Slaking One's Thirst in Oxford [many pics]

Slaking One's Thirst in Oxford
A Sunday Night on the Town, Part 1

The past couple of years, at the conclusion of the Oxford Symposium, I've gone on a solo pub crawl to clear the head and get one last taste of of some of the ales and ciders I love before leaving England. God willing, I'll get to do it again this year and I hope I'll get to do this enough in subsequent years to be able to call it a tradition.

Late afternoon...

A weekend fair shutting down...



One of my three favourite pubs in Oxford:


Just across the street is another nice one:


For my next destination, I had to cut across a part of town and stopped in here for some Geritol:



Not one of my favourites but I had to pass by and they serve some good ales:


No, the camara is not out of focus. Rather, this photo accurately reflects the state of my vision at this point:

A small problem brought about by a need for food, which I saw to at my next stop...

Antonius

Slaking One's Thirst in Oxford
A Sunday Night on the Town, Part 2

One of my two favourite pubs in Oxford and one of my favourite places in which to pass time in the entire world, the White Horse, next to Blackwell's (this photo from another occasion) -- zoals te Leuven, boeken en bier:


A few days earlier I had finished up my oral presentation for the Symposium with some Scottish ale:

Scottish ales are good when you're working on a Mac:

Anyway, back to the post-Symposium pub crawl: I needed food and got some at the White Horse:

The chips are nothing special but not bad. The fish on the other hand -- haddock it was -- definitely made me happy: fresh, nicely battered, not greasy, good stuff.

Some cute marketing. Note that Tim Taylor's Landlord ale, just to the right of the Idiot, is a very noble beverage:

A short stroll to the east, down this little lane, is the other of my two favourite pubs in Oxford, the Turf Tavern, very different in some ways from the White Horse but also very cozy, comfy...



Very helpful and typically very attractive staff...

Outstanding ales and, one of man's most perfect creations, Weston's Old Rosie Scrumpy... goes down easy but packs a good punch!


That does it for the city centre, but I was looking forward to passing one more place on the way back to my lodgings...

Antonius

Slaking One's Thirst in Oxford
A Sunday Night on the Town, Part 3

I was staying on the southeast edge of town, near this pub (photo from another occasion!)

Aside from the barkeep, I was the last man standing...

Though, after 6 hours, six pubs and a couple of gallons, I was still going strong... Note the mixed drinks menu -- I suspect this place is hopping during the regular academic year...

Some of the interior decoration... (wink wink, say no more)...

Een beetje Belgisch bier om het avondje t'Ossenvoorde te sluiten...

Cheers and good night...


Antonius

Antonius wrote:The past couple of years, at the conclusion of the Oxford Symposium, I've gone on a solo pub crawl to clear the head ...

uh, yeah, looks like you really succeeded in clearing your head, Antonius...

Glad you pointed that out, Amata

Thanks for posting the pix, Antonius -- looks like you're upholding the personal traditions you've established for yourself. Hope the presentation went well.

Quite clear* was the head at the end of the evening, as can be seen in the final photo.

'L. Ron' Antonius

* «Clear» is a technical term used by members of the Church of Cervasiology to denote a religiously ecstatic and intellectually focussed mental state.

David Hammond wrote:Thanks for posting the pix, Antonius -- looks like you're upholding the personal traditions you've established for yourself. Hope the presentation went well.

Glad you liked 'em. That was from last year's trip -- this year's is coming up, alas, same weekend as the LTH pickanick...

A

Antonius wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Thanks for posting the pix, Antonius -- looks like you're upholding the personal traditions you've established for yourself. Hope the presentation went well.

Glad you liked 'em. That was from last year's trip -- this year's is coming up, alas, same weekend as the LTH pickanick...

A

Ahh, last year, I see (I just re-read the first paragraph -- guess my reading comprehension is off, and I haven't even "cleared my head" yet today).

Well then...best of luck on this year's presentation!

Antonius of course knows this, but some may not: the White Horse is where Inspector Morse and Sgt. Lewis frequently drank; in fact, I think it must count as their local. You were in good hands Antonius! :^)

If you can possibly get a car, or catch a ride, after this year's symposium Antonius, see if you can visit The Plough in Noke: a genuine country pub on the end of a no-exit road down in the valley. Wonderful place.

The Trout Inn in Wolvercote used to be a nice place for a Sunday afternoon; and The Star in Woodstock has extremely good game pies. Both of these are reachable by Oxford & Dist busses.

As they say at The Turf: "Bet you can't find us!", but you did Antonius. Well done! Have a jar of Hookie for all of us...

Geo

Geo wrote:Antonius of course knows this, but some may not: the White Horse is where Inspector Morse and Sgt. Lewis frequently drank; in fact, I think it must count as their local. You were in good hands Antonius! :^)

Greetings, Geo!

Yup, I believe the White Horse was supposed to be Morse's favourite pub but I'm not positive about that; though I very much enjoyed that show, I wasn't a devoted follower thereof. In any event, the best things about the pub are: 1) the atmosphere (great barkeeps, a number of solitary regulars); 2) the ales; 3) the position, in central Oxford and, better still, nestled in amidst sections of Blackwell's. Were it not for the Turf Tavern, it would be my undisputed favourite pub in Oxford but, as I said above, the two are different and can co-exist in my drinking-establishment pantheon at the highest level...

If you can possibly get a car, or catch a ride, after this year's symposium Antonius, see if you can visit The Plough in Noke: a genuine country pub on the end of a no-exit road down in the valley. Wonderful place.
The Trout Inn in Wolvercote used to be a nice place for a Sunday afternoon; and The Star in Woodstock has extremely good game pies. Both of these are reachable by Oxford & Dist busses.

Thanks for the tips -- I believe I've heard tell of the The Plough and now with your recommendation I'd really like to go but... perhaps I can steal a car while I'm there.

As they say at The Turf: "Bet you can't find us!", but you did Antonius. Well done! Have a jar of Hookie for all of us...

Back in the day, no place with such ale and cider and so many handsome young ladies could hide itself from me for very long -- the first time I was in Oxford some 25 years or so ago, I stumbled (figuratively) across it. It is quite a place, given its tucked-away location but then also it's multiple indoor-outdoor-space layout. The ale selection is very good and I like the fact that they list the alcoholic content* -- when I noticed that, I soon saw that the old scrumpy I had been so blithely swilling was, in fact, murderously strong...

A

*Maybe all places (have to?) do this but it's not always so legibly or prominently done as at the one side of the Turf's bar.
I wrote up a meal I had at the Turf a couple of years ago in this thread:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=44947#44947

Antonius wrote:

Geo wrote:Antonius of course knows this, but some may not: the White Horse is where Inspector Morse and Sgt. Lewis frequently drank; in fact, I think it must count as their local. You were in good hands Antonius! :^)

Yup, I believe the White Horse was supposed to be Morse's favourite pub but I'm not positive about that; though I very much enjoyed that show, I wasn't a devoted follower thereof. In any event, the best things about the pub are: 1) the atmosphere (great barkeeps, a number of solitary regulars); 2) the ales; 3) the position, in central Oxford and, better still, nestled in amidst sections of Blackwell's.

As a devoted follower of Morse (and quite a few other European mysteries), I can confirm that Morse and Lewis drank regularly at The White Horse. I think the inspector would add to your list that one of the best things about drinking there (or anywhere) was that Sgt. Lewis always paid

Thanks for taking us along for the ride with you, Antonius. Nice photos.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:As a devoted follower of Morse (and quite a few other European mysteries), I can confirm that Morse and Lewis drank regularly at The White Horse. I think the inspector would add to your list that one of the best things about drinking there (or anywhere) was that Sgt. Lewis always paid

Thanks for taking us along for the ride with you, Antonius. Nice photos.

Thanks, Michael. I did really like the Morse series but the way the PBS mystery shows are aired, I'd always seem to miss the beginning or the end...

Long live Diana Rigg!

A