XX CLOSED HP11 2LR White Horse, High Wycombe

[barney600]

No plans that I know of to move the dancers upstairs permanently. Last time I spoke to the owner the bands was a way of making money in the main bar on Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights.

[TS_Jabroni]

Anyone else having problems with the booking software?

[zante]

Does anyone remember the barmaid Emma?

I happen to know she's now a dancer. She's joined Blueberry.

[barney600]

That I'd like to see, do you know where and when is she working?

[zante]

Sent you a PM so as not to cross thread one pub with another.

[TS_Jabroni]

Don't be shy Zante...

[johnburgess]

I was at the White Horse last Friday (22/10/2010) and just wanted to say what a cracking time I had. All the dancers were brilliant, btu I particularly remember Bibi.

[saltydog]

Mods maybe move this one (and feel free to delete my contribution it is only meant as good natured ribbing!)

[zante]

No, it's all fine - JB had been lazy and used just the initials of the pub. As Shoreditch has more instances of those letters together in its thread the system changes it to the full name, which sadly and confusingly included the word Shoreditch! Just a hangover from the early days of the site when the posters were all writing with initials all over the place which made it incredibly difficult to read.

[Victor23]

Can't believe it's almost a year since anyone posted about the WHHW. OK, it's a bit of a way out from London and several girls have been finding this too, I hear. There's a general feeling that the quality and range of dancers isn't what it used to be, and some favourites have either stopped going or make only occasional appearances. Emma is said to have fallen out with the boss more than a year ago, Russian Helena is moving towards a new career, Camilla is (still) talking of retirement very soon (and makes only the occasional visit, appearing to favour the Nag's Head), and Esther now works closer to home. Karla and Vanessa are probably the longest surviving and most regular dancers there now, and Brazilian Natasha is also a popular regular.

A couple of other new dancers can best be described as blowzy.

I could be out that way one day later this month but looking at the website even that is not as complete as it used to be - just one or two names on many days, though I gather there are still from four to seven girls there in the afternoon, depending on the day of the week. And on my last couple of visits there's been a barman on duty - pleasant enough, but he doesn't compare with several barmaids of the last couple of years.

The pub still has one of the more relaxed atmospheres and appears to be escaping the problems that are affecting strip pubs in London and the girls are friendly without pressing for dances but for punters venturing out of London a combined visit to the Woolpack and Vic at Hayes with some planning to take advantage of shift changes might be a better option.


Vic

[saltydog]

Blowzy?

Please elaborate!

[TS_Jabroni]

Interesting - I went here a couple of months ago it was still worth it. On reflection not as good as about a year ago (the last time I went)...

[TS_Jabroni]

Old website gone - new one is...

www.bar95.co.uk

Slicker.

[Victor23]

The link in The Stage still takes one to to the old website, perhaps it's running in tandem with the new one for a while. Yep, the new Bar95 one does look slicker and gone are the "archive" fotos of girls who mostly danced there years ago. But it's not at first clear that it also takes in the afternoon shows in the main downstairs bar, though the rotas are given in "This Week's Events".

There's been a large intake of new girls this year, with just a handful of familiar names. What doesn't seem to be available on the new site is a searchbox where you could enter a girl's name and see her appearances at High Wycombe for the next month or so - you can do this on the old one; it could be a little sad to type in a favourite's name and see she had no bookings and probably had moved on, unless she was on an extended holiday back home.

The £20 dances remain far better value than the "metre away in the half-dark" offered by some London places. (What is the point of paying that sort of money for an indistinct shape gyrating in front of you?)

Vic

[Victor23]

The wind of change seems to have got to the White Horse, though it's escaped relatively lightly:

here

See the appendices in the above link for the council's expectations and management's response. Girls are now having to sign in and out and in the car-park one afternoon there was a guy with a security arm-band - dunno if this was anything to do with girls needing to be escorted to their cars - in broad daylight? And what about the reference to a metre-rule - at the WHHW?

The CCTV is now being very closely monitored, but the trouble is that the screen above the bar is tiny and I'm told there have been cases of interruptive over-reaction by the manager - who on my visit last month was looking more stressed than usual.

Fans of Camilla and Esther may have noticed girls of these names on the website, but as "new" against the names suggests these are not the originals.

Girls continue to find the afternoon shifts of limited value, except for some Fridays, which is a good time for you to discuss your building problems with the other customers.

Vic

[Victor23]

Oh dear, what's the continuing problem at the WHHW? I'm in the area over the next few days, so I looked at the new website - just a couple of girls listed for afternoons early in the week, not much of an inducement to go along. Then I looked at the Victoria's website and there are six girls on the early and late afternoon shifts, plus whoever might be appearing down the road at the Woolpack. And next Monday the Vic has several good girls who used to work at the White Horse.

Of course dancers move on all the time, but last week I met one White Horse regular who had had enough and reckoned the place wasn't what it used to be and that the quality of the dancers had gone down.


Vic

[Victor23]

Things have improved, though hardly any Brazilians work there now. Several very nice English girls, including one who talks very posh. A couple of stunning barmaids as well. The young barman is (was?) pleasant enough and has/had a good memory for what one drinks, but who would you prefer to serve you.

Some months ago, a new carpet was fitted in the private dance room - the old one was a health and safety hazard - and this has encouraged some dancers to sprawl on it to great visual effect.

Vic

[Shaun70]

I shall be visiting HiWy in Oct or Nov. would the WHHW Regulars recommend a Friday or Sat lunchtime? I like it not too busy and I like the girls to be naturally busty and shapely Your advice would be most welcome It will be my first time there - so no pressure

Oh, and which side is the bar with the dancers - dodgy sight means I never spot the signs and I don't want to feel a real muppet by going in the wrong door.

Cheers

[Victor23]

I've never been there on a Saturday, but all weekday lunchtimes are fairly quiet, with up to four or five regular customers. Then there's a trickle of people leaving and arriving, with seldom more than seven or eight at any one time, except on Fridays around 4pm when the local builders arrive. The girls appear in the bar around 1300 and are mostly natural and all are sociable.

Dancing takes place to the right of the only entrance. The left end of the bar is for those who aren't expected to put £1 in the jug and who hang around hoping for a distant free look at the stage shows. Occasionally a girl might venture there to try to coax one of them to come over or on her way to the outside smoking area, where a couple of freeloaders may join her.

Talking of builders, yesterday I was talking to a retired plumber who said he and a couple of mates were working near the WHHW some years ago but they didn't go in because they were afraid of what might happen

Vic

[Shaun70]

Cheers for the prompt response Vic. I shall probably aim for a weekday. The numbers sound good and the guidance on bar layout is much appreciated.

No chance of a free-view by me from the far side of the bar - with my peepers it is hard enough seeing much from a couple of metres from the stage The advantage is I don't see many imperfections either .

I always look forward to trying somewhere new. It's that sense of the unknown and hope of striking gold.

Shaun

[Victor23]

Given the state of your eyes, the WHHW is probably a good bet for you. The bar area is well lit and as one enters one doesn't have the sudden change from bright sunlight into gloom that one gets at the Sports Bar and Nag's Head. And there's reasonable visibility in the private dance area, especially on a sunny day.

Enjoy!

Vic

[Shaun70]

Now That's the kind of 'reasonable adjustment' that I like! Good to hear the WHHW is DDA compliant . I shall report back in Oct (though I now want to go so much sooner!)

[eroticon6]

Been a while - I popped in of an afternoon a few months ago, and found it very quiet. Two tall English lovelies there, but not the faintest hope of seeing any dancing unless you opt for a private dance, which is not normally to my taste.

A pity that there aren't more chaps around during the day to make it worth the girls turning up, and actually doing some dancing - my memory of the last time I hit it right was that the stage area is both easy to see and wonderfully lit. Not a place for shy girls to try to hide their crown jewels in the shadows!

[Victor23]

... A pity that there aren't more chaps around during the day to make it worth the girls turning up ...

Same everywhere on weekday afternoons, nowadays, I think? Not sure if I'm talking about ever-diminishing returns, downward spiral, vicious circle or whatever, but many guys travel some distance to a strip-pub and expect a reasonable number of stage/floor shows to make it worth their while; there's a limit to how much time some want to hang around reading the paper, staring into space or making small talk to a girl they don't necessarily like very much. So they don't bother to go along, and things get worse. Looking at the WHHW website, they don't have the wide range of girls they used to, and not so many in the afternoon, so fewer guys want to travel far unless one of their favourite girls is dancing.

"Busiest" places that I visit in the afternoons seem to be the Vic and White Horse, Shoreditch, where there may be all of five or six guys and stage or floor shows are reasonably continuous.

Vic

[Victor23]

Oh dear! Was wondering whether to visit the White Horse this coming week, but at 1915 on Sunday its website has "no events for this date" for every weekday except Wednesday, when the same solitary girl is listed for the afternoon and evening shifts.

I imagine that this is just down to the website not being updated, but it has to be said that the note of a "seemingly unlimited rota" in "The Stage" posts hasn't been accurate for a year or more. The same six or eight names recur all the time and, though most are reasonably acceptable, the White Horse's Glory Days seem to have gone, along with most of the Brazilians.

A very popular girl is back at university (after apparently recording the second highest number of successive PDs in living memory - 30+!), and one of the surviving Brazilians had an unnecessary boob job early this year.

All a pity. It was a good, relaxed venue that didn't feel the need to operate in semi-darkness like many of the London pubs.

Regular customers aren't likely to go along if they don't know which girls are going to be there.

Vic

PS I checked on Monday morning at 1140 and the website had been updated, with a reasonably full complement of girls for the rest of the week. Better late than never, I suppose, but too late for me think whether to go along today.