History of Oxfordshire pubs

While this is a far cry from the way things were a few decades ago, when beer was almost exclusively tasteless keg bitter, unfortunately many traditional pubs in Britain are now struggling to keep afloat. He hopes his book may encourage us all to seek out some of the pubs he has written about, helping to keep them in business.

Pubs of Oxford and Oxfordshire details 17 traditional city pubs, and a further 15 in the Oxfordshire countryside. It is not intended to be a pub guide. You won’t find comments about the beer or the food – it’s the history of the pub he is interested in. He hopes the reader will be, too.

He said: “What so many people don’t appreciate is that there is as much history linked with some of our pubs as with the colleges, and ancient monuments.

“Unfortunately a great number of publicans have no real knowledge of their pub’s history. If you ask them the age of their pub they often answer by admitting it is very old, and leave it at that. Some simply point to a plaque on the wall or an old document by the fireplace which gives a brief pub history, and hope customers will be satisfied by that.”

That doesn’t satisfy Paul. “If you visit a building such as the Sheldonian, there’s loads of documentation available, which will bring the place alive.

“Some pubs in Oxfordshire have a history which is just as rich as the official historical sites, yet those who run them now have no real idea how old they are, or what took place in them over the centuries.”

Paul’s aim has been to provide background information on particular pubs that can’t always be gleaned by the casual visitor. While the book is aimed at the tourist market, he hopes it will also interest the general public and local residents.

He says that even the names (if they haven’t been changed recently) often have a fascinating history. Take the Turf Tavern, in the centre of Oxford, which you reach by travelling down St Helen’s Passage. Paul points out that this pub changed its original name, The Spotted Cow, to the Turf Tavern in 1847 due to its closeness to the betting hall from which the turf accountants would retire to discuss the odds over a glass or two of beer. His comments on the name given to The Head of the River at Folly Bridge are particularly interesting. Apparently, this name was chosen in a competition run by The Oxford Times during the 1970s, when the original building was converted from a wharf house to a pub. More than 3,000 people entered the competition. The winning entry associated the pub with the university boat races that take place twice a year, known as Torpids and Eights Week.

Paul finds the story behind pub names so fascinating that he has included a section on the name for each pub listed. He also points out places of interest close by and instructions to readers on how to find the pub if visiting the area for the first time.

Readers of The Oxford Times will know Paul as its jazz reviewer. He plays the clarinet and saxophone and it was while performing in various Oxfordshire pubs throughout the county that his love of traditional pubs developed.

As he is also a professional photographer and graphic designer, he took all the photographs for the book himself, and designed its layout, too, leaving the editing to Oxface Publications’s founder, John Dougill.

Paul said: “It’s taken ages to put the book together. So little is known about some pubs that a considerable amount of time was taken up researching their history.” However, it’s done now and Paul can relax and raise his glass to a book, which will undoubtedly stimulate us all to take a new interest in our pubs and their history.

Pubs of Oxford & Oxfordshire is published by Oxface Publications at £7.99.

* Helen Peacocke is the author of Paws Under the Table: 40 Dog-Friendly Pubs and Walks from Oxford to the Cotswolds, published this week.