A fairly well trodden path followed, and we crossed the market place to venture into '4' the oft-renamed Hook Norton pub. It's deceptively large inside and has a nice sun trap of a garden which I believe even has its own beer serving hatch which was not operational when we visited. As you might expect a decent range of beer available too, though it is a bit trendy.

A new establishment to try was the Apothecary which used to be a newsagent, then a slightly rough round the edges micropub and has now established itself as a craft beer mainly in bottles outlet. It's well maintained though and has an excellent range and if you like that sort of thing then well worth a try. As I recall they had some mini kegs of draft stuff available, though pretty much all of it is rather pricey. A place for sipping not guzzling.

One of Richard's favourites is the Wine Vaults for some reason, so we made sure that we were back in there. Fortunately, I quite like this place too, and they have some decent beers available at a traditional bar and a selection of pleasant areas in which to drink them. We went and had ours in the beer garden which is actually quite spacious.

Another favourite is the Reine Deer just up the road which also has an outside area, though it is more of a beer alleyway than a garden really and the back-end peters out onto a view of some back entrances and a car park. Despite that, this is the best pub in Banbury for beer and I had a customary pint of mild. As is also customary we poked our heads into the Oliver Cromwell room, as well as various other nooks and crannies that would provide interesting places to sit and drink.

Trendier, though not annoyingly so, is the Old Auctioneer, complete also with a reasonable beer garden, albeit with the same view as the Reine Deer. Very large inside and outside too though the toilets are a bit of a trek. I like it for one, but it's not got enough going for it to merit an extended stay. I also think they had an 'own brand' beer which wasn't particularly nice. In the end we exited out the back of the extensive beer garden to have a much shorter trip to the Three Pigeons.

I have always been quite a fan of this pub, even though it was even better when it was like someone's living room. Still, full of cosy corners, low beams, superior soap and towels in the toilets and decent beer. The sort of place that might be popular with more refined couples for a Saturday steak dinner. Richard discovered the low beams by smacking his bonce on them especially hard and crumpling to the floor in a heap. Fortunately, the pub was quiet and a cold towel and a 10 minute sit down sorted him out and we set off two doors down the road to the Bailiff’s Tap.

I am pleased that we went in here because I am not clear what is going to happen to this place after the pandemic. Glad it was open though and we had a more relaxed pint of something obscure whilst chilling out amongst the office furniture. One of my favourite places in Banbury, hopefully it will reopen and if you can stand the single toilet, worth spending a while in though maybe not all evening. Richard was probably too dazed to note its randomness. There is no bar, just a rack of ales and a guy dispensing them.

A more conventional and not at all bad pub followed in the shape of the White Horse. It's always OK in here, and there are enough beers on and various decent spaces indoors and out in which to enjoy your beer. I've never seen it that busy in there. Perhaps not quite as top notch as it was when it was owned by a more local brewery, but even as an Everards house it gives a good account of itself. Not that there was much point as it was a hot day, but there are some splendid wing-backed armchairs in there.

The Church House is somewhat different. true, the building is impressive, some might say even grander than the White Horse, and this is carried through to some of the fixtures and fittings, but it is mainly a pub for a younger clientele, alcopops, cocktails, bottled beer etc being more the order of the day. We decided to use the beer garden which is somewhere that I had never been before. Busy and full of younger people, quite boisterous, not scenic. At least it is popular. There were a few spots of rain whilst we were there but not enough to dampen the mood.

With time ticking by, we decided to try just two more. The first was the Horse and Jockey which is a bit of a scruffy pub, not a lot of decent beer, but OK for a pint or two which we had whilst playing darts. There are not so many pubs for that these days. I think I even had lager while we were in there. Final stop of the night was the Banbury Cross which is one that I think I like, on the way to the station and so convenient for Richard. They do have a few good beers in there and a pretty good outdoor area, but I always wonder about the clientele somewhat, I think there are quite a few regulars who spend all day every day there. Again though, you could do a lot worse and it was a decent enough way to finish the proceedings.