Oxford CAMRA:
Pub Walk 1: Oxford Green Belt Way - Thornhill to Garsington via Horspath

The Oxford Green Belt Way (OGBW) is a 80km/50mile circular walking route through the green belt countryside around Oxford. The route was created in 2007 by the Oxfordhire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE Oxfordshire), to mark their 75th anniversary and 50 years since the creation of the Oxford green belt. Our first proposed pub walk uses a section of the start of the OGBW, going from Thornhill Park-and-Ride across Shotover Hill to Horspath (which has two pubs) and then continuing along the bridleway to Garsington (which has three pubs to visit).

Some members of Oxford CAMRA did this walk on Saturday 6th February 2010. See below for some notes on how we got on.

Distance: 6.8km/4.2mile

Surface: forest tracks, grass, field-paths, some pavements. Mud is a possibility in parts, if it has been wet in the days leading up to the walk. Stout, sensible footwear that you don't mind cleaning afterwards is recommended (walking boots if you have them).

Accessiblity: there is one stile on the route, on the downhill section from Shotover to Horspath. Thornhill to Shotover involves a uphill walk rising around 75m/250ft, and Horspath to Garsinton includes an uphill section which rises around 60m/200ft.

Public Transport: the start point at Thornhill Park-and-Ride can be easily reached from central Oxford by 400 bus. From the end point at Garsington one can catch the Thames Travel 101 back to Oxford, Monday-Saturday. Last bus is at around 6.30pm Monday-Thursday, but there are late evening services on Fridays and Saturdays. Travel to or from Horspath is also possible Monday-Saturday daytime, by 103/104 bus. Note that there is currently no Sunday bus service at either Garsington or Horspath. If you go walking on a Sunday it is feasible to walk back to Blackbird Leys from Garsington, or to Temple Cowley from Horspath, if you don't mind adding a mile or so to the total distance. Up-to-date public transport details can be checked with Traveline (http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk/, 0871 200 22 33).

Further Information: The footpaths and bridleways that make up this walk are shown on OS Explorer Map 180. The very latest (2009) revision of the OS map has the OGBW route marked with green diamonds. CPRE Oxfordshire sell a guidebook for the Oxford Green Belt Way, described at http://www.greenbeltway.org.uk/. I bought a copy from the Tourist Information centre on Broad Street. It can be mail ordered by sending a cheque for £6 to: CPRE Oxfordshire, Punches Barn, Waterperry Road, Holton, Oxfordshire, OX33 1PP (phone 01865 874780 for details). If you would like to navigate the route by way of a hand-held GPS device, this GPX track log of the route may be of interest.

Overview map of the route.

Thornhill to the Queen's Head, Horspath

Turn left out of the Park-and-Ride (map). A short way along the pavement there is green metal footpath sign, "Shotover Plain 1", with a Green Belt Way sticker on it. Go through the gate and follow the path. After about 4 or 5 minutes walk you will come to a playing field. Continue on straight uphill, staying on the left-hand side of the field. At the top left-hand corner of the field go left over the small wooden footbridge and then turn right, following the path uphill. The path winds its way uphill through woodland, fenced on both sides. At the top of the hill the path ends at a gate which takes you onto the strip of grassland known as Shotover Plain (map). After going through the gate, cross over the track immediately in front of you ("Old Road", a restricted byway which goes to Littleworth) and continue straight ahead as though making for the woodland. Just before reaching the treeline turn left, and walk along a path with woods of Shotover Country Park on your immediate right.

Having walked the length of the plain and reached it's eastern end, you will find that the path curves left to join Old Road. Just before it does join with Old Road, take a fork to the right and look for an old metal sign-post in the top right corner of the plain, reading "Public Footpath Horspath 3/4" (map). Follow this into a field, and walk the field edge with the woods still on your right. When you reach the corner of the field you will see a gap in the hedge straight ahead. Go through this and follow the path downhill through the woodland. Various tracks crisscross our path at this point; keep heading downhill and keep an eye out for OGBW waymarks on short wooden posts which are strategically placed to help you stay on the correct path.

After about 5 minutes you will reach a waymarked left turn, which takes you to a gate into a field, with a good view of Horspath village spread out before you. Go through the gate and continue downhill along the left-hand side of the field until you reach a stile where you cross into a second field. Again walk downhill along the left-hand edge of the field, until you reach a gate on the left with a footpath leading into the village. Follow the footpath until you come out onto Manor Farm Road. Here we make a diversion off the OGBW route in order to take in the first pub - the OGBW route follows the Manor Farm Road down to the crossroads at the village green, but we cross the road and take the sign-posted footpath on the opposite side of the road. Follow the footpath to Fords Close, walk out of the close and turn right into Church Road, and you will find the Queen's Head on the other side of the road.

Horspath map

The Chequers Inn

Turn left out of the door of the Queen's Head, and head downhill to the crossroads (where we re-join the official OGBW route). On your left you will see our second pub of the day - the Chequers Inn, which these days doubles as the Taste of India Tandoori Restaurant. Note the opening times are noon-2.30pm and 5.30pm-11.30pm daily - if you want a beer (or a curry!) here then make sure you time your walk and your stop in the Queen's such that you don't turn up here mid-afternoon.

Horspath to the Three Horseshoes, Garsington

Turn left out of the Chequers and walk along the pavement, passing under the railway bridge. At the point where the road to Littleworth (Gidley Way) forks left, cross the main road to find a sign-post reading "Bridleway Garsington 1 1/2", with a Green Belt Way sticker. Go through the gate and follow the bridleway across a grassy field, with electric fence tapes on both sides. Next you reach a gate into a ploughed field. Go through the gate, bear right and follow the field edge to the corner of the field, where you will find a wooden footbridge over a stream. Cross the bridge and continue straight on along a fieldpath across the next two fields, heading first for a gap in the hedge opposite, and then beyond that to an electricity pylon (map). Passing the pylon continue straight on up the hill to the top right-hand corner of the field, where you will find a path. Follow this path uphill, with hedges on either side. After about 600m/650yards the path ends at the Garsington to Wheatley road. Cross the road to the pavement opposite, turn right, and walk downhill into Garsington. About 500m/550yards along the road the Green Belt Way leaves the road on a footpath to the right, but our pub walk continues along the main road into Garsington, passing the village school and then turning left into The Green, where you will find the Three Horseshoes.

Garsington map

The Plough

Turn left out of the Three Horseshoes, then right, and walk down to the Oxford road. Cross the road to pub number four, the Plough.

The Red Lion

Turn left out of the Plough, and take the left-hand fork at the junction (Oxford Road). Walk down the road for a few minutes and you will find the final pub, the Red Lion, on the left-hand side. After you have had a beer or two to mark completion of the walk, the bus back to Oxford can be caught from outside the Red Lion.

We made an extra stop not listed in the original route description: Horspath has recently gained a micro-brewery, the Shotover Brewing Company The brewhouse is in a converted farm stable block which lies right by the route of the walk, and our industrious editors kindly arranged for a brewery tour!

The brewer, Ed Murray described the process of converting the building into a brewery, showed us around the equipment while outlining the ingredients he uses and the brewing process, and explained his approach to brewing recipes. He pointed out there is little point in a small brewer attempting to make middle-of-the-road beers with mass appeal, as the big brewers have this market sown up - it makes more sense to brew distinctive beers that cater to beer enthusiasts. He described their first beer, the pale copper coloured Prospect, as being ideal for cricket watching: at 3.7%ABV you can drink a number of them through the afternoon, but being packed with hop character it has a lot more flavour than many "session beers".

After our stop at the brewery we went on to the first pub, the Queen's Head, which is a free house. Many of the party stopped for lunch, and we were able to enjoy several further pints of Shotover Prospect in good condition.

With one thing and another we were running massively behind my originally intended schedule by this point, and unfortuately we didn't get to the Chequers (aka the Taste of India Tandoori) before they closed for the afternoon. It occurs to me, as I write this, that it is a long time since we had a branch Beer and Curry social - perhaps in the summer, when the evenings are lighter, we can stroll over from Oxford and check out the beer and food at the Chequers.

We had more luck when we reached Garsington - the Three Horseshoes was open during the afternoon. It is a Greene King pub, with three beers on when we visited. The Flankers Tackle (Greene King's seasonal beer of the month) was very well received, the Ruddles County was okay but nothing special.

Next we had our second missed pub of the walk. The Plough at Garsington is currently closed. If anyone has any news about this pub then please drop us a line!

We finished at the Red Lion, as planned. Hooke Norton Bitter was the only real ale on when we were there, but we had a very pleasent couple of pints to toast the finish of our first walk, before heading out to catch the bus back to Oxford.

Thanks to all who came along, and I'm sorry about all the mud. I hope it didn't spoil the enjoyment of the day out too much. I think I can with reasonable confidence predict less boggyness on our April walk (Farmoor to Eynsham via the Thames Path and Stanton Harcourt), though sensible footware is still recommended!