The Bell at Upper Heyford

We spent a sunny April afternoon in North Oxfordshire, ambling alongside the canal and across fields and visiting three village inns.
Various recent woes have limited excursions to pubs in the past five months, plus we're now in charge of this fella..

Or he's in charge of us...I haven't quite worked out the dynamics yet.

Making the most of the Spring sunshine, we decided to expand his pub experiences beyond the dog-friendly establishments of East Oxford, whilst I could tick one of the 3 Good Beer Guide Oxfordshire entries that I still haven't got around to visiting.

Here's the planned route...

The Great Western slow train to Banbury took us the 10-minutes from Oxford's dreary station to the rather more picturesque surrounds of Heyford station.

We followed the canal path northbound for twenty minutes, the view across the water of Manor Farm tithe barn and St Mary's church spire signaling we'd made it to Upper Heyford. The signage by the bridge confirmed we were heading the right way. 

"Wet pub only, no food, beer garden, children + dogs welcome" - that'll do.
The Barley Mow is a short uphill walk through the village, located on the main road between the old bit of Heyford and the airbase.  Despite being constructed of old grey stone, it's not what you'd call a picture postcard pub.

The Barley Mow (Somerton Road, Upper Heyford, OX25 5LB)
This place had a recent refurbishment in 2024 when Admiral Taverns acquired it from Fullers.
So what interesting beers has that change of ownership brought? Hmmm, London Pride. 
And Marston's 'Wainwright' plus a third handpump which usually dispenses Tim Taylor 'Boltmaker'.  A pint of Wainwright for me which was hovering around the NBSS 3 mark - quite passable but probably not enough being poured to rise it higher than this.

Sometimes I fail miserably to find an opportunity to snap a picture of the pub interior. 
This was one of them...

We took our drinks outside to the pleasant beer garden, where most of the Saturday afternoon custom had gravitated.  Not many of them mind - the canal folk seem to want feeding and appear to be waiting for The Barley Mow's kitchen to kick back into life.
No mild smut in the WCs where the decoration will please wildlife stamp collectors...

Suitably rested and refreshed, we moved on, walking back through the village, across the canal and River Cherwell.  The path took us over rolling fields before depositing us a mile-or-so later at one end of the spread-out streets of Steeple Aston, where the blossom in the churchyard was looking good.

Steeple Aston is home to some 950 folks and used to have two pubs until the White Lion closed in 2012. That leaves us with the Red Lion.
Which is tricky to capture on camera due to being tucked away, the entrance and metalwork red lion above the door down that path between the buildings.

The Red Lion (South Side, Steeple Aston, OX25 4RY)
Once called The Chequers but renamed the Red Lion in 1830, this has been a pub since 1765 and a Hook Norton house for the past 20 years.
Step inside and there's a smartly furnished snug to the right and the main bar to the left.  A handful of customers had situated themselves in front of the TV in the rear extension ready for the Grand National, a few others on tables on the terrace; no-one in the bar, where the log fire kept burning despite the hint of summer outside.

Three hand pumps dispense Hook Norton beers which have travelled the 12-miles south to be here.

An 'Off the Hook' IPA for me...lovely pint, impressive branded glassware...

We were watching the time a bit due to trains back to Oxford from Heyford only running every couple of hours.  So we skipped the footpath option and stuck to the path that runs adjacent to the road back down to the canal and railway.  Leaving ourselves ample time to call into Lower Heyford's pub, last seen in the Beer Guide in 2021.

The Bell (21 Market Square, Lower Heyford, OX25 5NY)
This is a Grade II listed village pub, built sometime around the turn of the 18th century, previously part of Oxford brewery Halls' estate.

Outside is parked the kind of car that us Oxfordshire folk always rock up to the pub in...

Inside, it's sadly quiet at quarter-to-five on a Saturday afternoon, just a couple of people outside and a group of friendly locals in front of the bar.

Something was amiss in The Bell.  Several of the keg lines had glasses hung over them indicating they were off, whilst all the hand pumps had nothing on them and a blank space on the blackboard advertising "cask coming soon".  I asked the chap behind the bar if they usually had real ale and was told that the management were pulling out and running down stock.
So I had one of these...

The solitary staff member later mentioned he was rationing the remaining blue paper towel and that the wifi had been turned off.
All a bit sad - a perfectly pleasant village pub which I hope enjoys a revival and picks up the custom from the villagers and canal folk.

We finished the day with a visit to The Grapes on George Street for some fine beer and footy on the TV, then strolled down the High Street and across Magdalen Bridge to the revitalised Oranges and Lemons in St Clements...

Oranges and Lemons (30 St Clement's St, Oxford OX4 1AB)
This pub did make an appearance on the blog in June last year when it was still called the Angel and Greyhound and was looking rather too quiet on a Friday evening.
Since then Youngs have left the building and it's now in the hands of the Morgan Pub Company and being run by the same folks as The Grapes.
It reopened after a refurb in Feb this year and appears to have been doing a great trade since then.

There was a great beer selection over the six pump clips in action on this visit, including regular Harvey's 'Sussex Best' and beers from Tiny Rebel, Windsor & Eton, Liquid Light, Brew York and Green Duck.
A lovely pint of the Nottingham-brewed Liquid Light 'Winter Song' session IPA to start with, then we lost track of time a bit with more cask and concoctions from Yonder and Vault City on keg.
Overall, a pub that's now an essential stop for beer aficionados on a visit to Oxford.

Next up: I'm branching out of Oxford for visits to Birmingham and Oswestry.  Goodnight!