North Oxfordshire Pub Rambling

A pub walk?
A ramble? 
Perhaps even a bit of a slog?
A few weeks back I had the idea of a walk between villages just north of Bicester.  And this is how the day panned out:

🕕12:00 - We've been waiting at the bus stop for 28 minutes - which is odd because the timetable says buses to Bicester leave every 15 minutes.  Almost inevitably a second one pulled up right behind the first...
45 minutes later, we'd made it to Bicester and were the only people in the shopping centre wrestling with an Ordnance Survey map.  To the best of my knowledge there is no avoiding traipsing along concrete pavements for some distance to get out of central Bicester, so that's what we ended up doing.
Destination: Stratton Audley...

🕜1.30pm. The Red Lion (Church Street, OX27 9AG)
This is just like I remember village pubs should be. It's set up to serve both diners and drinkers and feels like a proper pub rather than somewhere that's had the interior designers come in and sterilise every corner.  At the bar I opt for a Tim Taylors 'Landlord', whilst they also had 'Hooky' and Sharpes 'Atlantic' on offer.  Drinks were supped in sunshine in the pleasant stone-walled garden to the rear of the pub.

We had roughly 2½ miles ahead of us and set off on a footpath which ran around the back of the village, past some ponds then northwest towards Fringford.  Across the A4421 the path delved into fields that looked as though they hadn't been walked through by anyone so far this year - there was a crawl through a tiny partition in an overgrown hedge, then some beating down of nettles and brambles to get to a precarious, rickety stile.  Covered in bits of hedge, sweating, and huffing & puffing, the sight of our next pub was a delight....

Colourful

🕒3pm The Butchers Arms (Main Street, OX27 8EB) is picturesque and in a lovely setting next to the village cricket pitch.  Somewhere underneath all the foliage is a 17th and 18th century building and a pub name on the frontage.  
Ambling around looking for the best angle to take a photo, the fella sitting on the tables out front offered to move his car so I could get a better shot.  Really friendly, I thought.  Before reflecting on it later and wondering if he was taking the piss?
There was a reasonable selection of ales on hand-pull at the bar, but we opted for the cask Lilley's cider.  Great for the sunny weather.  With the slight downfall of being a top attraction for any wasps in the vicinity.

From here we had an easier, less overgrown and straightforward walk across the fields the short distance between Fringford and Hethe.

Garden Weather at the Muddy Duck, Hethe

🕜4pm The Muddy Duck, Hethe (Main Street, OX27 8ES).
It's great that the set of villages I was visiting today all still had their own pub.  Hethe very nearly didn't - formerly known as the Whitmore Arms, the pub was under threat of closure before being rescued and renovated in 2011.  So almost inevitably everything is smart and shiny with pastel-colours, polished wood floors and scatter cushions.  In these upmarket surroundings, looking scruffy (as per usual) I was happy to be able to retreat into the rear garden with my Phipps NBC IPA.  The Malthouse restaurant is set to the rear of the pub and the front bar is laid out more for drinkers, so at least you don't feel like you're in the way just calling in for a pint.  There's a good choice of well-served ales and food has an exceptional reputation.
Two miles to go then, to the final village on the schedule, Stoke Lyne.

🕠5.30pm The Peyton Arms (Stoke Lyne, OX27 8SD)
I'd saved the best 'til last (not by great planning, but by necessity - the Peyton Arms doesn't open until 5pm).
Made up of two 19th century properties it was originally a village shop and simple bar, back then called the Royal George.  Hook Norton acquired it from the Peyton estate in 1954.
One building has a date stone 1806, although the first record of it as a pub is 1856.

No need for a pub sign at the Peyton Arms, Stoke Lyne

The Peyton Arms is on CAMRA's list of pubs with historic interiors.  It consists of one room with a handful of tables and small bar counter (there is a second room to the side, but this seemed to be out of use on our visit).
Behind the bar we're given a warm welcome by landlord Mick 'The Hat' who insisted on hearing where we'd been on our pub walk and chatted with us at length about the pub and his favourite drinking spots in Oxford.  "All friends here" he proclaimed, dishing out complimentary bags of cheese and onion crisps to everyone in the bar.
Beers on offer were from Hook Norton, served straight from the casks stored in a room beyond the bar.  I enjoyed a pint of 'Haymaker', which in my opinion manages to taste twice as good from a dimpled mug, on gravity, in great surroundings.
This is an absolutely brilliant pub, full of character, charm and quirkiness.  It goes straight into my Top 10 Oxfordshire pub list.  I don't have a top 10 Oxfordshire pub list, but it's inspired me to start one.
Mick insists on giving us a caramel wafer for the trek back to Bicester, which was much appreciated as the miles clocked up throughout the day were catching up on me and the last 4 miles proved to be a helluva long stretch.

Displays of drinks behind the bar the last thing on the landlords mind at the Peyton Arms

Four very different pubs in pleasant, quiet, Oxfordshire villages.  Plus time for a couple more beers in Bicester.  All-in-all, I'm declaring this a successful day of pub rambling.