your chops around the unashamedly meat eats at The Corn Stores Reading.
- Windsor’s Bel of the ball
  
  Royal brides are like buses in Windsor but there's only one bel of the ball. So it’s hello and make mine 3 courses at the Bel & The Dragon.
- Heston’s egg-centric pub
  
  Elegantly eccentric from the decor to the menu – Heston Blumenthal's Michelin star Hind's Head is THE place to scoff and quaff in Berkshire.
- The Crown revisted
  
  Hallelujah! A pub menu full of classics done with a wow. Muddy gets stuck in at Heston's award-winning gastropub The Crown.

Our honest reviews of the UK’s best schools

Our curated A-Z of the grooviest local businesses

Fancy a weekend away in Kent?

Course you do! We’ve teamed up with Southeastern to give you the lowdown on the Garden of England’s hidden gems. PLUS we’re giving away a luxe weekend stay there worth £500! Aren’t we nice?
- Girls’ weekend getaways
  
  Try these 30 awesome spas, inns, bars and retreats across the Muddy counties and reconnect with your bezzies in style.
- Happy campers
  
  As the Pet Shop Boys said: Go West – especially when it comes to camping and glamping! Here's your Muddy guide to the perfect places to pitch in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.

Witness the fitness! The best new sports gear for 2019

Finding it hard to kickstart that hardcore new exercise regime? Buy some slinky new kit and you’ll be sprinting around the park faster than Mo Farah (possibly).
- Sloping off in style
  
  Budget not stretching to Fendi or Chanel on the slopes this year (or frankly *any* year)?. Julien Macdonald's collab with Dare2B to the rescue!
- Our festive fashion top 10
  
  Invitations piling up and nothing to wear? Well, Cinders, you shall go to the ball (or, er, pub). Muddy's partywear edit incoming!

Have you seen the ad that everyone’s talking about?

Gillette’s new ad campaign is ruffling a few feathers. What do you think?
- Top 10 book for young adults
  
  The magnificent indie bookshop Mostly Books has scoured the shelves, and selected its Top 10 books for the miracle of a tween/teen no-screen Christmas.
- Panto review: Aladdin
  
  It's all back to Justin's House for a panto party. Aladdin at The Hexagon in Reading will be cleaning up this year with a show that's fun, festive and very silly.
- Muddy reviews: Bracknell’s Dick Whittington
  
  Rat infestation? Call in Rentokil, Dick! Oh too late. Here's my hot-off-the-panto press verdict on Bracknell's Dick Whittington and His Cat.
- Revealed! Our books of 2018
  
  Put this little lot on your Christmas list and you can thank us later. Muddy's books editor Kerry Potter choose her top 10 tomes of 2018. Has your fave made the cut?

Muddy makes the Daily Mail

What have we got here then? The 50 most inspirational women in the UK – including Keeley Hawes, Dina Asher-Smith, Jaqueline Wilson, Thomasina Miers, and *splutter* Muddy’s high priestess Hero Brown.
Kids
- Review: d’Overbroeck’s, Oxford
  
  d'Overbroeck's School in Oxford has a first name policy, progressive curriculum, an incredible new Sixth Form campus and a whole clutch of brilliant results. Impressed.
- Muddy’s best winter walks
  
  Climbing the walls after the turkey fest? It's time for walkies! Here's where I'll be running for the hills this Boxing Day and beyond.

Ain’t nothing like a dame

Slap on the grease paint, hoick up your skirt and channel Princess Margaret. Muddy meets Reading’s irrepressible panto dame, Paul Morse.
- Muddy meets Craig Revel Horwood
  
  Want the hot goss from the BBC ballroom? Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood reveals all the celebrity drama from this year's show.
- Muddy makes the glossies
  
  I'm too thrilled to play it cool - check out Muddy Stilettos over SIX pages in the brilliant Psychologies magazine!
- The weird world of Craig David
  
  What do Kestrel Kes, Louboutins and Willy Wonka have in common? Here are 10 things you didn't know about comeback king, Craig.
- Muddy meets: Lizzy Yarnold
  
  Hurtling headfirst down a track at 90mph is a breeze in comparison to the grilling she got from St Andrew's School kids.