81. Return to Wantage with Smiley, Saturday 5 February 2005

After reading of our last trip to Wantage, Ed 'Smiley' Lewis decided that he wanted to make a personal visit to see what all the fuss was about. He arrived bright and early one Saturday morning, and we headed straight into Oxford by Stagecoach bus at 11am taking advantage of a Group Explorer ticket for a tenner, which allowed us to visit the sights at a price that was right. After getting off the bus in Oxford, we had some time to kill so popped into the Hobgoblin on St Aldates which has now been renamed the St Aldates Tavern, to sample their wares. Beer was excellent - Cartford Hart Big Shuggie (a local brew of Dave Wacey), Shires, Notley Session, Bateman's Dark Lord, Bateman's Hooker - as the photograph below shows, though the stronger ones are priced much dearer than the weak ones. The Big Shuggie in particular was very good. It still remains a simple, dark pub, but was quite busy for 11.30 on a Saturday morning which is a good sign.

Selection of ales in St Aldates Tavern

Our X31 Stagecoach bus was propelled at high speed towards Wantage, and despite having to dick around to pick up some old farts in its outlying estates, we made good time to the town centre, and made haste to the Royal Oak, a place that we had been looking forward to. This time we settled in the left hand bar, next to that table football machine. Our beer choices were not quite as varied as they had been on our last visit (West Berkshire Mr Chubbs, Hexter's Healer, Hexter's Wedding and Maggs Mild, 6X, Bishop's Tipple and a very earthy one called Newbury Jack), but were once again magnificent even though we were not rating on this visit, having done so before. The second set of halves is recorded photographically below as they looked fantastic when they were poured. One of the best distractions was the table football and we had several games of 2 v. 1. The single player was not at a disadvantage, for the sun shining through the window made much of the table invisible to the two player team. The balls were for some reason covered in oil and mank, and would grind to a halt occasionally in the oil slick on the playing surface. Smiley got so involved in the game that he actually managed to hurl himself into the wall and collapse in a fit of laughter. We resolved to add the sport to the 2016 Cheam Olympic Bid, and even developed a darts-like scoring scheme. Sadly though, it was time to curtail our fun and see what else Wantage had to offer.

Magnificent halves in the Royal Oak, Wantage

Last time, we ignored the Shoulder of Mutton. This time however, we decided to pay it a visit, which turned out to be a good idea. The bar is very small and quaint, split into two sides, complete with a small snug, within which we sat. The snug is a small wooden walled room with glass windows and one large table which we had to share with interesting pub dogs, and there is even a small access to the bar. One side of the bar is also blessed with a roaring wood fire. The beer, Butts Barbus Barbus, Abbot and probably Morland, is served from pumps on the back wall of the bar and is very good. We liked this pub a lot. The King's Arms across the road was worth a second visit, and even though it only had Morland original on, the fit barmaid made our relaxing stay in the pub all the more pleasant.

The Swan also had a good barmaid. Nobody else was in there when we went in, perhaps because the front door was not the most obvious to find. I cannot remember the beer choice but it was not fantastic. The pub is quite large, rough and ready and looks the sort of place that might be popular with bikers and local sorts as seen portrayed on Midsomer Murders, which was on the TV and worth extra points. Only the toilets let the place down because they were grim. The Bell is a quite foody place, where shoppers can enjoy a lunchtime meal and soup all day, but again is fairly reasonable. Again the beer selection was limited, but there was a fairly good barmaid. Not so cosy though indoors, so we left to visit the Bear which, although having much cosier peripheral seats, was highly shit as it was full of families and shoppers and general societal misfits. The Directors wasn't bad I suppose, but that is certainly no reason to pay it a visit. We tolerated our stay until the bus arrived, then we immediately left to get on it, back to Oxford.

In an attempt to get the football scores we popped into the Old Tom, a cosy pub if you can get a seat, but alas we could not, so we had to stand up whilst drinking our Greene King (I think) products, which I think are quite pricey too. Downing these, we moved back to the St Aldates Tavern to meet Rich Walker, Rich Walker's bird Lucy and Tom Mason, who were having a nice drink. The beer selection had evolved since our morning foray so we could not have the Cartford Old Shuggie which was a shame, but whatever we did have was still very good. Rich and Lucy went, so the four remaining strolled up the road to Far From The Madding Crowd for some more quality beer - I lost the list but Landlord and Black Sheep and two others were on, and the pub was up to its usual high standards. Final stop of the day was the Three Goats Heads where three cheap rounds were had, including their keg stout. The beer was actually quite good for pissflow, and as we descended into the lower levels of sobriety, we observed some young ladies who had come into the bar, as well as making sure everyone heard us slagging off Cristiano Ronaldo very loudly, because he is a shit who you would want to punch in the face. This reminded us to leave at about 10, just so we could get back (via the Summertown kebab van) to watch Match of the Day, and fall asleep, beers/whiskey in hand, in front of the TV. No change there then...


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Dan Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com

Last updated 7th February 2005.