Dave and I decided to recreate days of yore by going for a cycle pub crawl. It's not quite the same though when you are in or approaching your 40s. The wet weather of the day may have had some effect and dampened spirits and indeed the excursion was not certain to proceed but fortunately with the rain easing off we met in Oxford at about mid-day and got started, sensibly making pubs in Wolvercote our first stop whilst the last of the drizzle cleared.

As is customary, the Plough was the first stop and we sat outside to dry out. This has always been a reasonably good pub with some quite nice rooms and a pleasing atmosphere. They do some pretty good beer too and we selected from a choice of Olde Trip, Edmunds, Hancocks and Kimberly. The seats overlooking the green are quite expansive, but on a cooler day the library is an excellent venue in which to get shitfaced.

The Red Lion, which I always regarded as a pub where people from the Midlands would go for a sizzling steak dinner, has morphed into Jacobs Inn. In some respects this is a very formulaic trendy gastropub type thing with burgers in brioche buns and hipsters serving sizeable Bloody Marys, the details of which appear on chalkboards penned by a feminine hand. There seems to be a little more to it however and what they do is done very well, perhaps along the lines of a village fete. The giant garden has ample space and enough space such that the kids can roam free elsewhere. A similar atmosphere inside prevailed in the uber quirky interior and most notably the beer was good: White Witch, Oxford Gold, Hobgoblin, Brakespear. Also worthy of mention were the partitioned troughs in the gents'.

The most old man pub in Wolvercote is the White Hart, and we sat in some very nice front window seats supping Betty Stoggs or White Horse Bitter. The landlady was welcoming - exactly the sort of place that one could settle in all day, though they had no food. Poor quality solids were ingested in the form of fish and chips from the nearby chippy, then it was off to the Trout around the corner. I have never been the biggest fan of this pub because it is massive, sprawling, expensive and too food orientated but on this day it was at least less busy on account of the weather, though it had cheered up enough for us to sit in the beer garden by the river. Funnily enough you could probably also settle in here for an extended session though beer was less well kept and less visionary: Doom Bar, Brakespear, 'Lager' (not sure what I meant by that).

Thinking about it, this area is actually quite well-blessed for pubs and the fifth of the day was just up the road, the White Hart in Wytham was open and so we stopped. This is very much a countryside gastro and there isn't really much of a drinking area inside despite the interior being quite nice. It is all laid out for food. Fortunately the rain had stopped by then and it was beginning to brighten up so we sat outside in the deserted and rather expansive garden and tucked into our halves of Wadworth's offerings: Henry's, 6X, Boundary. Notable during our stay was a very uncomfortable looking family who had shown up for lunch but as far as I could tell none of them actually wanted to be there. They should have saved a few quid and dined separately at home.

A lengthy cycle followed up the wet and not suited to cycles path by the side of Wytham Woods. It is a pity that cycles are not allowed on the nicely metalled paths through the woods, but eventually we hit a towpath to make quicker progress and were rewarded with the Talbot at Swinford. They used to have some splendidly saucy pictures in the gents’ which have sadly been removed, but I still like this pub for some reason. It's very honest and has a decent selection of beer, mainly Arkell’s: Bock, Moonlight, 3B, and it's little surprise that we went for the Bock which was a fine half. We sat outside by the river to enjoy our purchases. I think some of the beer is served from barrels racked up behind the bar.

Another lengthy cycle involving towpath and dicking around cross country followed before we reached the Ferryman at Bablock Hythe, another one of our staples on this sort of crawl. It's a bit of a soulless new build pub and you wouldn't want to hang around inside at all, but outside, in the sun, looking at the river, where a ferry should be, is quite good. Beer wasn't bad either in the form of Wadworth’s Henry's, 6X, Horizon.

Another quite large gap but this time by metalled roads and we were at the Red Lion in Northmoor pretty quickly. This has always been a highlight on this crawl. It's a quaint little pub with low ceilings and rustic decor that has a nice balance between beer and food. Best selection of the day so far with the curiously named Isis Pale, Loose Cannon Abingdon Bridge, Ramsbury Same Again, Brakespear all on tap. Whether you are out for a gastro pub experience or just in the frame of mind for getting politely shitfaced, this is a great place to go.

A further slow section followed as we made our way across the Thames or Isis to the Plough at Appleton. This used to be a superb pub, very dated, serving Greene King Mild on pissflow which one could then urinate out in the detached toilets. Things have moved on a little but there is still satisfaction in buying a beer at the separate bar. No mild today but the Doom Bar and Morland original, quite a rare beast nowadays, were up to standard. Concerningly it was getting on for dinner time but not a soul was in there.

As is expected the highlight of this crawl is always the Eight Bells in the tiny village of Eaton just on the other side of the non-functioning ferry to Bablock Hythe. It's not in a particularly historic building, and the garden and facilities are basic, but what it does have is outstanding beer for such a small place. Choice on the occasion of our visit was Mr Chubbs, Abingdon Bridge, Longspoons, Elmers, all of which were excellent. I was feeling peckish by this time and so additionally took on solids in the form of pickled egg placed in a bag of pork scratchings. This combination is sadly becoming a rarity these days, odd for what could be described as the 'food of the gods'. Marginal at best in terms of revenue though, it seems to have closed and reopened several times in recent years. One can but hope that such gems stay with us.

Last of the day before I had to razz it back to the station, fortunately downhill, was the Bear and Ragged Staff at Cumnor. This is a large coaching inn of a place though pleasingly is not full of horrible lush twats that one might expect if it were nearer to Oxford. On the occasion of or visit there were a variety of people fully engrossed in their Saturday dinner, some of whom would have headed into Oxford to act like dicks, others who would stay there sensibly. Despite a strong food/wine/fine dining focus, the beer and surroundings are good enough to tempt the drinker to stay a while. Products available when we were there: Hogsback TEA, Robinson's Dizzy Blonde; not a bad couple at all.