42.
Bus excursion to Witney, home of the blanket,
Since the weather was getting a bit cooler and the nights were drawing in, it seemed unsuitable to do a bike pub crawl. Instead, me and Dave, together with Simon Gough and Lisa Hall, decided to go for a bus ride to Witney, home of the blanket, to see what shite pubs we could find and discover if there were any decent ones there at all.
Dismayed at our £3.90 return bus tickets,
we alighted on the outskirts of the blanket weaving metropolis, and sampled our
first pub, the
Almost in the town centre is a very obvious looking hotel type place, the Court Inn. Lisa joined us just after we had completed full circle on the first set of rounds, which was handy, and also had to do some ratings for the Bint spreadsheet. The boys found the bar snacks most agreeable, though Lisa was forlorn at the lack of chocolate on offer. Our beer 'choice' was Old Mill Nellie Dene, whatever that was, though it tasted good and represented value for money. The toilets were rather good, having been redecorated quite recently with some very fancy fake granite tiles. Apparently one could walk from the public to the lounge bar via the ladies even though there was only one cubicle. We also liked the pub as we had found a cosy corner, and there was a trio of girls in there enjoying some coke (the fizzy sort). Yet more majestic bar snacks followed at the Plough, another Inn type place where we made use of the beer garden after the landlord had eventually served us our beer and assorted snacks. The pickled eggs and crisps are highly recommended. On the minus side though was that they only had Greene King IPA though this tasted quite nice on this occasion.
Down an alleyway, in time for the football results, we found a lively pub, the Royal Oak, which was selling Wychwood products - Shires, Hobgoblin, and Fiddlers Elbow. Unfortunately they came at a price, but tasted very nice. We sat in the courtyard in the last of the sun and made use of the outside toilets which had a nice trough in the gents. The interior was a bit cramped but the atmosphere very good, and though the bar snacks were pedestrian, they did have some cockles in a foil packet. For some reason though this pub only got 13¾. Oh because it was expensive. Moving swiftly on we got to Ye Olde Cross Keys, a bit like a Firkin inside, wooden floors and quite big, and the toilets are a right pain to find. Not a great deal else going for it, only beers were Courage Best and Pedigree and in general the pub was really quite average in every respect. The appearance of the bar, with mirrors and pyramids of Bailey's Glide, Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezers suggested that the pub might fill with wankers later in the evening, so our rating was quite generous.
Next pub, and best hostelry on the crawl was the Angel, a friendly, locals pub, done up in wood mainly with a big TV in the corner that is neither too obtrusive to kill conversation nor too small for anyone to see. We settled into a well loved booth of seats to sup our beers. Sampling from the spectrum of John Smiths, Old Hooky, Bombardier and Courage Best we found that they were all very well kept, if a little expensive. The gents' toilet also has a most interesting toilet seat - barbed wire encased in clear plastic, although this was marred somewhat since someone had pinched the lid. All in all the best pub that we could find in the middle of Witney. Excellent bar snacks (apparently) too.
Around the corner is the Red Lion, a pub that probably sets itself up more as a 'venue' for gigs in its back room, and with a vaguely Firkin-esque interior. Beer was restricted to IPA on draught and Ruddles on pissflow, but Lisa had a lemonade in a Hoegaarden styled glass which I took a shine to and which came home with me. This was perhaps a wise move as the quality and price left a little to be desired. The jukebox gave it an extra quarter or so as Five Star had been selected by a fellow discerning drinker, well done. Another pub with better beer lay over the road. The Eagle was fairly quiet. The main feature was however an incredible table football table in the back room which Simon described as 'sonorous' as the heavy men on sticks made excellent clunking sounds when the ball was thrashed around. During piss breaks in the matches, the gentlemen discovered the delights of the toilet with its L-shaped tiled trough. Magnificent! Beer took a bit of a back seat in here, but it was reasonable Hook Norton Bitter and Old Hooky. The atmosphere wasn't as good as it should have been though on account that there were some large and slobbery dogs roaming around and generally getting in the way. Seats as well were not as comfortable as they might have been.
Further table footballing opportunities were found on a more conventional table in the Chequers, a particularly lively pub which actually had some bouncers on the door. Unfortunately none of the pints being poured were real beer which was a shame. Not a wooden interiored pub this, far more painted and clubby though the bar at least looked decent. Toilets also had Wild West swinging doors which was novel - in fact our barmaids were wearing cowboy hats. Whilst thrashing around on table football, we heard Depeche Mode doing Just Can't Get Enough, so some extra points there. A pair of barmaids greeted our arrival at the Butchers Arms, a lively, well decked out pub full of ornaments and punters, and a good range of drinks. On our visit they had Hobgoblin, Fiddlers Elbow, Shires and Brakespear which tasted excellent though we had to pay for the privilege. Quite cramped interior too.
In complete contrast was the New Inn, a right old man's pub, with copper topped tables and squashy old seats, bygone photos and pink wallpaper. Beer was disappointing - only Hook Norton Best and Tetleys, so we drank up and as all the pubs were pretty much done, got the bus back to Oxford (I had dreaded the speed humps in Eynsham, but in fact had no bladder complaints at all which was most unexpected) for a couple of cheeky halves. First stop was the Three Goats Heads, a two storey, tiny, brightly lit pub which could be pleasant. However, since the Sam Smiths has been taken off draught there's far less reason to come back although it is cheap, and doesn't tend to fill to bursting point on Saturdays (or ever). The gents' however may well be the smallest in Oxford, or most intimate perhaps (euurgh). Me and Dave then made our way back to Summertown and a brief stop at the Dew Drop, which many people think is crap but I quite like, particularly as they had Summer Lightning on for our visit...
Dan Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com
Last updated 9th October 2003.