A novel idea was conjured up by Richard Bradshaw for a two centre crawl on Saturday 20th July. The idea was to use up a voucher that Richard had for cheap travel on Chiltern Railways, although as it transpired, no ticket seemed to be needed at all that day, such was the laxness of ticket inspectors. After some morning chores, I got the 277 bus from Great Bourton to Banbury, thence a train to Bicester where I had chip shop lunch, before timing my meeting with Richard to perfection outside the Plough. In we went and rewarded our seamless logistics with a pint. They only had one beer on, but it was York Guzzler which was a nice surprise, and it slipped down very well in the small beer yard. A barbecue had been set up along with a bouncy castle, in aid of Help for Heroes apparently, but it had barely got off the ground by the time we left. Not a bad pub, quite average Green King fayre really, with a pool table that gets in the way, pretty much anywhere that you choose to go in there.

We plotted a route and to work up a thirst went to the Swan. We seemed to be the only ones in there apart from some fool asking for directions and when he had eventually been sorted out the barmaid served us some Oxford Gold (bog standard Brakespear was the other choice), and we sat down at a nice pine table for four people dining to enjoy it. This pub seems pretty geared for diners so one can only assume that by 7pm, it would be filled with people who do not normally go to pubs tucking into lamb shank. Very gastro although quirks of the past such as exposed beams could be seen at least, and there were a couple of low tables perhaps devoted to drinking. The bar is odd because it goes up two steps half way along its length and our barmaid served us across the gradient. Not bad, but time to press on a few doors to a decidedly more drinkers' pub, the Six Bells, where a few old soaks were sitting enjoying cricket. I didn't write the beer choice down but it was limited to stuff that we'd see quite often, and it didn't taste too bad either. In contrast to the Swan the space is more economically used and we found a splendid seat in a bay window where there was room for two tables.

A bit of a walk followed to the Nightingale on the outskirts of Bicester in a sprawling new build estate. Despite its position, it was actually not that bad at all, having Young's Bitter and Bombardier available. As is typical for estate pubs it was a large single room, plushly carpeted with a big screen and plenty of space, with a more foody wing on one side, a table of condiments, cruets and cutlery and a vague smell of grease. Men in their mid 20s wearing shorts and drinking lager were also in evidence. It was however noticeable smarter than your average estate pub and conceivably one could have stayed for several. As it was we'd elected to have a pint and decided that it was high time to get back to central Bicester, this time via a more direct route.

Our 'reward' was the King's Arms hotel, which for some reason had a feel of a hotel bar and even though is situated in an historic building with interestingly placed interior walls, the lack of real ale let it down and I cared not much for the place. There was also a quiz machine which Richard lost a quid under. I should have liked it more there but didn't, given the sterile atmosphere. We finished up quickly and moved onto the White Hart, which is a little bit rough but lively. They do have bitter on which I forgot to record the flavours of, but there were a couple and they were not that memorable.

Some quite rough individuals were drinking in the White Hart, which again had a couple of flavours of acceptable but not out of the ordinary beer. It was very noisy in there and so Richard and I decided to retire to the 'garden' which was actually a concrete patch that was being dug up which we shared with chavvy families, although to be fair it was quite a god sun trap. We talked quickly, drank up and left. Chavs are also in evidence at the Penny Black, but it was fortunately not as busy in there and there was a little bit more interesting beer to drink at the usual Wetherspoons prices. No record of what was chosen again, but perhaps there was a beer called 'Trooper' with Iron Maiden font used on the pump clip, which Richard may have taken a picture of and sent to his brother. The pub is very long and thin and there may even be a beer garden, although I have never ventured that far.

You get more chavs still in Yates which is not a particularly nice place to drink although mercifully it was early in the day and had not filled up with idiots. I was dispensed something like Greene King IPA in one of those thick Hoegaarden style glasses from a trendy barman on the other side of a very long and sticky bar devoid of many pumps, and we whiled away a little time watching some cricket or other on the big screen whilst using one of their nice booths. The pace was quickening and we headed to the Bell which was a very quiet pub that had a very good and loud jukebox. I am not sure whether or not this hostelry remains part of the Wychwood empire, but they did at least have some real beer and the few people drinking there on the occasion of our visit were quite real, slightly mad metaller/cider types. The pub has not changed much and is basically two corridors with wooden seats and stone walls.

Chavs unfortunately returned at the Angel which purports to be a gastro pub on its website, and to be fair, it was a much more pleasant place to sit outside and enjoy something, which we did. They have a secret garden although as far as I could tell, this was just the other end of the car park. All in all, it is not bad at all, does some good beer, and I think the chav sighting was just bad luck. Having finished during a gap between trains, we popped back to the Plough for a swift half to break up the wait, which worked well, and soon we sped back to Banbury to meet Avril. First of all though was the opportunity to visit the Elephant and Castle, a superbly rough pub that smells of wet dogs near the station. There is a larger back room in addition to the small front room frequented by edgy looking characters, but we wisely decided not to investigate, and drank up our poor quality beer quickly to get back to the station for Avril's train. Once the rendezvous had been completed, the Beer Tree was nominated as the first port of call. This pub seemed to be undergoing a bit of a metamorphosis and we were a bit disappointed to discover that there was very little beer on - indeed it was almost as though either the decorators were in or it was shutting. It is still there though, with yet another change of name (I forget what it is), and hopefully they have been able to make a go of it - the tables outside looking at the ivy covered front of the pub are an excellent place to rest awhile.

We also managed to get a nice outside seat on the patio at the much more lively Wine Vaults. This is quite an interesting pub which Richard likes, which has quite a traditional interior near the bar, which then modernises as you get towards the garden with a trendier vibe. It may well be a bit of a venue and music might get played, but the beer selection was solid enough and rather tasty. As Avril was playing catch up, she elected to have a black sambucca too. For those who fancy something even more trendy, Also Known As across the road might be suitable. This is decorated perhaps too quirkily for its own good with all manner of tat, but is friendly enough, even though it doesn't have any beer on draught to speak of. Banbury is not known for its Hipster population, but it is probable that those who do exist congregate here. They have a yard as opposed to a garden, which basically offers a covered smoking area, which we investigated, and it actually wasn't all that bad.

Final pub of the evening with Richard was the Reindeer which was a very pleasing way to finish with a couple of pints, being a very welcoming - and excellent - establishment, serving very well kept Hook Norton ales. Always good, never busy, and with country wines for those who like that sort of thing. There is a large bar at the front which leads to a number of smaller and secluded drinking areas and of course the famous Globe room. We however made good use of the 'garden' at the side of the pub. After bidding goodbye to Richard, Avril and I got in a taxi back home and couldn't resist popping into the Bell at Great Bourton (pint for Avril, weak half for me) to see the newly appointed landlords who, pleasingly, were a young couple, a far cry from the rather stale pair who had been in for the previous 12 months.