A new landlord at a village pub near Oxford is following in her mother's footsteps.

The Red Lion in Yarnton opened in December after it was bought by Oak Taverns.

It had been closed since the summer of 2022 and was bought by the pub company after a community bid to buy the pub failed.

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Jess Dixon, whose mother Nichola runs the Red Lion in Chinnor, another Oak Taverns pub, is now in charge at the Red Lion in Yarnton.

She has run the Chinnor pub when her mother is away and is relishing the challenge in Yarnton.

"XT4 will be our regular beer as it is so popular in Oak Taverns pubs, but the three guest ales will vary," she said. 

"We hope to keep four real ales on although we need to see more real ale drinkers here.

"But our first week was really positive, and it’s clear the community really wanted their pub back whoever is running it.

Oxford Mail: The Red Lion in Yarnton"Everyone has done a fabulous job to make it a cosy, sociable pub, as people were worried it could be turned into housing.”

As with all Oak Taverns pubs, the Red Lion is not operating a kitchen but expects to welcome food vans on a regular basis, mainly on Fridays and Saturdays.

Last year Leanne Charlett led a community interest group to raise £425,000 to buy the boozer but it failed, and the pub was bought by Oak Taverns.

The Thame-based company took six weeks to refurbish the pub before it reopened.

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Stuart Earp, a former sports editor at the Oxford Mail, contacted the Oxford Drinker, the magazine of real ale group CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) following the Red Lion's reopening.

He said: "A spirited attempt to make it a community asset via a buy-out by locals failed despite their best efforts and the pub stood forlorn for several months.

Oxford Mail: The Red Lion in Yarnton"But Thame-based company Oak Taverns saw its potential and in under a couple of months, Yarnton had its pub back.

"And it has been quite a transformation. Tastefully refurbished with leather armchairs, two log fires and new flooring, it has had a complete makeover.

"Gone are the jukebox, pool table, darts board and gaming machine, but Aunt Sally will return in the garden in the summer."

Mr Earp added: "The best news for beer lovers is that real ale is now a priority and there are three choices regularly, many of them from local micro breweries.

Oxford Mail: "Among the brands have been Long Crendon-based XT 3, Harveys Sussex Bitter, Butcombe, Bass, Dead Brewers (Wallingford), Tribute and Ox Blood and Yabba Dabba Do from the Little Ox Brewery at Freeland. All ales are under a fiver.

"As with most of the 16 family-owned Oak Taverns pubs, it is 'wet-only' and no meals are served on the premises.

"But on Fridays and Saturdays, vans set up in the car park and patrons are welcome to eat inside the pub. These include pizzas, fish and chips, burgers and Indian food."

The opening hours are 3pm to 11pm Monday to Friday, then noon to 11pm on Saturdays and noon to 10pm on Sundays.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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