A VILLAGE boozer beloved by Evelyn Waugh and a micro-pub based in a shop are among the new Oxfordshire additions to a guide hailing the UK's best places to enjoy a pint.
Six pubs have been included for the first time in the 2019 edition of the Good Beer Guide, which comes out next week, in the section devoted to the Oxford CAMRA branch, covering Oxford, Abingdon, Witney and surrounding villages.
It brings the total number listed for the area up to 24.
Pete Flynn, chairman of Oxford CAMRA, said: "It is fantastic to see so many new additions especially pubs who have been gone from failing to being included like The Broad Face in Abingdon.
"The area covered by the Oxford branch has been expanded which has allowed us to recognise even more local pubs which is great."
Listings are based on beer quality scores, voted for by CAMRA members throughout the year using the Whatpub website.
Most of the winners offer a wide choice of cask conditioned real ale, but beer quality takes precedence over quantity.
Joshua Khan, who took over historic pub The Broad Face two years ago, said it felt 'absolutely amazing' to have the boozer in the guide.
He added: "Being included is like winning a championship trophy. I have other pubs and when they were added it was a massive boost to trade, having the notice in the pub really attracts."
The pub has deep roots in the town and was named after the hangman who worked at the old jail opposite the pub on Bridge Street.
A regular customer of the pub who was described as having a 'broad face'.
Mr Khan said: "I think what people like is it is an honest pub with personalised service well on its way to becoming the heart of the community."
Another addition this year is The Siege of Orleans in Carterton, which claims to be the county’s first micro-pub and was converted from a shop in 2015.
Manager Bryony Holloway last month commissioned a street mural outside the quirky venue, which aims to change perceptions of drinking.
The Abingdon Arms in Beckley, overlooking Otmoor, meanwhile, is among eight pubs in the county saved from closure by a community buy-out.
Publicans Aimee Bronock and Joe Walton, who is also the head chef, became the proud new tenants of the business, which was last year. It followed a campaign by the Beckley and Area Community Benefit Society to save the former Brakspear pub from closure, which raised £504,000 from 280 investors in just two months.
Its other claim to fame it being the place where prolific writer Evelyn Waugh, most famous for Brideshead Revisited, penned novel Vile Bodies. A blue plaque marking the building was installed in July.
Also new are The Castle in Oxford, re-opened by Hook Norton brewery last year following a major revamp, the Fir Tree in Iffley Road and the Butchers Arms in Headington, owned by Fuller’s.
Oxford CAMRA spokesman Dave Richardson says: “Real ale is thriving around Oxford as throughout the country, and it is particularly pleasing to see a micro-pub and a community-owned pub join the list as these are positive trends at a time when pub closures are still happening at a worrying rate.
“The Castle’s inclusion will delight anyone who enjoys the beers of the county’s oldest independent brewer, as there are many ‘Hooky’ pubs around the north of the county but no guarantee you will find them in Oxford until now. It’s also very welcoming to see larger breweries represented with more GBG pubs. Greene King now offers some pub tenants a much wider choice of the beers they can serve from other breweries, and The Broad Face is a good example of this.”
The 2019 Good Beer Guide, published this Thursday, includes 4,500 pubs nationwide and also details of the growing number of breweries.
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