Prince of Wales, Shippon: 30th Sep – 2nd Oct

Next weekend (Fri 30th September to Sunday 2nd October) the Prince of Wales in Shippon is holding a beer and music festival. This will feature over 20 real ales, 7 ciders and a pig roast on Saturday. This pub is within easy walking or cycling distance from Abingdon. Last year this pub was on the verge of closure with planning permission to convert it into housing, but was saved from closure and a lot of money and effort has been put into improvements over the last year. There are normally 6 real ales available including local beers from Shotover and Loose Cannon. Regular live music events, and is a favourite pub for several local morris dancing sides.

Brewery Tap: 7th-9th October

It’s been 20yrs since Mr Warrick’s Arms shut. Keith and Marilyn Heritage were the licensees and soon after opened The Brewery Tap, but the pub will be remembered more for the ‘Duchess of Ock Street’, Mrs Heavens, who had run the pub for close to sixty years!

To celebrate the anniversary and to commemorate British beer week, The Brewery Tap is holding a big old beer, cider & sausage festival, with their biggest range yet. The festival will in a double top hat marque adjacent to the pub in the pub car park. Live music will include Big Boys Blues Band and Flexamuscle on the Saturday evening and Nevada plus guests on the Sunday afternoon.

When the beer list and tasting notes are available, I’ll add them here.

The Brewery Tap is in the latest 2012 edition of The Good Beer Guide which was published by The Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) last week. They offer a discount on real ale and cider for CAMRA members and have been recognised by CAMRA as a real cider pub.

Broad Face: 18th-20th November

Following the success of the Broad Face’s first beer festival earlier this year in April, they are holding their 2nd beer festival in November. I don’t have many details, but I expect it will be similar to the April one with around 12 real ales and live music. More details will be added when I get them.

The Broad Face normally has a selection of 4 real ales, and offers a discount on real ales to CAMRA members.

The list of beers will include:

• White Horse – Black Horse Porter
• West Berkshire – Whimble
• Oxfordshire Ales – Happy Hooker
• Loddon – In Yer Face American IPA
• Loddon – Russet
• Exmoor – Exmoor Gold
• Castle Rock – Harvest Pale
• Greene King – Bonkers Conkers
• Greene King – Olde Trip
• Wolf – RAF Battle of Britain
• Everards – Tiger
• Wentworth – Vanilla

The latest beer list can be downloaded Here

I am particularly looking forward to trying the Loddon American IPA. Loddon is a local brewery based in a converted barn between Reading and Henley, but we don’t get to try much of their cask ales in Abingdon’s pubs, although some is available in bottles from supermarkets

Live music each night, starting with BLIND DOG BLUES on Friday night, RAMI & THE TALC DAEMONS on Saturday night and finishing up with ADAM MATTHEWS early Sunday evening.

The Cross Keys is now also using YourRound so you can see what beers are currently being served and in the cellar.

You can also follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/crosskeysabingdon

Hook Norton Dray (Picture borrowed from Kings Head and Bell facebook page)

There is a good range of 20 real ales outside (and 4 more at the bar). Many of them are from local breweries including:

• Loose Cannon, Abingdon: Pale Ale and Abingdon Bridge
• Hook Norton: Hooky Dark, Hooky Gold, Old Hooky, Hooky Double Stout, Haymaker, Flagship
• Appleford: Power Station
• White Horse: Saracen IP
• Vale: Grumpling
• West Berkshire: Dr. Hexter’s Healer
• Oxfordshire Ales: Pride of Oxfordshire
• Butts: Barbus Barbus

From further afield are:

• Andwell, Hampshire: Gold Muddle
• Box Steam Brewery, Wiltshire: Tunnel Vision and Funnel Blower
• Cottage Brewery, Somerset: Licence to Chew
• Rebellion, Marlow: Mutiny
• Red Squirrel, Hertfordshire: Summer Ale
• Sadlers, Stourbridge: Stumbling Badger
• Adnams: Broadside
• Wadworth 6X

There are also 5 real ciders.

I haven’t tried everything yet, but probably the Hooky Flagship is my favourite so far.

You can also see more pictures of the horses on The Abingdon Blog

If enough people are interested in this kind of info, I could set up a mailing list, forum or database and also ask other local pubs to provide information for it. Please comment to this post to let me know if it is worth setting up.

You can also get up to real time info of beers available The Brewery Tap and some other pubs at YourRound.co.uk.

An e-petition has now been set up by recently elected Abingdon town councillor Iain Littlejohn asking the government to pass laws allowing local councils to have some power to prevent pubs and similar properties from changing use. Current laws mean the town and district councils are powerless to do anything to prevent a pub being turned into a shop.

Please go to http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/4922 to sign it. I have signed e-petitions before and they do get looked at and replied to by the relevant minister and if more than 100,000 people sign, it will get debated in the house of commons.

The full wording is:

Give town councils the power to use planning process to protect the diversity and individual character of town centres. Currently multiple retailers are able to set up in high streets regardless of the impact on independent retailers. Planning authorities are not currently able to prevent this happening and as such many towns centres are becoming clone towns. Similarly many pubs are being converted to convenience stores owned by multiple retailers with little consideration of their long term impact on the community. Specifically we would like to see: 1. Town councils gain right to designate their town centre for diversity protection 2. Impact on the character of the town to become a legitimate reason for rejecting an application in towns designated for diversity protection 3. All retailers wishing to locate in designated towns required to submit planning application 4. Move from public house to other form of retail to be regarded as a change of use

It may be too late to save The Ox and The Fitzharris, but signing the petition could prevent the same thing happening to other pubs elsewhere.

The Loose Cannon Brewery is now selling Abingdon Bridge and Loose Cannon Pale in pint bottles. Currently available from the brewery shop in Suffolk Way off Drayton Road, at £2/bottle or case of 12 for £21.50. You can of course still buy it directly from the conditioning tanks in plastic PET bottles (1,2 or 3 litre), 5 liter mini cask, 18 and 36 pint polypins or 72 pint firkins. Please support our local brewery, which reintroduced the brewing tradition back to Abingdon following the closure of the Morland Brewery.

The Old Anchor

The Old Anchor on St. Helen’s Wharf is now running under new management. The new managers have good plans to refurbish it. Currently it is serving 3 beers in good condition from the Greene King range (Morland Original, Speckled Hen and London Glory). With the Nags Head still closed, this is the only pub where you can sit outside with a view of the river.

Brewery Tap

The Brewery Tap is now serving 5 real ciders. Unlike other pubs that just have cardboard box polypins on the counter serving at room temperature, The Tap has them in the cellar at a cool temperature being served through the beer fonts. The range includes ever popular and strong Old Rosie and the sweeter Thistle Cross. The beer range continues to be the best in Abingdon and you can now get a real time update of what is on the bar and what is coming soon in the cellar by logging into yourround.co.uk. This site if you register can also send you email alerts when a beer is changed.

Kings Head & Bell

The King’s Head & Bell on East St. Helen’s Street is having a beer festival on August bank holiday weekend (27th-29th August). They always have a range of 4 real ales, which change frequently, but mainly includes beers from Hook Norton, Box Steam, Loose Cannon and Adnams.

The Ox

Work has begun on The Ox on Oxford Road to turn it into a Tesco Direct. This is despite the fact that no planning permission has been applied for and it is close to an existing convenience store which may go out of business if next door to a Tesco Direct. There is more on this on the Abingdon blog including a lot of comments from concerned residents, and some of our town councillors are investigating what if anything can be done to stop it, though it seems at the moment that Tesco’s are not doing anything illegal. This is almost exactly the same as what happened earlier this year at The Fitzharris arms.

Blue Boar

The Blue Boar on bath street is now serving a good pint of Adnams Southwold Bitter. For several years no real ale had been available in this historic pub and this is a good sign of things to come.

Added Ingredients

Added ingredients in Stert street sells a range of bottled beers from local brewery, The Compass Brewery.

The Plough

Continues to be open, but with no real ale. I think it is still for sale, but its future seems uncertain.

Nags Head

No news on this. As far as I can see from the Land Registry, Punch Taverns still own the lease, and there are no for-sale or to-let signs on it making it difficult for anyone who did want to take it over from even knowing who to contact! I understand there are several interested people who want to take it over and turn it back into a thriving pub with its wonderful beer garden in the middle of the Thames.

Other pubs

No specific news, but other pubs including The Punch Bowl, Spread Eagle, Broad Face, Stocks Bar, White Horse and Cross Keys continue to serve beer in good condition and are worth a visit. Also if you don’t mind a walk or short cycle ride I can also recommend The Prince Of Wales in Shippon (6 real ales including beer from local Shotover Brewery), The Flowing Well in Sunningwell (a recent change of management with 3 well served beers from Greene King guest range and a lovely beer garden) and The Crown in Marcham which has real ales not seen elsewhere in this area.

You can pick up a free copy from most good pubs in the area. There are currently copies in the Brewery Tap, The White Horse and The Loose Cannon Brewery shop. They should appear in other pubs during the next week (deliveries rely on volunteers to take them to pubs in their spare time).


Articles of interest to Abingdonians in this issue include:

• Abingdon’s Loose Cannon Brewery
• Report from Old Anchor Beer Festival
• Oxford City Pub of The Year shortlist
• Publication of new Good Beer Guide 2011, including new entries from the Oxford branch area
• Preview of The Oxford Beer Festival
• Welcome report from the new Oxford CAMRA branch chairman
• List of Beer Festivals

If you can’t wait to get a hardcopy, then you can also read it online as a PDF file from the Oxford CAMRA web site

List of beers and ciders, with tasting notes

The Tap’s beer festival features 16 real ales including Abingdon Bridge from Abingdon’s own Loose Cannon Brewery and 8 real ciders, and as with the previous Tap festivals this year…. specialist sausages and live music.

There will be live music on Saturday afternoon (4pm) from The Three Musty Steers and on Sunday afternoon (4pm) from George Haslam’s 18 piece Big Time Swing Band.

Saturday also coincides with the annual Runner Bean Day on Saturday, which offers prizes for things such as the longest runner bean.

If you want to travel outside of Abingdon there are a few other beer festivals going on including The Cricketer’s Arms in Littleworth which is holding its Autumn Beer and Sausage Festival featuring 12 locally brewed beers, and Far From the Madding Crowd in Oxford which is holding its Autumn Beer festival.

The Brewery Tap in Ock Street, Abingdon is holding a Cider festival this weekend (Friday 25th June – Sunday 27th June).

It will feature 21 different ciders, including a rare breed of ciders from local sources and CAMRA award winners.

The full list of ciders and perrys along with tasting notes can be downloaded here

There will also be a selection of world beers, and a selection of interestingly flavoured sausages that have been very popular at the previous beer festivals.

Sunday afternoon should be good, watching England beat Germany whilst drinking some traditionally made real English ciders.

They are currently serving Morlands Original, Olde Trip and GK IPA and awaiting new guest beer.

They will be holding a Beer Festival from May 27th to June 6th.

I haven’t visited yet since the new management took over, but previously it has been a pleasant place to visit in the summer with a large beer garden (With a well at the bottom), children’s outside play area and situated in the unspoilt village of Sunningwell which is easily reached by walking or cycling from Abingdon along the footpath heading north from Dunmore Road.

You can get more info about the pub from their web site at www.theflowingwell.co.uk