First things first, we navigated the never-ending works at Botley Road, caught bus 44 up to Cumnor, then set out on foot.
Here's the route...
A short way along the road is the village pub...
This is the last remaining pub serving the 950-or-so folk of Appleton. The Thatched Tavern and Three Horseshoes are now private residences with nothing but their house names to remind us of their previous incarnations.
We arrived at The Plough at a quiet time - not a soul sitting inside and just a couple of visitors on the picnic benches in the garden. I guess the locals were out in the metropolis for the day.
There were two hand pumps in action, one serving the ever-unreliable Morland 'Original', the other offering this stuff...
It was a bold move going for the beefy 6% black IPA at lunchtime, but this was a superb pint.
Served to us by a nice chatty fella in tartan trousers and a Lamb of God t-shirt.
Top marks go to The Plough for the food we ordered - not the cheapest, but almost certainly the best pub lunch I've had for some time.
Our onward journey took us across the A420 and onto pleasant paths through Hitch Woods.
Pudding available to be picked to the side of the path...
Served to us by a nice chatty fella in tartan trousers and a Lamb of God t-shirt.
Top marks go to The Plough for the food we ordered - not the cheapest, but almost certainly the best pub lunch I've had for some time.
Our onward journey took us across the A420 and onto pleasant paths through Hitch Woods.
Pudding available to be picked to the side of the path...
Then into the pig farm, where the residents didn't seem overly happy with our presence...
It was more by luck than judgement that I found the unmarked route through the pigs. In the next field there was no clear path and it took a bit of investigation to locate a style hidden in a tangle of nettles and brambles. I think we must have been the first souls to cross that path in the summer of '24.
I just hoped the pub on the other side of the road was going to be open. The Black Horse at Gozzard's Ford is a former Greene King inn which closed the doors a few years back, described in the Oxford Mail as one of the forgotten pubs of the county. They've recently reopened under new ownership, but the scantily updated social media mentioned a closure to fix some dodgy pipes and didn't indicate whether this had been resolved.
I was glad to see a light on, striding in the side door just slightly disheveled with scratches and nettle stings.
I just hoped the pub on the other side of the road was going to be open. The Black Horse at Gozzard's Ford is a former Greene King inn which closed the doors a few years back, described in the Oxford Mail as one of the forgotten pubs of the county. They've recently reopened under new ownership, but the scantily updated social media mentioned a closure to fix some dodgy pipes and didn't indicate whether this had been resolved.
I was glad to see a light on, striding in the side door just slightly disheveled with scratches and nettle stings.
This is a big whitewashed roadside inn, dating back some 350 years. Through the door, there is a long room on three levels, trip hazard steps between each one, the bar in the central section. A half dozen punters were settled at the far end, where the ceiling is higher and a TV on the wall was showing footy.
Local Loose Cannon beers were on offer.
We were warned by the chap serving us that the 'Miller Queen' hefeweisen was nearing the end of the barrel and that he'd be happy to change it should it not be up to scratch. I did wonder why he couldn't just check it himself, but we gave it the thumbs up (just about) and settled on a table at the side of the room.
The Black Horse also has a large restaurant in the back, plus a meeting room somewhere, and a garden to the side. It just needs some customers.
The Black Horse also has a large restaurant in the back, plus a meeting room somewhere, and a garden to the side. It just needs some customers.
We made a bit of a slip-up...'someone' turned the wrong way out of the Black Horse and started walking down the road in the wrong direction into the wilds of West Oxfordshire. One about-turn later, and we were going the right way towards the village of Shippon and it's one pub...
This was an odd little village pub.
Not least because of the portable heating arrangements...
The cask selection offered a relatively rare sighting of Butcombe beer in the county.
We took our drinks out to the patio, where there were a few more locals on the benches in front of the Covid-era marquee.
It turned out one of them had driven past us whilst we were walked in the opposite direction down the road, causing him a little intrigue.
He did recommend a pub that we'd have reached had we kept going that way. Then told us we'd missed a short cut between Gozzard's Ford and Shippon across the airfield.
"The airfield with the chained gate and strictly no admittance sign?"
"Oh, don't worry about that", he said dismissively.
I know the airfield is infrequently used these days, but it would be just my luck to have to dodge a light aircraft landing and be chased by angry aviation folk. Would have made the blog post more interesting though.
Shippon is only separated from Abingdon by the presence of the A34. We moved on, strolling across the road bridge and through outskirts of the town, making our way to the Brewery Tap.
Looking good in the afternoon sunshine...
The Brewery Tap (40-42 Ock Street, Abingdon, OX14 5BZ)
This pub was opened in 1993 by Morland, who converted three town houses to create an outlet for their beer on the periphery of the brewery.
As it is, the pub has outlasted the brewery by a number of years. Morland brought Ruddles in 1997 and shifted production to Oakham. Then Greene King snapped up Morland three years later and the brewery closed for good, destined to be converted to flats.
The Brewery Tap has a big fireplace and a couple of nice rustic areas in its L-shaped layout, not that you'd know it from my unflattering picture.
The keg wall wasn't too exciting, featuring Red Stripe and Amstel. But the Brewery Tap can be relied on for some well kept cask - six to pick from on this visit, everything except the Tim Taylor Landlord coming from surrounding counties.
I stuck very local with LoveBeer 'Not on your Nelly', brewed a couple of miles to the south of Abingdon in Milton.
Just the one pint on this occasion, as our table was reserved for the musical entertainment for the evening who'd be setting up soon.
I just glanced at the Brewery Tap's Facebook page and spotted that they've released their Christmas menu. On the 9th September...oh dear. Summer's really over, isn't it.
It turned out one of them had driven past us whilst we were walked in the opposite direction down the road, causing him a little intrigue.
He did recommend a pub that we'd have reached had we kept going that way. Then told us we'd missed a short cut between Gozzard's Ford and Shippon across the airfield.
"The airfield with the chained gate and strictly no admittance sign?"
"Oh, don't worry about that", he said dismissively.
I know the airfield is infrequently used these days, but it would be just my luck to have to dodge a light aircraft landing and be chased by angry aviation folk. Would have made the blog post more interesting though.
Looking good in the afternoon sunshine...
This pub was opened in 1993 by Morland, who converted three town houses to create an outlet for their beer on the periphery of the brewery.
As it is, the pub has outlasted the brewery by a number of years. Morland brought Ruddles in 1997 and shifted production to Oakham. Then Greene King snapped up Morland three years later and the brewery closed for good, destined to be converted to flats.
The Brewery Tap has a big fireplace and a couple of nice rustic areas in its L-shaped layout, not that you'd know it from my unflattering picture.
I stuck very local with LoveBeer 'Not on your Nelly', brewed a couple of miles to the south of Abingdon in Milton.
I just glanced at the Brewery Tap's Facebook page and spotted that they've released their Christmas menu. On the 9th September...oh dear. Summer's really over, isn't it.
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