An old friend who has recently become a narrowboat dweller telephoned to say that she and her partner were heading towards the area along the Oxford Canal. Could we get together? Charlotte guessed she and Tony would be tying up near Thrupp. Perhaps we could meet there? Lunch on the following day, a Sunday, was settled on, and to me was left as it often is the choice of where we should go.

I thought first of some of the obvious places, in Woodstock, Kirtlington and Charlbury, then remembered I had been meaning to look in on a village of rather more workaday reputation Yarnton. My quarry was the Red Lion pub, which was taken over shortly before Christmas by Gary Strivens another old friend, as it happens. His new career move followed the ending of a working association with the restaurateur and hotelier Jeremy Mogford spanning more than two decades which is roughly how long I have known him. His son, Tom, was a babe arms when I first met him. Now 22, he's the Red Lion's chef, having himself worked previously at three Mogford establishments, the Old Parsonage, Gee's and Quod.

A table was booked for Sunday lunch, and an hour or so before we were due Rosemarie and I drove off to collect our friends. They had actually stopped a little before Thrupp, beside the church at Shipton-on-Cherwell. Calling to pick them up brought me to a beautiful stretch of the Oxford Canal I had never previously discovered and to a date with eight fresh-from-the-egg cygnets who brought added charm to the scene.

At the Red Lion we were soon surrounded by animals of much fiercer appearance, for in his tasteful makeover of the place Gary has taken inspiration from the pub's name. Lions of different size decorate the pub, with two especially magnificent specimens flanking the entrance to the front door.

The pub, it may be thought, stands in need of all the design flourishes it can get, being a product of 1950s architecture. An earlier building, which had seen use for some 600 years, was burned to the ground a sad loss, surely, to the village. The licensees, however, were perhaps not so bothered, as they told The Oxford Times in 1958 of a "mysterious groping hand that woke them from their sleep". I make no comment . . .

Gary has shown great skill in the revamp. His aim was to preserve the best features of the traditional pub including three excellent hand-pumped beers while also creating a comfortable environment for eating.

We certainly had that in the generous-sized circular table he had laid up for us in the large and airy room overlooking the garden. By the time we were shown to it, we had already given Gary our food orders at the bar and had our first drink in my case a large glass (£3.95) of Tierra Antica Sauvignon Blanc, from Chile's Limari Valley. This was to last me throughout the meal, while my non-driving companions having sampled the rich delights of an Australian merlot called Head Over Heels (£15.95) had a good few more glasses of it.

I started with a bowl of the day's soup (£4.95) a powerful tomato and basil blend, which came with a chunk of fresh wholemeal bread. Though other starters included mussels, prawns, pan-fried mushrooms and goat cheese and tomato salad, my friends decided to share two portions of asparagus.

This wasn't any old asparagus, but the produce of Medley Manor Farm, Binsey, as the menu spelt out. Gary makes a feature of his local suppliers. His beef, for instance, comes from Kirtlington Park estate, his sausages from a butchers in Kidlington, and his pork and salad leaves from nearby Worton Park, Cassington, for which my colleague Helen Peacocke was expressing her admiration a few weeks ago.

The asparagus was served just as I like it (I was permitted a couple of spears) slightly al dente, with Hollandaise sauce. The taste I had proved to be my last from Medley Manor for 2006. A few days later I went to buy supplies but paused momentarily to greet the owner, during which time a chap who came in behind me made off with the one remaining bunch.

Main course choices included potato gnocchi with porcini mushrooms and hot chicken salad, both of which I considered before settling on pan-roasted cod steak with fine beans, cherry tomatoes and shallots (£9.75). The fish was served with the skin on (it was crisp enough to invite eating, in fact), while the flesh beneath remained moist and lustrous, from precisely the right length of cooking.

Charlotte and Tony both ate medium rare Kirtlington rib-eye steaks (£10.85), whose tenderness spoke eloquently of the 28 days of maturing, with mustard butter and chips.

Rosemarie had the day's special bangers pork and leek and mash (£7.35). She enjoyed the sausages very much but was not so keen on the thin, dark brown gravy, having a preference for texture and flavour more robust.

While I finished the meal with a double espresso (£1.65), the others shared a £5.25 cheese selection (stilton, cheddar and brie none of them quite ripe enough) and a so-so treacle tart. (£4.55).