The Prince of Wales, Reigate

As an occasional regular at this pub, I'd like to set a few things straight as far as the comments I've read here are concerned and give what I feel to be a fairer review of the place.

When my girlfriend and I first visited the Prince of Wales, I must confess that we were a little dubious. This was a personal bias based on my experiences of pubs near train stations in other towns (The POW backs onto the railway), not being the most welcoming of establishments.

I was pleased to find that the POW was the exception to my perceived rule and that we were made to feel welcome by the Landlord (who's name is Dave by the way).

It is a locals' pub and for the first few months that we were visiting, Helen and I kept ourselves to ourselves, favouring a particular corner and enjoying the privacy that the pub afforded a couple.

To the correspondent that merely viewed the locals from afar and saw fit to pass judgement on them as waiting for God, I would suggest that he might have got to know them as people and not curiousities to be able to offer an informed opinion.

Over time, Helen and I have got to talking to the locals, who accept and welcome us into their pub and they are without exception a nice group of people. This is a locals' pub and therefore to a degree it is theirs. It is their second home in many cases and a place where they feel comfortable among their peers. Surely that's the whole point of a "Public House"?

On the subject of the dogs, there are no Rottweilers. There is Cindy, a 15 year-old cross-breed, who is like a friendly old Aunt; then there's Bruno, who's a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the best example of that breed that I have ever encountered.

"Staffs" are normally regarded as being ferocious dogs and I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Bruno if ever he were called to do his duty as a protector of his master and his home. In truth though, unless threatened or doing his job as a faithful dog, Bruno is the friendliest, most docile example of the breed that I have seen. And that is testament to the responsibility of his master, Dave the Landlord.

Yes, Dave, his wife sharon and the rest of the regulars have made Helen and I feel welcome and at home in their pub for a couple of years now and we will continue to enjoy the hospitality extended to us at the Prince of Wales for a long time I feel.

As far as rating the place is concerned, facilities-wise, the pub is well-specced. I rate the place for what it is though: a public house, and on that criterion I give it a 9.

19 Feb 2003 12:25