Oxford CAMRA:
Regional Pub of the Year 2008

11th September 2008

Every year the eleven CAMRA branches which make up the "Central Southern" region (which are broadly those branches covering Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire) get together and run a competition for Regional Pub of the Year. Since judges from the various branches struggle to survey eleven nominated pubs the competition has been run in two phases in recent years. I reported in the previous issue that the Royal Oak in Wantage had been chosen as first round winner by the various Oxfordshire-based branches. In the second round the Oak was in a run-off against the two other first round winners (from Berks and Bucks).

After being the only member of the branch to judge in the first round, I am pleased to report that I had some company for the second round surveys. I have included details of travel arrangements and opening times of the three pubs in case readers feel inspired visit themselves

The Royal Oak, 12 Newbury Street, Wantage, OX12 8DF.

Opening hours: weekdays 5.30pm-11pm (note: no lunchtime session); Sat 12noon-2.30pm, 7pm-11pm; Sun 12noon-2pm, 7pm-10.30pm.

Getting there: We travelled to Wantage on a weekday evening, by X30 bus - the trip only takes about half-an-hour. Get off the bus at the Market Place and head south along the A338 for a couple of hundred yards. Stagecoach 31 buses run back to Abingdon and Oxford throughout the evening.

The Royal Oak is a corner pub, with traditional separate rooms for public bar and lounge. The public bar is the smaller room, decorated with pictures of Navy ships bearing the same name as the pub, and features pub games such as table-top football and darts. The pub is a long standing CAMRA favourite - the walls in the lounge carry a number of awards from Oxford, Berkshire and Vale of the White Horse branches, dating from recent times right back into the 1980s. It is a free house, although several West Berkshire Brewery beers are named in honour of the landlord, Paul Hexter, and there are normally a couple of West Berks beers on the bar along with a selection of guest ales. The pub scored well with us, gaining marks for its "sympathy with CAMRA aims", good service and good value.

The Bird in Hand, Bath Rd, Knowl Hill, RG10 9UP (on the Reading to Maidenhead road).

Opening hours: weekdays 11am-3pm, 5pm-11pm; Sat 11am-11pm; Sun 12noon-10.30pm.

Getting there: We ended up travelling by car (thanks to Tony Goulding for offering to drive). There is a limited bus service on Saturdays, and little or nothing during the week. The pub would be a relatively short taxi ride from Twyford railway station.

I have to say that the Bird in Hand looked rather unpromising from the outside. It is a 600 year old country inn, apparently, but the bits that you see from the car park look pretty much like any modern road-house eatery. The interior is a lot nicer, however. The inn includes a hotel, a restaurant, and bar which is furnished with leather armchairs, wood panelling and a tartan carpet. The bar is comfortable, smart and upmarket without being exclusive or unwelcoming. We were favourably impressed with the beer quality, the service, and the enthusiasm of the staff. However we couldn't help feeling that it was a little lacking in "pubby" atmosphere. It is a very nice hotel bar, with a splendid beer range, but it isn't really the kind of community pub that the other two candidates represented.

The Hop Pole, 83 Bicester Road, Aylesbury, HP19 9AZ.

Opening hours: 12noon-11pm (midnight on Fri and Sat).

Getting there: Aylesbury is easy to reach from Oxford, by way of the 280 bus which you can catch at the railway station, in St Aldates, or St Clements. On reaching Aylesbury bus station head to the Market Square, up Buckingham Street, then cross over the junction to reach Bicester Road.

I visited the Hop Pole twice, once on a Wednesday evening (when I was joined by Tony Goulding) and on a Saturday afternoon (in the company of Helene Augar and Dave Flitney). The pub was taken over and massively refurbished by Vale Brewery a couple of years ago. It was reportedly an unattractive, keg-only pub prior to Vale taking over - but it has shifted strongly in the direction of "sympathy with CAMRA aims" - it now features ten handpumps on the bar, and the slogan "Aylesbury's permanent beer festival" outside. There are outside tables overlooking the road at the front of the pub, a large bar area, and a connected smaller room behind the bar (with projection TV for sports events). There is also a separate function room at the rear of the pub, where beer festivals are held several times a year. The typical beer line-up includes two or three Vale beers (I enjoyed several splendid pints of Black Beauty Porter), a good range of guest beers from a variety of smaller brewers, and real cider. The bar menu has a predominantly home-cooked Italian theme, including an impressive range of pizzas. As with all the pubs, we were favorably impressed with the beer quality as well as the service and welcome that we received.

Three of us from Oxford (myself, Helene Augar and Tony Goulding) visited all three pubs and so qualified to submit scores for the regional competition. I think that all of us agreed that it was a very close race between the Royal Oak and the Hop Pole, with the Bird in Hand not being quite in the same league. When the scores from all the branches across the region where compiled, the Royal Oak was declared the Regional Pub of the Year. Our congratulations go to Paul Hexter and his staff - we wish them well in the national competition!