Oxford Villages Trip 2025 version

On a frighfully gloomy and wet November Saturday a group of Oxford folk comandeered a minibus to explore a half-dozen or-so village pubs to the west of the city.
I was on a similar excursion back in 2022 when we called into two of the inns on today's itinerary, but it was the pubs that were brand new to me this time around that I was most looking forward to.
Here's the route...

First stop: 11:57, Yarnton.
Where the young lady opening up took a glance out the window expecting the usual tranquil scene of village life only to spot 16 eager punters waiting for the door to be unlocked.

Red Lion (127 Cassington Road, Yarnton, OX5 1QD)
I visited this pub when it was first taken over by local chain Oak Taverns early in 2024.  Prior to that it had struggled for several years before being put up for sale by Admiral.
There has been a pub close to this site in Yarnton for several hundred years, the original demolished in 1957 when the current Red Lion was constructed.
It's open plan within: seats in the bay windows in the front, a freshly lit wood burner at one side, back doors in the rear section overlooking a lovely - but very wet - back garden.

On the bar three cask ales were on offer: Goffs 'Black Knight', Hook Norton 'Hooky', or Twisted Tree 'Trunk IPA', plus a stack of 8 boxed ciders to pick from.  
Tempting as those ciders may have been, the ABVs were very hard to see on the labels, so I stuck safe with the Bicester-brewed 'Trunk IPA'.  Not an IPA in my book of beer definitions...more a modern best bitter, but very drinkable and on top form.

Rounding up the group, we clambered back aboard the bus for the next leg of our journey.

🚍7 miles, Yanton > Stanton Harcourt
Journey time extended by the usual slow crawl of traffic on the A40.

Harcourt Arms (Main Road, Stanton Harcourt, OX29 5RJ)
My first impressions weren't particularly positive - we were definitely in the territory of rural Oxford gastro-pub with rooms.  It doesn't even look especially pub-like from outside.
Or on first glance to the right through the front door...

But the left-side room is gloriously stuck in time, dimly lit, with thick stone walls, fires burning at both ends giving an aroma of woodsmoke.  Squint and you can imagine the farming types settling here rather than posh car brigade out for Saturday lunch or the scruffy pub-tour brigade fresh off their minibus.
Cask ales included two from Norfolk's Woodford Brewery which don't make it this way very often: 'Nelson's Revenge' or 'Wherry'.  A dark and delicious Nelson's for me, priced at £5.20.
Taken straight to the prime sofa spot next to the wood burner.

Saying cheerio to the staff at the Harcourt Arms, we had a short journey down country lanes to our next destination.

🚍3.1 miles, Stanton Harcourt > Northmoor
Journey time extended by our driver Tony stopping in the middle of a country lane to buy homemade marmalade from a random table at the end of a cottage driveway.

We called into the Red Lion at Northmoor, somewhere I've visited a fair few times previously.
Cask ales available were from Loose Cannon, Hook Norton or Cotswold Lion on this occasion - the wonderful 'Greedy Goose' for me as I accept the season for winter beer is truly upon us. 

The Red Lion was the busiest I've seen it - warm and welcoming in the bad weather, doing a roaring trade with a good mix of diners and drinkers.

The next pub was a revisit that I was thoroughly looking forward to.
Not least due to the possibility of 'grooming', which I would benefit from every now and again.

🚍7.5 miles, Northmoor > Bampton

Morris Clown (High Street, Bampton, OX18 2JW)
This early 18th century High Street pub used to the New Inn before taking on the unusual Morris Clown moniker in 1973.  Previously part of the Greene King estate it is now independtly owned and a quite fantastic no-nonsense wet-led boozer.

It's a single L-shaped room featuring some cracking murals on the wall.  No chance of playing bar billiards today, with the table acting as a stand for TV showing Wales v New Zealand rugby action.

I ordered a pint of Butts 'Barbus Barbus' (£4.70 - everything under a fiver seems a bargain in 2025).  Last time I had this hoppy well-balanced session bitter it was brewed in the wilds of West Berkshire.  Butts have since closed their doors with this being one of their ales now concocted at Cheddar Ales.  And it was absolutely superb.
A great beer in a comfy, proper pub - best of the day, no contest - even the rugby couldn't dent my enthusiasm.

It was little more than a 5-minute hop to the next village where two pubs awaited.

🚍2.2 miles, Bampton > Clanfield

Uh-oh...we're back in gastro terriitory - no.4 on a recent Times Best Hotel Restaurants list no-less (the Ritz is sitting next to it at #3 for crying out loud).  Will they even let me in with my unruly beard, cargo pants and Dropkick Murphy's t-shirt?

Double Red Duke (Bourton Road, Clanfield, OX18 2RB)
This is a 17th century country house which later became an inn, run by Wadworth's Brewery for many years.  It's a rabbit warren of a place, with a host of vastly different rooms, sofas in small snugs, a cocktail bar counter, dining tables next to fancy wine fridges.  We settled on the tables in the main bar towards the rear of the building.

Great selection of cask ales on the bar, including Uley 'Pale Ale' or 'Pig's Ear' and Ramsbury 'Deer Stalker'.  Great service from a chatty and knowledgeable fella at the bar who obviously cared about the beers.

It's not often I see Cotswold brewery Uley, so I was chuffed to grab a pint of their crisp bitter 'Pigs Ear'.  It was good - as it should be for the hefty £6.40 tarriff.

The Double Red Duke scores additional PropUptheBar points for their bespoke beermats.
And for the mysterious concoctions behind the bar.

 

But gets those points instantly deducted for having a cigar menu.

How much?!!!!

No need to get back on the bus this time with just a short dash across the road in the rain required for the next location.
🏃 83 yards, Double Red Duke > Mason's Arms

Mason's Arms (Bampton Road, Clanfield, OX18 2RG)
This was formerly the Clanfield Tavern (we're on a roll with pub name changes).  It was taken over by the same folks who run the Red Duke, the pre-1970 name was reclaimed, the interior refurbished and the pub reopened in October 2024.
It was pleasantly dark and moody when we stepped through the front door, so much so that the eyes to needed adjust to make out the Uley pump clips tucked away in the corner of the bar.
The stone walls are thick, the ceiling beams low, the wood fire burning.  It had a bit more of a boozy feel about it (or was that just because of our presence...) than the Red Duke, but beware - it's still smart and features on dozens of foodie websites. 

I went with the Uley 'Old Spot on this occasion - another cracking pint, although with it being a second 5% ABV beer in a row I was beginning to flag a bit.

We hopped back aboard the bus and made our journey down the dark lanes toward Oxford, with a pitstop at the Bruning and Price (not my preferred choice).

🚍15.2 miles, Clanfield > Besselsleigh

Too wet and dark for an outdoor pub picture.
So I'll close the post with a photo of gentlefolk in the Greyhound.
Where I lurked in a corner sipping a Little Ox 'Hufflepuff' (we did have the brewer on the bus with us, so it seemed fitting to finish the trip with one of his beers).

Another great day out on the bus visitng a wide selection of pubs and taking me to a couple of new places. 
Much appreciation goes out again to Tony for driving us through the rain.
Maybe one day I'll be sensible and realise I really don't need to call into the Lamb & Flag when we get dropped on St Giles...but not this time, of course.

Cologne - Going Out in Style

One more blog post from Köln before I return to these fair shores and harp on about village pubs in Oxfordshire.
Mainly because I couldn't fit all my pictures into the previous post.  So indulge me whilst I explore the shopping centre, visit a true classic of a pub, and end up in the Palladium for a bit of live music.

There are lots of interesting stores along the pestrianised Hohestrasse, which I strolled along in the morning - a Lego store, a cheese shop, expensive Belgian chips on offer, and somewhere that meets all your statue needs, large and small...

The delivery charge won't be cheap, but Mrs PropUpthe Bar is gonna be emotional when that bronze nude turns up on the doorstep in time for Christmas.  Quite what emotions, I'm not sure.

Leaving the innerstadt, I made the essential trek across the Hohenzollernbrücke, the iron railway bridge spanning the Rhine, unnecessarily bedecked with padlocks.

The views along the river bank and back towards the dom are fantastic.  The tower in the KölnTriangle on the other side (a building site last time I was here) offers the chance to view the city from its observation deck for 5 euros - and you get to ride the elevator to it rather than tackling those 500+ steps of the cathedral south tower for a view.

The main thing that had brought me to this side of the river at 11am was the opening time of a pub that has a bit of cult status.
Lommi's is such a good-looker that there should really be some strict restrictions about parking directly in front of it and foiling pub photographers. 

Gaststätte Lommerzheim (Siegesstraße 18, 50679 Köln)
Like so many great pubs and bars, this is named after its legendary long-serving former owner.  After his parents had been serving drinks on the site since 1945, Hans Lommerzheim took over and officially opened 'Lommi's' in 1959.  It consisted one 50sq meter wood panelled and brown wallpapered room with a handful of tables and seats at the bar.
It then remained completely unchanged for the next 45 years.
After Lommi's death in 2005 Päffgen brought the pub from his widow and spent a considerable time refurbishing it before opening again in 2009.  Thankfully, modernity hasn't really encroached on Lommi's...

I visited on a Monday lunchtime, getting there just after 11am when they open for lunch.
As such, I was customer number 3, with another dozen folk arriving afterwards, but reports suggest there's often a queue formed waiting for the door to be unbolted on busier days of the week.

I'd barely sat myself down when the first glass of Päffgen kölsch arrived at the table.
No drinks list.  No checking what you'd like.
After all, what else would you be rocking up here at 11 in the morning for, if you didn't want a kölsch.

There's a sizeable menu chalked onto the blackboards - bring your translator - of what are apparantly very hearty portions of traditional cuisine.
This chap strolled in to pick up his takeaway order, finding the time for a couple of swift beers whilst waiting and looking every bit like he did this on a daily basis.

I got through a fair few of those kölschs, keeping up with the neighbouring table, knocking back my beer in preparation for the next pass-by of the waiter when your empty glass becomes a full one in the blink of an eye.
€2.20 a glass - cash only.  I paid my bill and headed back to the riverside to continue my amble down the east bank of the Rhine,  I wanted to have a closer look at the space-age buildings I could see looming over the river in the distance.

They're part of spectacularly redeveloped docks, with a Deutsch sports musuem and Chocolate museum nearby, should they take your fancy.
For a bit more traditional riverside architecture, the picture-postcard shot is back up near the centre...

Early evening with darkness descended, I opted to veer away from the trad German beer and seek out some Euro craft. 

Délirium Café Cologne (Salzgasse 2-4, 50667 Köln)
Yep - those Délirium folk have expanded beyond that alley in Brussels and now have this outpost in Köln, in the heart of the city on a pedestrianised street surrounded by pubs and food outlets.  As they don't serve food, you can grab your pizza from across the road and bring it into the Délirium cafe to accompany your Tremens.

Whilst playing table football and retro video games...

...accompanied by moody techno pop...Absurd 'Brain', Yvng Patras (who?), Baco Exu do Blues (who?)...
The music may not have been what I'd have picked, but this was a good-sized comfortable bar with a hefty list of 30 beers on offer displayed on digital screens above the counter.

This trip wasn't lengthy enough for me to be pining for a Deya 'Steady Rolling Man' or Sam Smith's 'Chocolate Stout'.
Lots of familiar brewing names on the taps with the best stuff being the Pohjana and Lervig. 

I wanted something dark, so ordered the Dutch Two Chefs 'Stroopwafel Stout 6%.  I feel like a stroopwafel stout should be double-digit strong and thick as treacle, so this light easy-drinking brew was maybe not as exciting as I hoped it would be.
I decided to look for something more local on the beer list, grabbing myself a Superfreund 'Rookie' IPA - a collaboration between the Schleswig-Holstein brewer and the Berlin Brewdog crew. 

My final night in Cologne was set to be soundtracked by Celtic folk punk rock over in the Mulheim district, watching the Dropkick Murphys at the Palladium.
Quick bite to eat from VeganLand...

Then a 10-minute walk to the venue, housed in old industrial buildings.

Boston punks Haywire opened proceedings pretty much as soon as I'd stepped through the door. 
I had time to buy a vastly over-priced souvenir tour t-shirt, followed by some vastly over-priced beer (Gilden kolsch or Radeberger Pils dispensed into your €2 deposit plastic beaker).

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls were the second support act.

Playing a set of favourites in front of an enthusiastic packed house, it was easy to forget that Frank wasn't the headline act and there was still another band to take the stage.
I know not everyone likes him (my friend Mr Baker took the time that very evening to text me from Portland and remind me he "didn't rate him").  But the band delviered a pretty perfect, finely-tuned 45-minute set, culminating in Turner throwing himself into the crowd during Four Simple Words.

Leaving the Dropkick Murphys to close the evening.

They delivered a 25-song set spanning their whole career: 3 tracks from their 1998 debut through to the first live airing of the just-about-to-be-released A Hero Among Many.
Plenty of old favourites too...that shouty one that everyone knows from The Departed movie, the trad folk-rock rendition of The Fields of Athenry, and a corking version of Rose Tattoo.
It was loud.  It was raucous.  It was great fun.

Waiting for the tram back from Mulheim to the city centre I reflected on a great short break - football, trad beer houses, new-fangled craft ale, a bit of sightseeing, and a bit of live music.
Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back in Germany doing it all again.
Goodnight, Cologne.

Cologne - Kölsch Explorations

After three posts waffling on about craft beer bars, rotten weather in Aachen, and lower league football in Siegen, let me return to my base in Cologne and sample a few varieties of the local brew.

Kölsch has protected geographical indication status, meaning it has to be brewed within 50km of the city.  It also has to follow conventions set by the Cologne Brewing Society and brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot.

I was under the impression there were loads of different versions of Kölsch to try, but it turns out not to be the case.  There are 15 brands, eight of which are brewed in the same place (Früh), two of which are smaller brewers in satellite towns of Cologne, and one which is brewed for supermarket chain REWE.
Brewing giants Radeberger own six brands, but as they aren't able to outsource brewing to wherever the German equivalent of Burton-on-Trent is without losing that protected status, they've struck up a deal with Früh to contract brew for them within that 50km limit.

This post sees me knocking back 7 of the brands in the city centre at the venues below...

Früh and Sion are the obvious ommisions on my central map - both skipped on this occasion as I've visited previously and realised there was only so much Kölsch I could drink during one trip.

Let's start at the bottom of the map with a lunchtime visit to Malzmühle.
If I can get there in one piece...
From the Heumarkt you're the wrong side of a tricky road layout - there were no less than 7 sets of traffic lights to tackle, tram lines to cross, and buses swinging into a layby to present one extra traffic hazzard before reaching the front door.

Brauerei zur Malzmühle (Heumarkt 6, 50667 Köln)
Malzmühle was rebuilt after the war, the grey stone doorway being all that was standing of the original building.  A revolving door whisks you into a pleasant interior of dark wood panels and traditional-looking rooms spread over a couple of floors.

Drinker-only, I was directed to a high table near the stairs and provided my first 200ml stange of Mühlen Kölsch...

€2.40 a glass, the beer mat marked with each one delivered to the table.  The small measures are supposed to ensure your beer is always fresh, the expectation being that you'll stay and chalk up a few of those marks.
Mühlen was somewhere I was happy to have a few - their interpretation of the style has a malty touch, which makes sense being as they're named after a grain mill which once used to stand on the market square. 
Very smart loos in the basement, too, with a nice bit of bottle top decoration...

Next up, Gilden, at the impressive gabled building on the market place...

Gilden im Zims “Heimat kölscher Helden" (Heumarkt 77, 50667 Köln)
This is the same thing that caught me out in Aachen - wonderful looking exterior tempting me in...dubious modern interior.  Malzmühle's revolving door was good.  Having to push aside a heavy curtain that drapes around the door is ideal.  Automatic sliding doors, as experienced here, are a feature that don't belong in pubs or bars.
This is somewhere that has recently had a hi-spec refurb making it all very smart whilst keeping to the trad layout of tall casual tables near the bar and dining rooms beyond.  Fake wooden barrels dispensing the beer stood on an immaculate stainless steel bar counter with neon signage on the front of it.
Oh well, at least I got to try another brand of kölsch, this one now part of the Radeberger empire.

The Gilden was priced at €2.40 a glass again, although I wasn't as keen on this one as the Mühlen - a bit too carbonated and indistinguishable from a pils for my liking.  A couple proved enough sat in this touristy place with a disco pop soundtrack, the cover version of Coldplay's 'Clocks' signalling it was definitely time to move on.

It's just a short walk through the altermarkt to reach the next venue: past the wedding parties taking photos in front of the unphotogenic modern side of the town hall, and the workmen laying cables in the first prep for the Christmas market.
A right turn down Mühlengasse took me to Peters.

Peters Brauhaus (Mühlengasse 1, 50667 Köln)

Not the friendliest staff encountered in the city, the person by the front door deciding shuffling a pile of menus was more important that paying me any heed.
So I took myself to the taproom to exactly the same spot I propped myself almost 10 years ago when I was last here.  This area has one giant table in front of the bar counter with huge 1.FC Köln flag hung above it.  A good spot if you want to watch the barman filling the circular kranz carriers in which the kobes whisk eleven or more beers around the bar, replacing any empty glasses.

This site has brewing history, being the home of Brauhaus zum Kranz until 1898, before spending most of the 20th century in different guises.  It looks traditional within, but Peter's only took over in 1994 and created their version of a brauhaus.
No denying they've done a pretty spectacular job, especially the back room...

Next up, one of the handiest trad kölsch outlets in the city.
Gaffel am Dom is directly opposite the towering spires of the cathedral - the view from the seats around the barrels in the front window are a stunner.  It's also very handily a couple of minutes from the railway station contributing to the fact that it always seems to be busy.

Gaffel am Dom - Brauhaus (Bahnhofsvorpl. 1, 50667 Köln)
Gaffel trace their history back to a brewery on Eigelstein which was first documented in 1302.  At the beginning of the 20th century, the Becker brothers purchased the brewery and started concoting ales under the name Gaffel, turning this into one of the cities best-sellers.  They're  currently the second biggest Cologne brewer in terms of output.
Not that any of it is brewed in the 'brauhaus' - the shiny coppers are just for show...

I went into this place with little expectation and found I really like it.
Characterful rooms bsutling with trade, plenty of casual drinking tables at the front.
I had a couple of the Gaffel kölsch, then switched to their Wiess, a cloudy unfiltered wheat beer, weighing in at 5%.  It was a joy to nurse a large mug after a succession of 200ml glasses.  And it was oh so drinkable. 

Time to call into what's now the only remaining brewpub in the centre of town.
It's a bit of a trek through the eastern streets of the innerstadt to reach Päffgen, but most sources tend to agree that this is an essential visit.

Brauerei Päffgen (Friesenstraße 64-66, 50670 Köln)

Unfortunately, I have no pictures to justify how nice this pub is within.  The main room is a long beerhall-like space with wood panels part-way up the walls, plentiful coat pegs, some stylish lighting, and grand old pictures on yellowed walls.

As the solo drinker though, I grabbed a table along the central corridor, which in the past would have provided access from the street for the carts ferrying beer from the brewhouse at the back out to the street for deliveries.

So, another good spot for watching the beer being poured from the 10l barrels - note also the pulley system to winch the next ones into place.
I found the Päffgen by far the most drinkable kölsch - light and fruity with a subtle spicy flavour - those 200ml glasses seem to empty themselves remarkably quickly.

Next up was a Kölsch brewer that I almost missed, despite their tap being just a couple of minutes from my hotel.
The Brauhaus zur Schreckenskammer is located north of the station, next door to the Basilica St Ursula - a church which is well worth visiting but which keeps limited and challenging opening hours.

The pub hours aren't that straightforward either - I'd had to wait until the 4:30pm opening time.

Schreckenskammer (Ursulagartenstraße 11-15, 50668 Köln)
Rather worryingly, the name translates as 'Chamber of Horrors' although there is nothing to justify this ghoulish moniker within the 1950's bar.
The brewery dates back much further and was once located on the route to the cities execution site.  So legend has it that the condemned were ushered into the bar for a last meal, which may just be where the name comes from.  Or maybe not...

To the right of the front door is a homely dining room with decor that gives it a lot more character than you'd expect on first glance outside.  Turn left on the way in and there is a vertical drinking area with several high tables and propping spots adjacent to the bar counter.

The Schreckenskammer kölsch is another good'un.
They may be small measures but were adding up and I was at that stage where photographing the WC signage seemed essential.
And, more worryingly, it took me a second glance to work out which was which.

 

Finally, with dark descending on the city frightfully early on these short November days, I called in to Sünner, right in the centre of town.

Brauhaus Sünner im Walfisch (Salzgasse 13, 50667 Köln)
I've saved the one 'til last from which the name kölsch appears to have originated.  The top fermenting pale beer they'd been brewing since 1906 was first referred to as kölsch in 1918.

It's possible to drink it at source in the brewery in Kalk in the west of the city (where they also brew Mühlen) although I never quite timed it right to make the trip out there.

That said, this building on Salzgasse is a striking one and their 1996 makeover has created pleasant and cosy rooms within - not a sliding door or neon sign in sight.

To the right of the front door is a drinking area with a one large communal table with bench seating surrounding it and a graveyard of tall 5-litre drinking vessels on the windowsill behind.  (I once watched those being filled in a bar in Mainz - a tricky operation that makes the collection of cracked and broken tops no surprise).

I think that the Sünner kölsch was the priciest I encountered at €2.50 a glass, although it seemed worth it to be drinking in the characterful old building.

And with that I'm declaring: Quite enought Kölsch, thank you very much.