46.
Blagging into College Bars,
In order to hoover
up some college bars before too far into the term, Dave and I decided to take
the opportunity to slot in some colleges at the end of first week whilst term
was still young and faces unknown. First of all though, I was returning from a
day in Cambridge and had a swift half in Sturdy's
Castle at Tackley, not a particularly impressive pub.
It was populated by bikers, even at 5.30, and had two beers on - Hook Norton
Best and 1744. All in all a very average pub, and not one
worth making a special pilgrimage to.
Getting the bus into town, and finding no
beer left at Happy Hour, we made Brasenose college bar
the first pint, which we eventually found this time round. As it was still
early, it was deserted. Our choices were restricted to pissflow
beer, though at least one of them was Brakespear. The
bar is in a cellar with several different rooms off a corridor and is probably
rather good if/when it fills up. At a £1.80 it wasn't that cheap for a
student bar either, though Tetley's was only £1.30. Queen's college was
next on the agenda, and again another cellar bar, though built more around a
single room with partitions in. Nice and cheap in here, we had draught Abbot
which was actually very good, though sadly the Tetley's Imperial was off. More
people were in here and the atmosphere was better.
Success in college bars spurred us to try
another,
Popping across the road to Christchurch,
we had a couple of pints of very nice and cold Tetley as the Imperial was off. Quite a spartan bar with not much
decoration and in a newish building rather than a
cellar, but cheap and cheerful. Try as we might, we could not find the
other college bar so decided instead to have some real beer at the Wharf House.
Once again, this was a magnificent visit, so we stayed for a brace of halves
each. Offerings when we went were: Black Pearl Stout, Slater's Top Totty, Hook Norton Best, RCH Pitchfork, Bitburger,
Erdinger, a silly cider, but best of all was Archer's
Mild which was an absolutely glorious pint. Value on the regular beers is also
very good - HNB was £1.70, and the bar snacks are excellent also.
However, the clientele leaves a lot to be desired, with a load of people who
were absolutely shitfaced and had the appearance of
tramps, one to the extent that he had fallen asleep at the table and was
dribbling into his beer. The whole pub also smelt of wet dogs, a stench which I
imagine has permeated the wooden floor and peeling walls. Nonetheless,
the best drinkers' pub in central Oxford.
The Duke of York, in the middle of a car
park, is a much livelier venue and during our visit was heaving with townies
doing karaoke badly. Morrells Oxford Blue was
exceptional value at a quid and a half per pint, and tasted very good also. Also,
the toilets are accessible directly from the road. Finally, the interior is in
the style of Morrells before the got Greene Kinged, ie lots of knick knacks
all over the place which have come from a junk shop.
Time was ticking on, and unable to get
back into town quickly, we made a very quick stop at the Jolly Farmers which is
still as gay as ever, though also very lively and not as heaving as the Castle
next door which is a gay meat market where anyone might brush past. The Farmers
has quite a good juke box and a cosy interior. We did
not rate the toilets on this occasion. Sadly we had to have lager as the
Courage Best was off, though this was good value also. Finally, with a couple
of minutes to spare, we went to the Brewery Gate, though were warned by a
raving homophobe outside that the place was 'crawling with lesbians'. This in
no way put us off and we went in anyway for a half of Oxford Blue and a game of
pool each. It still retained its empty interior and yes there were lesbians.
Beer was once again very good value, and the decor quite traditional if a
little uninspired. Whilst playing pool we noted one couple, and it took us
several minutes to work out that one of them was a dyke, given her rather butch
appearance, finally ascertaining this as she used the ladies' and had quite a
high voice. Which was a shame as the more feminine one was actually pretty fit
:-(
Dan
Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com
Last updated 21st October 2003.