88.
North of Kidlington - Speed Half Dozen,
Having consumed a most enormous fry-up,
consisting largely of products bought that morning at Kidlington
market, I decided to be virtuous and do something healthy by going for a cycle
ride in the afternoon, perhaps punctuated with some refreshment stops. Leaving
the house at approximately 2.15, I made it my goal to visit six pubs, get a
good cycle done and return all in time for the final scores on BBC1, coverage
commencing at 4.30. I discovered that I had not yet paid a visit to the Wise
Alderman in 2005, a nearby pub to the north of Kidlington
by the side of a canal. Whilst nothing special, the garden is pretty good, with
spread out tables, and the interior of the pub is good and honest and they have
reasonably priced basic food. There are two proper beers on in the shape of
Greene King IPA and Ruddles County. I had the Ruddles which was pleasant enough.
A speedy cycle along the main road
northwards was next, as quickly as possible and a couple of miles later I
reached Sturdy's Castle which is pretty foody, but reasonable if you sit at the bar or outside. I
was served with a mediocre half of Hooky Bitter (presumably rebranded
Hook Norton Best?), though I could have had 6X. Again
pleasant enough. I had decided to pay the
Time to push on, and I decided to take
what turned out to be another fruitless detour, to the Oxford Arms at Kirtlington, which had closed at 3pm. Fortunately I was not
quite as far out of my way as I could have been, and The Black's Head Inn at Bletchingdon was a reasonably quick cycle; I arrived at
about 3.45pm. This pub was serving 6X, London Pride and Greene King IPA. Again,
I sat in the garden to guard my unlocked bike, and made fast work of the
pleasant, if slightly overpriced Pride. In order to boost the number of pubs on
the crawl, I popped into Bletchingdon sports club on
the road to Hampton Poyle. Though there was cricket
on, the bar was shut so I did not stay long.
The best half of the day was Gales Summer
Hog at The Bell in Hampton Poyle - certainly a
better, and cheaper, choice than the Bombardier. I like this pub as it is very cosy inside, though I took the opportunity to sit at one of
the roadside tables instead. For winter drinking, the front room is
particularly snug. Luckily service was quick as the pub opens
at 4pm on a Saturday. Detecting the opportunity to do one more, I raced to the
Kings Arms at Gosford, a member of the Harvester
chain. Of all things, I had some pissflow Old
Speckled Hen, which was cold and beery but any character of the taste was
destroyed so I might as well have had the Tetleys at
30p cheaper. It was now 4.26, time to leave, and using a quick short cut, I
dashed home, just going through the front door and flicking on the TV to BBC1
as Claire 'looks a bit like Princess Di, but with
face hit by a shovel' Balding handed over to Ray Stubbs or someone equally
forgettable for the final scores. Mission accomplished!
Dan
Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com
Last updated 21st August 2005.