Storm Eunice Necessitates a Home Fixture

Midway through February and the arrival of Storm Eunice not only scuppered my Plan A for the day, but managed to kybosh Plan B too, as public transport departing the city ceased to run.  Leading to something of a rarity for this Oxford-based blogger - a post covering Oxford.

Whilst those 'Stay Indoors' red weather warnings were raised for Somerset and London, we somehow managed to escape the worst of it.  I was suitably battered by the winds on the walk to town and subjected to a short burst of driving chilly rain, but remarkably the clouds cleared for some blue-sky pictures on this stormy day.

Having arrived in the centre at 11:30, I had to decide where to head to first.
Turns out there are limited options in the city centre for a pre-noon pint... Spoons, of course; the Plough on Cornmarket, appealing to the coffee morning crowd alongside early XT drinkers, but necessitating navigating the table service; or the Wig & Pen...  

That'll do!

Wig & Pen (9-13 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2AU - web)
This is a pub with a number of different areas to it.  You can tuck yourself away on the  tables at the back, grab the high stools in front of the bar with the hi-vis folks on their brekkie and Stella, or sit with me on the raised area by the window, watching bins blow down the road outside.  There's also a balcony but it turns out they don't open this at 11:45am for a dozen customers.

On the bar there was a row of five handpumps with three beers - two GK IPA pump clips, two Abbot, and one Timothy Taylor Landlord.  It took me longer than necessary to pick the Landlord, but that's mostly because I was wondering why on earth the IPA and Abbot needed two handpumps each.

Not a bad pint of Landlord.  And the curling on TV.  Which no-one was watching despite the fact GB were on their way to a Gold Medal.

Moving on, I made my way along Broad Street to one of our historical hostelries, the King's Arms.  On the way, the Bodleian library had been taken over by Warner Bros in a massive logistical operation involving security guards, trucks, lighting rigs, fake snow and vintage cars - all for probably a few seconds worth of shots for the forthcoming Wonka movie.
(But providing me with a nice vintage car pic for the top of the post).

The Kings Arms (40 Holywell Street, Oxford, OX1 3SP - web)
When I used to come to Oxford as a visitor this was a pub I'd never miss, yet it's unusual that I set foot in here these days.  To some extent because it tends to be very busy, whilst the £5.20 I parted with for my pint perhaps offers another explanation.

One of the cities oldest pubs (it dates back to 1607), it's an intriguing place, consisting of six rooms.  The real gems are at the back, where there's the old 'men only' bar, the cosy fireplace and leather sofas of converted living quarters and the little room divided from the corridor with an ancient wood and glass partition.
I took the rare chance to grab a picture of this while it was empty...

Regional Pub Heritage

It didn't take long for the place to fill up, as I sat comfortably enjoying my Lister's 'Limehouse Porter' - this being the guest ale alongside the usual Young's brews. 

Leaving the King's Arms, I made my way through the side-streets and into the covered market.  Straight to the butchers for the same purchase I make every time I come here - pasty, veg samosa and jar of spitfire chilli mustard.  

Another reason to call into the market is for a spot of the local beer at something called a 'nano-bar'.

Teardrop (Covered Market, Oxford, OX1 3DZ)
Teardrop was opened in 2018 by the NW Oxfordshire brewery Church Hanbrewery.  It's located in a unit between a fish stall and a wine merchants, with cases of beer along one side and a shelf of mead on the other for the truly decadent.  They have a run of 8 keg taps and racking for up to 6 casks of real ale.  Just the one cask available on my visit, an unfiltered and fruity New England IPA, which nicely hit the spot.

Space to sit is limited to a couple of stools and a long table shared with the neighbouring wine store.  Whilst I want to say I was sat people watching, it's actually the other way around, as the tourists strolled past gawking at the oddbods sitting drinking beer in the market. 
This is somewhere I'd recommend making a quick stop at on any daytime pub crawl to sample the local brew in an unusual setting. 

Back onto the business of proper pubs, then.
The Three Goats' Heads is a striking building tucked away down a side street from the pedestrianised Cornmarket.

Three Goats' Heads (3a St Michael's Street, Oxford, OX1 2DR)
Sam Smiths opened this as a pub in 1987, with it being a pizza restaurant in a previous incarnation.  But pizza doesn't really explain the unusual Egyptian orientated decor in the upstairs bar.
No chance to see that today - at quieter times only one of their two bars is open, and on this afternoon it was the dark wood and dim lights of the basement bar.

Why the Three Goats' Head?  The name is taken from the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, an ancient guild of shoemakers working with fine leather, whose crest features three goat heads.  
Long before you could buy a pint of Sam Smiths in this building, there was another Three Goats' Head pub just around the corner on Cornmarket between 1621 and 1852.

Sadly the Old Brewery Bitter cask disappeared from here some years back, leaving the keg beers the only option.  And the keg OBB costs more than 2d...

Being Sam Smiths means we're in a digital-free zone.  
Which was tough on me, on my own until someone was released early from work to get home safe from the treacherous weather join me in the pub.  It was just a bit too gloomy to read the small print of my Private Eye, and while 'conversation is encouraged' you kinda need to have other people around who want to converse with you. 
So I may have broken the rule a little, as the picture of the bar has probably already given away.

Time to move on to another of Oxford's historic inns.
This time the Nicholson's-run, Chequers, hidden down an alleyway from the High Street.

Chequers (130a High Street, Oxford, OX1 4DH - web)
It's thought that this was once the site of a money lenders dwellings, rebuilt at the beginning of the 16th century as an inn.

Inside, it's the high-ceilinged hall with College crests attached to the walls which catches the eye first.  As well as this there is a secluded courtyard, a sizeable upstairs area and some cosy seating beyond the bar.
Scanning the pump clips, it's not gonna take me too long to decide what to drink...

The plum porter was good as ever. 
The Chequers filled up as Oxford's residents appeared to come to the conclusion that Eunice was past it's worst and they could head out for Friday evening revelries as usual.

And that's where I bring this Oxford post to a close.
The pub crawl may well have continued beyond this, but nobody needs to know about my later tipsy antics.

Next Up: We keep our fingers crossed that the trains are running to enable us to complete a brewery tap and Peaky Blinder mission in Birmingham.