Christopher Gray enjoys dinner at The Fleece in Witney – which has received a light new look for the summer

The boast that “Dylan Thomas drank here” could hardly be considered the defining feature of any pub’s fame, given the widespread nature of the bibulous poet’s patronage of licensed premises. In the case of The Fleece in Witney, however, the link with Thomas is strong and worthy of celebration.

Between 1947 and 1949, when he lived in South Leigh Manor, he quite often eschewed the pleasures of shove ha’penny in his local, The Mason Arms, to pedal the two miles into Witney for a convivial session at The Fleece, doubtless attracted as we all are by its delightful location beside Church Green (where I always expect to see a parade of the ladies of Cranford). The pub even provided the setting for the BBC programme he introduced about the Windrush Valley.

One can understand his need to get out, since the manor, smart as it sounded, had neither an indoor lavatory nor electricity. But when he was at home working, characters and incidents he met in Witney began to find their way into his most famous creation, Under Milk Wood.

The town’s local brewery Clinch’s ran The Fleece in Thomas’s times. These days it’s run, in the brilliant way they do, by Peach Pubs, whose North Hinksey hostelry The Fishes and The Thatch in Thame are other local favourites of mine – and everybody else.

The second in a 17-strong chain – a word singularly inappropriate for a company so unchainlike in its operations – The Fleece opened in its new guise in 2003. Its tenth anniversary was marked two years ago by a humdinger of a party and now the place has been given a handsome new decorative theme that sends it (and us) smiling into summer.

A principal ingredient, inside and out, is a newly-designed woolly lamb called Baaarnaby (the name chosen in a contest for local children). As for the rest, I will leave the pictures here to speak for themselves, with a welcoming nod towards its lighter, brighter interior, and move on at once to the food.

Rosemarie and I sampled the new seasonal menu devised by head chef Michael Halbert on a Friday night visit two weeks ago. This could hardly have been better timed since service was being overseen by Lee Cash, Peach’s joint founder and chief operations man (co-founder Hamish Stoddart supplies the financial brains in the team). It was good to catch up with him at the bar over gin and tonics (Sipsmith’s for me; Hendricks for Rosemarie) served in Peach’s swanky way with lots of juniper berries in an ice-laden globe-shaped glass.

The general manager Rebecca (Becs) Jones was on duty too, ready to show us to our table and take orders.

A usual Peach treat for me is one of their much-imitated deli boards, designed for sharing in varieties of fish, veggie, cheese, butcher’s and favourites (crispy squid and aioli, heritage tomato salad, treacle-glazed ham and Laverstoke mozzarella).

On this occasion I decided to ring the changes and went for the starter-sized portion of Cornish lamb ballotine (a cake of shredded shoulder with rosemary), with courgette and aubergine bake (the sliced vegetables bound with eggs and milk and topped with Parmesan) and spiced tomato sauce. Fabulous!

Other starter/main alternatives include free-range duck and vegetable salad, pea and mint risotto and superfood salad of smoked mackerel and puy lentils. Mains proper range through roasted hake fillet, a 10oz pork sirloin to a splendid range of Aubrey Allen steaks.

No less enjoyable was my main course dish, a whole sea bass steamed in paper with fennel, lemon thyme and strips of baby leek.

Rosemarie began with a generous chunk of moist ham hock and leek terrine with parsley and garlic purée. She continued with one of the night’s specials, oven-baked smoked haddock with Lyonnaise potatoes, roasted baby aubergine and a poached egg.

Ever a pudding person, she finished with glazed lemon tart with raspberry compote.

Noting with approval you can order what is called a “single smidgen of cheese” for £2.75 (cheese boards often proving over-lavish), I nevertheless rather greedily ordered three varieties, Kirkham’s Lancashire, Burwash Rose, with a pungent odour reminiscent of Munster, and the Welsh blue cheese, Organic Perl Las.

THE FLEECE
11 Church Green, Witney, OX28 4AZ,
fleecewitney.co.uk, 01993 892270

Pub open: daily 8am to 11pm (midnight Saturday)
Key personnel: general manager Rebecca Jones; deputies Duncan De Jager, Duncan Froomes, Karina Gulakova; head chef Michael Halbert
Make sure you try: the Cornish lamb ballotine with courgette and aubergine bake (£8), sea bass en papillote (£17.50), glazed lemon tart with raspberry compote (£5.95), cheese plate (£7.75)