The 2011 edition of the CAMRA bible - The Good Beer Guide - has recently been published and it is a wonderfully informative directory. It runs to nearly 900 pages and has a comprehensive guide to pubs and to breweries both old and new.In the introduction, Editor Roger Protz writes: 'For 38 years the Good Beer Guide has been underlining CAMRA's work by championing real ale pubs. But it's more than a pub guide: the breweries section makes it a unique publication, listing every brewery in the country and keeping pace with their beers and plans for expansion'
Those pubs listed in the Banbury area include: The Saye and Sele Arms at Broughton (welcoming - try the landlord's excellent 'real' pies), The Bell Inn at Adderbury (tardis like 18th century ale house), The Bell at Banbury (friendly and thriving community pub), The George Inn at Barford St Michael (Landlord Martin and labrador Dillon offer a warm welcome), The Butchers Arms at Balscote (traditional inn that once was an abbatoir, The Rose and Crown at Charlbury (on the Oxfordshire Way - walkers are welcome), The Crown at Enstone (no games machines), The Red Lion at Cropredy (fish and chips on Friday), The Kings Head at Fritwell (home to many sports teams), The Bell at Great Bourton (annual beer festival in March/April), The Pear Tree at Hook Norton (the brewery tap for Hook Norton), The Red Lion at Horley (traditional beer only pub), The Dun Cow at Hornton (family runs vitis wines and merry monk brands),The Plough at Little Bourton (Sunday lunches are popular), The George and Dragon at Shutford (yard of ale frequently taken up), The Fox Inn at Souldern (micro brewery beers featured regularly), The White Lion at Steeple Aston (the Oxford to Banbury bus stops outside) and The Peyton Arms at Stoke Lyne (classic gem is a national treasure).
There are some notable exceptions - there is no listing for The Reindeer in Banbury or The Elephant and Castle at Bloxham - another wonderful real ale pub - The Brasenose at Cropredy fails to make it into the tome.
In Northamptonshire, The George and Dragon at Chacombe (Banbury to Brackley bus stops here) gets a mention as does the Crewe Arms at Hinton in the Hedges (bought by two villagers) - The Star at Sulgrave (300 year old ivy clad cottage) and the New Inn at Abthorpe (quintessentially English pub) also make the cut.
Harbury's Old New Inn ( and Ashorne's Cottage Tavern are the Warwickshire entries.
The Mitre (nestling under a disused railway viaduct) and The Woolpack (upholds tradition of early opening on market days) in Buckingham are listed as is The Inn on The Marsh in Gloucestershire (former bakery next to the duck pond).
Hook Norton brewery is featured in the independent brewery section along with the lesser known, north Cotswold, Cotswold, Donnington, Patriot and Silverstone breweries as well as the Cherwell Valley Brewery now based at Middleton Cheney. The Oxfordshire brewery, curiously, is based at Marsh Gibbon in Buckinghamshire!
The Guide costs £15.99 and is published by CAMRA BOOKS ISBN 978-1-85249-272-4
