Sweet Hanney Buckiin

In which we set out to the SW Oxfordshire neighbouring villages of East and West Hanney to tick off one of the Oxfordshire GBG 2026 pubs that I hadn't previously visited.
This trip also provided the chance to call in to Wantage, find some mild smut in the gents WC, and pretend I know stuff about modern pop when concocting the usual low-quality blog post title.

We caught the S9 Oxford-Wantage bus from the city centre. Prior to 2022 this used to race past the Hanney's on the A338, but now handily recognises the existence of the village, pulling off the main road and stopping right outside the Black Horse.

The Black Horse (Main Street, East Hanney, OX12 0JE)
This is a good-looking village pub with a fine horse's head painted on the front of it, and stone black horses either side of the front door.  It'd look even better without the parked cars.

The entrance corridor divides a dining area to the right and bar to the left, with a superb collection of ceramic jugs lining the high shelf...

The ceramic collection continues within...

The Black Horse was once part of Abingdon brewery Morland's estate, but is now owned by giants Heineken. It closed for a spell back in 2024, so it's pleasing to see it not only open, but in the Beer Guide, and with a good crowd of folk present.

Cask options were Fullers 'London Pride', Tim Taylor's 'Landlord', or the local Loose Cannon 'Abingdon Bridge'.
I ordered the Pride.  Drinking well, as they say.

Accompanying a fine plate of food - the sole veggie option on a very meaty menu.

All that and mild smut in the gents WC!

We departed from the Black Horse under some lovely blue winter skies, making our way along the lane leading from East to West Hanney.
Part-way along this is Dandridges mill, a Georgian silk mill that was turned from a derelict building in 2007 to modern eco-friendly apartments.  It generates its own electricity from an Archimedean screw on the millstream, which we traipsed up the driveway to have a look at.
I guess that counts as my East Hanney tourism.

We continued along the Causeway, a single farmers field making up the green buffer between East and West Hanney.
Onward past Hanney Spice, which we could have popped into for a pint if we'd been here pre-2008 when this was The Lamb.

A left-turn at the village green takes you to the church and the remaining open pub.
Only just, though.  Punch Taverns put the 16th century thatched roof inn up for sale in 2015, at which point members of the local community grouped together to purchase and run the place themselves.

The Plough (Church Street, West Hanney, OX12 0LN)
The community owners have done rather well.  The Plough has been a regular in recent Good Beer Guides and picked up a White Horse CAMRA pub of the year award in 2024.  The food has been getting great reviews - clicking on  'About' on the pub's website tells you nothing about the pub itself and lots about award-winning chefs Owain and Luke.
We can't have two meals in one lunchtime, so what about the beers?  

On cask: Butcombe 'Original', a Butcombe house beer, Wye Valley 'Butty Bach', or Loddon 'Farmer's Paradise'. I picked the lesser-known 'Farmers Paradise', a 4% harvest pale ale with Cascade and Simcoe hops.
Being so busy inside, we took drinks out to the permanent marquee attached to the rear of the pub, with enough decorations & mix and match furniture to make it feel like an additional room rather than 'outside'.

Even the marquee filled up whilst we were there, this community local seeming to do impressively well for a cold winter afternoon.

We left the Plough and wandered back to the bus stop, rejecting the paths across the fields to Wantage on the basis that it's rained an awful lot in January and the respectable pubs of the town probably wouldn't welcome four boots and four paws coated in mud.  Not that we were really planning on going anywhere particularly 'respectable'.
Off the bus and straight into the middle of the market square for the Alfred the Great pic...

Then around the corner to the Blue Boar...

The Blue Boar (4 Newbury Street, Wantage, OX12 8BS)
This generated a bit of excitement when it was refurbished and reopened a few years back - getting a 'most improved' award, mainly due to being pretty awful beforehand, I suspect.
The courtyard drinking area is a strong point, but not in January. Instead we ended up on the high tables in front of the bar in a rather spartan interior.
Crikey, what's that murk?

Two hand pumps dispensed cask ale in the form of 'Directors' or 'Wainwright', whilst the Blue Boar usually has a couple of decent guest keg lines. This gave me the chance to grab a Tartarus 'Kitsune', a sensible-strength double-dry-hopped pale ale.  That's what that murk is.

You'll also be wanting to see the cracking pump clip which drew me that beer, and the seat covers... 

 

A couple of minutes walk around the corner took us to the Oak Taverns-run King's Arms.

The King's Arms (39 Wallingford St, Wantage OX12 8AU)
Back at the Blue Boar, a large group of jovial ladies on G&T's and takeaway pizza had been responsible for 90% of the noise within the pub. Once they'd departed I could actually hear the music from the speakers: a bit of Mgmt and Duran Duran.  We caught up with the same group in the King's Arms, badly timing it so as to be behind them at the bar.  Oh well, at least that gave ample time to pick from a hefty choice of cask, keg, or boxed ciders.

I was relishing the first chance of the day for a dark beer, picking the Mighty Oak 'Solstice', a 4.1% rich chocolatey porter.
The King's Arms really needs a crowd of folk to make it click and Saturday late afternoon provided that nicely.  We shared the back room with a fair few dog walkers and chaps on the corner of the bar glued to the snooker on TV.

As the Shoulder of Mutton sits straight across the road from the King's Arms, we felt we should really call in whilst so close.
This used to be an absolute old-fashioned gem with a quirky layout, rustic feel, and outdoor loos.  I was a bit gutted when it underwent a refurb, getting pristine toilet facilities, eradicating the single-table snug, and adding a smart skylit drinking space where the back yard used to be.

The Shoulder of Mutton (38 Wallingford Street, Wantage, OX12 8AX)
Yet I really quite enjoyed this revisit and have to grudgingly accept that most folks drinking here on this occasion would probably have steered clear of the original incarnation.
The old chalk board for listing beers is kept above the fireplace as a relic, replaced at the bar by an electronic display showing an impressive keg and cast selection.
I picked the Vale '80/' as something a little different. 

And we ended up staying longer than planned and moving onto the Vibrant Forest golden ale.

Then, when we finally left, something unusual happened. 
We timed it perfectly for a bus and didn't need to call into the Bear for a half of Arkells.