The Prop Up the Bar Guide to Discerning Didcot Drinking.
"What’s great in Didcot?" asked Retired Martin at the end of his half dozen pubs in Oxfordshire post.
Y'now what? I don't know. So let's pick a nice sunny day and go and find out.
I decided to start at the outlier for my first pub of the day: north of the railway lines, on the 90's Ladygrove estate.
It's nice that this big housing estate (home to around 7,000 of Didcot's 34,500 folk) was at least built with a pub. It's the last thing on the mind of those in charge of planning satellite Oxford estates.
Marston's 'Pedigree' or 'Hobgoblin Gold' was the choice of cask ale on offer.
Pint of Pedigree for myself - NBSS 2 - very average.
Most of the lunchtime custom were sat outside on the patio enjoying a spell of good weather. So it was very empty within, providing me with an ample choice of seats by TV screens on which to watch BLO beating HAR (?) 6-2 in the ladies futsol. That'd be live sport on TV for the sake of it.
The Ladygrove is a big place with two different sides to it. To the right is the bar with its plentiful screens and pool table, to the left is a choice of two lounges with softer seating and space aimed at the family diners.
There was no sign of anyone eating, so I'm not sure if the pub was doing any lunchtime food when I visited. But it is handily close to the chip shop.
There was no sign of anyone eating, so I'm not sure if the pub was doing any lunchtime food when I visited. But it is handily close to the chip shop.
There's a little hill in the centre of the estate, up which I clamboured to eat my chips (half the calories offset by doing that, surely). With the power station towers now demolished, the view consists of rooftops, parkland, and the football ground (the Railwaymen didn't fare very well this season).
Chips finished, I made my way back under the railway tracks and into the heart of the town. Past the pedestrian shopping streets, cinema, and Cornerstone arts complex, and on to Pub#2.
This is probably your best bet as a 'lively' Didcot pub, should you be bolder than me and explore the town's hostelries of a Saturday evening. There's lots of floor space, a DJ booth, and some big speakers. And a photo booth, strangely enough.
The cask on offer was St Austell 'Tribute' or Charles Wells 'Bombardier', but I veered off the real ale and went with fizzy cider here.
More TV sport for the sake of it, with a rerun of a football fixture from the previous evening which absolutely nobody was paying any attention to. Pop radio at a sensible volume in the background with a bit of Lady GaGa and Ariane Grande to entertain us.
I trust when a CAMRA tour is next arranged to rate the beer in Didcot pubs, the VIP corner will be reserved for us...
I moved on, with fingers crossed that I may be approaching a more interesting beer choice in Pub#3, a short walk along the Broadway.
This was formerly called the Wallingford Arms and was reputedly quite rough 'n' ready, before closing in 2013. Five years down the line, it was smartened-up and given the new name by the same folks who were, at the time, running the Blueberry in a nearby village. After another spell of closure - a Covid casualty - it has been back in action since 2022.
This was the first pub in which I encountered a queue. And a local beer. And a South Oxford CAMRA magazine to pick up at the bar.
A points deduction for the Mulberry for having Fat Les on the TV/stereo when I arrived. A woeful footy anthem which I knew would be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
Dammit, I'm humming it again now!
The modern design isn't going to appeal to all - parquet flooring, hues of blue & grey paint, high stools, scatter cushions, arty bits and bobs on the walls.
But the beer choice was good, with two locals: Loose Cannon 'Abingdon Bridge' and Lovebeer 'Wibbly Wobbly Whippet'; alongside the Timothy Taylor 'Landlord'.
The Lovebeer for me - brewed a few miles away in the village of Milton - not my favourite beer of their's, but this was a step in the right direction. NBSS 2.5 - just creeping above average and towards good.
From the crossroads that the Mulberry sits on, I headed southwards along Park Road, making a fairly long trek to Pub#4.
But the beer choice was good, with two locals: Loose Cannon 'Abingdon Bridge' and Lovebeer 'Wibbly Wobbly Whippet'; alongside the Timothy Taylor 'Landlord'.
The Lovebeer for me - brewed a few miles away in the village of Milton - not my favourite beer of their's, but this was a step in the right direction. NBSS 2.5 - just creeping above average and towards good.
From the crossroads that the Mulberry sits on, I headed southwards along Park Road, making a fairly long trek to Pub#4.
This is a big old place - an interwar estate pub, built in 1936 at a time when the town was rapidly expanding. Step through the front door and the bar counter is in front of you, with spacious rooms to either side. To the back, it's roomy enough to house not one but two pool tables.
There was a bit of beer disappointment with the most interesting pump clips sporting 'coming soon' tags. As this was a Thursday, I guess they increase the range for the weekend.
Top marks to the staff member who was pulling the Deuchars for me, coming to a conclusion that it wasn't going to settle and was probably past best. A large proportion of pubs would have handed that over to me.
Unfortunately, that left me with the unexciting Old Speckled Hen - NBSS 2 - dull beer on average form.
Unfortunately, that left me with the unexciting Old Speckled Hen - NBSS 2 - dull beer on average form.
And another pub with an obsession that the TV must be on, even if there is nothing to show and no-one is the slightest bit interested.
A walk back to the Mulberry, then right along Wantage Road, led me Pub#5, one of the few in Didcot that I'd actually visited before.
A walk back to the Mulberry, then right along Wantage Road, led me Pub#5, one of the few in Didcot that I'd actually visited before.
The current red brick building dates back to the early 20th century, built on the site of a much older Wheatsheaf which burnt down when the thatched roof caught fire . Anyone time-warped from the original 17th century rural inn would be a bit taken aback by the flashing lights of games machines, loud poptastic music, and yet more giant TV screens.
WhatPub tells me the Wheatsheaf has a "Well deserved reputation for quality and variety of its beers", but I was to be disappointed (again!).
All cask off when I visited - "back on in a couple of hours", the chap at the bar promised, although I wasn't dedicated enough in my pub research to hang around and find out.
That left me with a half of Beavertown 'Neck Oil'.
That left me with a half of Beavertown 'Neck Oil'.
Getting closer to completing the pubs of town, my penultimate destination was in the 'old' bit of Didcot.
This Greene King pub sits on a rise above the road, eluding the good photo thanks to the sun being right behind it. There were two rooms either side of the bar, with pool table and exit to a patio to one side.
Three cask ales on offer: St Austell 'Tribute' from Cornwall, Morland 'Original', once from Abingdon, now from Bury St Edmunds, and Hogs Back 'TEA' from Surrey.
TEA please (NBSS 3 - good).
"How many are you planning on having?" asked the chap sat at the end of the bar, concerned about leaving enough for himself and nodding his satisfaction when I replied just the one.
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| A lovely picture of the handpumps spoilt by the football badge! |
There was a battle between the Chase on TV (or 'bop bop biddly biddly bop', as the local fella referred to it) and the jukebox. Most of the folk at the bar stuck up for the youngster who'd fed her dad's coins into the jukebox and put on Olivia Rodrigo's 'Vampire' (clean version?).
I'm not really sure whether music or TV came out on tops. The volume seemed to rise for a bit of Pink Floyd, but must have come down again as we were all answering quiz questions by the time I was nearing the end of my pint.
"Ere, tell him he can 'ave another one", said the Hogs Back man at bar.
I'm not really sure whether music or TV came out on tops. The volume seemed to rise for a bit of Pink Floyd, but must have come down again as we were all answering quiz questions by the time I was nearing the end of my pint.
"Ere, tell him he can 'ave another one", said the Hogs Back man at bar.
Which just left me with Pub#7 on the Didcot crawl.
If I really had to...Completion and all that.
If I really had to...Completion and all that.
This has a prime location opposite the train station and has admittedly lured me in a couple of times as an alternative to waiting on the platform. Subsequently, you can find the Prince of Wales very busy with commuters and locals, so I guess it does the job for some people.
Just not me.
Ghastly colours in an impersonal open plan room divided by random display case full of bottles. And a choice of Greene King 'IPA' or 'Abbot', served without a smile.
No-one at the bar checked that I wasn't going to swoop in and drink all their IPA.
Just not me.
Ghastly colours in an impersonal open plan room divided by random display case full of bottles. And a choice of Greene King 'IPA' or 'Abbot', served without a smile.
No-one at the bar checked that I wasn't going to swoop in and drink all their IPA.
So there you have it - all the pubs of Didcot.
Nothing to trouble Martin's half-a-dozen pubs in Oxfordshire, or the Good Beer Guide for the time being.
Seven pubs, and a choice of 12 different real ales encountered on my visits, although this would almost certainly increase if I'd have waited until the weekend.
And if you are in this neck of the woods, you're not far from the Plum Pudding in Milton, which I'll pay a revisit to in the coming weeks.
Nothing to trouble Martin's half-a-dozen pubs in Oxfordshire, or the Good Beer Guide for the time being.
Seven pubs, and a choice of 12 different real ales encountered on my visits, although this would almost certainly increase if I'd have waited until the weekend.
And if you are in this neck of the woods, you're not far from the Plum Pudding in Milton, which I'll pay a revisit to in the coming weeks.
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