Warminster Beer Guide Pubs - an open and shut case

Heading south-westward to Devon, we made a brief lunchtime stop in the Wiltshire town of Warminster.

So, what have I learnt about the place?
Warminster is home to around 17,000 folks.  
The Town Park and Soft Play Centre get kept off the top spots on Trip Advisor's attractions list by nearby Longleat house and safari park.
And Warminster has a spectacular history of UFO sightings.

Pub-wise, it has two entries in the 2021 Good Beer Guide. 
We set off for the first and found it well and truly closed for business.  Which I would have been well aware of, had I actually done my research beforehand.

Shame... the Organ looked to be a great pub, handy for downing a few pints whilst your shoes were repaired by Nick next door.
A very trustworthy name for any craftsmen, if I say so myself.

The Organ was a historic pub which was closed for 93 years until re-opening in 2006. It managed 14 more years service before the last pints (for now...) were pulled in December 2020.

So, having failed at the first hurdle, we ended up in Wetherspoon's.
We 'end up' in Wetherspoon's rather a lot.

Bath Arms (41 Market Place, Warminster, BA12 9AZ-web)
Dating back to 1732, this was once one of a number of coaching inns that lined the town's main thoroughfare.

Although we didn't have any problem grabbing a table it was pretty busy with a Saturday lunchtime crowd - a wide range of punters, from the old boy nursing his pint, to family diners, to Warminster's youths getting told off for some half-hearted mask wearing.

Most of the beers were the Spoon's core range, but there was one hand-pump serving a local ale from Westbury's Twisted Brewery.

No indoor photograph of the Bath Arms - the general lay-out and proliferation of dividing screens separating the tables wasn't designed with pub-blog pictures in mind.
Instead, here's a picture of another Warminster closed pub, the Old Bell Hotel, which I thought looked quite splendid with it's arcaded frontage...

Hoping for more luck with the town's second beer guide pub, we headed a little way out of the centre to visit the Fox & Hounds. 

Fox & Hounds (6 Deverill Road, Warminster, BA12 9QP)
We stepped into the public bar, occupied by a dozen locals and one dog.
The punters mainly seemed to be contentedly supping Thatchers Gold, whilst no-one paid any attention to the racing drivers whizzing around Monaco on the spectacularly big TV.

There are usually two permanent ales from the local Wessex Brewery on offer, but on this occasion the choice was a rather uninspiring Tribute or Abbot Ale.
Not fancying either I plumped for the strong and vibrantly coloured cider from the Weymouth Cider Company...

Tizer?

Our stop in Warminster was a brief one, just breaking the journey.  Hence only setting foot in the two pubs and looking wistfully at the Organ, wishing it was still open.

Back on the road and onward to Devon, from where I'll shortly be reporting on what Dartmoor looks like in the rain.

Outdoor Drinking in Headington

Back out of Winter 2021 hibernation!
Yep, having spent 3½ months sitting at home watching Netflix, drinking cans of pricey craft ale, we finally got the chance to return to pub gardens on the 12th April.

The 12th April on which we awoke to a covering of snow.
In fact, 75% of the past month in which outdoor drinking has been allowed has seen unseasonable temperatures, gusty winds and torrential rain.  Bah!

But I did find a little bit of sunshine in which to trek around three pubs in the Oxford suburb of Headington.
And remarkably enough, the city acquired a micropub during lock-down...

Tile Shop Ale House (10 Windmill Road, Headington, OX3 7BW - web)
There were half a dozen tables on the terrace in front of the recently opened Ale House, with a respectable early Saturday afternoon custom.

"What did it used to be before?" asked one of the two ladies supping coffee at the next table, obviously having not spent too much time considering the pub name.

There's a fair few tiles on the floors and wall inside reminding of its previous incarnation.  We have to wait until the 17th May until we can drink indoors, but here's a sneak peak, as I snapped a picture on my excursion to the immaculately smart & tidy WC.

Beers on offer on our visit were Tring 'Ridgeway' best bitter and the finely-named 'Side Pocket for a Toad'.  Both were served straight from the barrel and both were lovely.
It looks like these two will be the regular ales whilst others will be sourced from local breweries once things get back to 'normal'.

It's great to have a micropub in Oxford.
The landlord who we chatted too was thoroughly friendly and enthusiastic and I whole-heartedly hope that it's a roaring success.

Finishing our beers, we walked five minutes through the side streets of Headington to the hidden gem that is The Butchers Arms.
Prop Up the Bar crap pub pictures are back!...

The Butchers Arms (5 Wilberforce Street, Headington, OX3 7AN - web)
Around one year ago we stood in a queue that stretched around the corner to have our random containers filled with Seafarers Ale.  When it became clear that the barrels in the cellar weren't going to outlast lockdown, the good folk at the Butchers offered the chance to come and collect some real ale in exchange for charity donations.  Which was nice.

Rare 2021 Pump Clip Pic

The small enclosed garden to the side of the pub is a bit of a suntrap and a lovely peaceful spot.  We seated ourselves at a nice freshly painted table to which a pretty superb pint of Hophead was delivered.  
Extra points for the pub having it's own branded beer glasses, commemorating a 150 year anniversary (152 now).

Moving on from the Butchers Arms we walked the short distance across to the narrow lanes and alleyways of Headington Quarry, where you'll find this regular award-winning pub...

Mason's Arms (2 Quarry School Place, Headington, OX3 8LH - web)
In my humble opinion, the Mason's has been a real lockdown winner thanks to the Saturday evening online quizzes which gave us something to look forward over the gloomy pub-less weekends.
Okay, so Chris is the most easily distracted pub quiz host ("what about question 7?  Did I miss question 7 folks?") and there were a fair few contested answers - none more so than the rhubarb and custard/pear drops picture round debate.
But a massive thanks has to go out for putting this on every week.

The Mason's Arms have transformed their back garden, with plenty of tables and two covered areas.  So you can guarantee that I'll take a picture of it that does all the hard work no justice whatsoever...

All being well, we'll be back inside from the 17th May and maybe even one step nearer to pub life as I remember it in June.
Hopefully it won't be another 5 months before I'm posting again.  Fingers crossed the blog will feature some new pubs in new locations for me, new beers and the same old written waffle and grammatical errors.

Cheers 🍻 !