The Russell Arms at Butlers Cross has been part of its community since 1784, occupying a position that could hardly be more historically resonant — the lane to Chequers, the Prime Minister’s official country residence, runs directly from the pub’s door. Community-owned through a share scheme of local shareholders, it is a coaching house of genuine eighteenth-century character: light and airy inside, with three linked seating areas, a working fire and log burner, and a beer garden that is among the finest places to sit in this corner of the Chilterns.
The kitchen turns out freshly prepared food every day, with a Sunday roast that draws visitors from considerably further afield than the Vale of Aylesbury. The ales are kept locally — Chiltern Brewery’s Beechwood Bitter a regular on the bar — and muddy boots, dogs and cyclists are as welcome as the well-heeled walkers arriving off the Ridgeway. A pub that knows exactly what it is: a proper country local, owned by its village, set in some of Buckinghamshire’s most beautiful countryside.
