Oxfordshire - Pubs and Inns with a literary connection

Jerome K. Jerome immortalised the Barley Mow in his superb Three Men in a Boat (1889): "Round Clifton Hampden, itself a wonderfully pretty village, old-fashioned, peaceful, and dainty with flowers, the river scenery is rich and beautiful. If you stay the night on land at Clifton, you cannot do better than put up at the ‘Barley Mow’. It is, without exception, I should say, the quaintest, most old-world inn up the river. It stands on the right of the bridge, quite away from the village. Its low-pitched gables and thatched roof and latticed windows give it quite a story-book appearance, while inside it is even still more once-upon-a-timeyfied…"
On 6 January 1837, Charles Dickens, Jr was born. The first child of the novelist Charles Dickens was called ‘Charley’ by family and friends. In 1869 (age 32) after a failed business venture, he was hired by Dickens Sr as sub-editor of All the Year Round. A year later, after his father's death, Charley became the magazine's editor. He wrote the introductions to many posthumous reprints of his father's books, such as Barnaby Rudge, Little Dorrit, and Sketches by Boz, providing biographical and bibliographical insights.
In 1879, Charley published the first editions of his two main dictionaries, ‘Dickens's Dictionary of London’ and ‘Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames’ in which he wrote: "On the Berkshire side, two or three minutes walk from the bridge is the ‘Barley Mow’, one of the thatched, old-fashioned resting-places which have been almost improved out of existence by the modern system of hotels. The parlour of the ‘Barley Mow’ is a queer panelled room; more like the cabin of a ship than the coffee-room of an inn, and is of so low a pitch as to still further favour the illusion. But although the house is primitive, and the entertainment unpretending, it is a capital little inn of its class, and may be recommended to boating men."
Peter Lovesey’s 1976 Sergeant Cribb novel ‘Swing Together’, is a retracing of the route taken by Jerome’s three men. There's an important scene set in the Barley Mow which plays out on pages 60 to 66. This interesting and welcoming Chef & Brewer dining pub has plenty of atmosphere with its very low ancient beams and nice dark corners. Well kept real ales include Adnams Broadside and Charles Wells Bombardier.

The Eagle and Child in Oxford was known affectionately as the "Bird and Baby" by the two men who made it part of literary history: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Occupying the same site on St. Giles Street since 1650, it is a destination for literary pilgrims from all over the world. Inside it doesn’t look much like a literary shrine, with its dark oak settles, gleaming beer pumps, diminutive fireplace, and slightly incongruous conservatory. For almost four decades until the 1960’s, however, it was the favourite watering place of the Inklings, a group of writers, poets and religious thinkers which centred on C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien whilst they were both dons at the University.
The group met here to read and criticise each other’s works in progress, including the first drafts of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. As well as being writers and religious philosophers, Lewis and Tolkien were connoisseurs of a good pint, who derided the "varnish" served at The Mitre on the High Street, and did full justice to the fine ales served at the Eagle and Child whenever wartime shortages permitted. All that remains of the Inkling’s brilliant circle is a plaque on the wall and some of their books displayed behind the bar, but that’s enough for coachloads of people to flock here to drink in both the atmosphere and the ales.
A connection between C. S. Lewis and Sergeant Lewis is made by Colin Dexter in his detective novel The Secret of Annexe 3: "In the back bar of the Eagle and Child in St. Giles', the two men [Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis] sat and drank their beer, and Lewis found himself reading and reading again the writing on the wooden plaque fixed to the wall behind Morse's head: ‘C. S. LEWIS, his brother, W. H. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and other friends met every Tuesday morning, between the years 1939-1962 in the back room of this their favourite pub. These men, popularly known as the "Inklings," met here to drink beer and to discuss, among other things, the books they were writing’. Sergeant Lewis's mind ... was waxing the more imaginative as he pictured a series of fundamental emendations to this received text, "CHIEF INSPECTOR MORSE, with his friend and colleague Sergeant Lewis, sat in this back room one Thursday, in order to solve…"

This busy 19th century Coaching Inn found fame as a hotel in the 1920s under the tenure of its eccentric proprietor John Fothergill, who called himself ‘Pioneer Amateur Innkeeper’ in ‘Who’s Who’. Fothergill earned an honoured place in the pantheon of hoteliers by introducing haute cuisine to the provinces. And he chronicled his experiences in the best-selling book ‘An Innkeeper’s Diary’. First published in 1931, the book was an instant success and continued to be reprinted throughout the next two decades. It is great fun and filled with picaresque tales and anecdotes cleverly exaggerated for comic or dramatic effect. He was a terrible name-dropper and could be a bigger snob than Mrs. Hyacinth Bucket and yet he has an evocative and witty way with words.
Fothergill was a pioneer of the privately owned country hotel and the first celebrity chef. To say he was an eccentric restaurateur is an understatement. He combined the flair and passion of Gordon Ramsey with the business acumen and people skills of Basil Fawlty. However, his cuisine and flamboyant personality attracted the glitterati of the day including artists, actors and writers like George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Evelyn Waugh and G. K. Chesterton to name but a few. A programme about Fothergill’s life as an eccentric landlord was screened on BBC2 television in 1981 with his character portrayed by Robert Hardy. Fothergill was not only an illustrious innkeeper, a very tallented artist, an outstanding chef, a connoisseur of wine and an early campaigner for real food - he was also an intriguing, volatile and provacative personality. He firmly believed that the customer was not always right and, he could on occasion, be outrageously rude.
The highly decorative and striking inn sign shown in the photograph was designed and painted for John Fothergill by writer Lytton Strachey’s bohemian friend Dora Carrington. Dora’s life with Strachey was dramatized in the 1995 film ‘Carrington’, starring Emma Thompson in the title role. The Spread Eagle has stood imposingly in the heart of Thame since the 16th century and in former times has played host to Charles II and French prisoners from the Napoleonic wars. Now caringly restored, the hotel provides comfortable accommodation, extensive Conference/Banqueting facilities, a large car park and a high standard of cuisine in Fothergill’s Restaurant. At the time of writing (Spring 2008) the Spread Eagle is up for sale for offers in excess of £3.3m.

Colin Dexter's Last Bus to Woodstock is the Morse story where the Chief Inspector first joins forces with Sergeant Lewis. Early on we are introduced to the old town of Woodstock where a murder has taken place - and where: "There was always, it appears, a goodly choice of hostelries, and several hotels and inns now clustered snugly along the streets…" The corpse of a murdered young woman is discovered in the car park of 'The Black Prince' and we read that the pub is situated: "...half-way down a broad side-street to the left as one is journeying north." The car park was formerly an: "…old courtyard where once the horses had clattered over the cobbled stones." And it had: "access from the street through a narrow archway."
There is a potential cause for confusion with an actual Woodstock pub called the Black Prince - which was renamed following the book’s publication – but Dexter’s description fits the Bear whose lounge: "...was gently bathed in half light, giving a chiaroscuro effect, it was hoped of a Rembrandt nativity scene". Where: "For the last two and a half years Gaye had been the resident ‘hostess’ – ‘barmaid’, thought the manager, was a trifle infra dignitatem".
In Our Old Home: a series of English sketches Nathaniel Hawthorne, The 19th century American novelist and short story writer wrote: "…we reached Woodstock, and stopped to water our horses at the Black Bear. This neighborhood is called New Woodstock, but has by no means the brand-new appearance of an American town, being a large village of stone houses, most of them pretty well time-worn and weather-stained. The Black Bear is an ancient inn, large and respectable, with balustraded staircases, and intricate passages and corridors, and queer old pictures and engravings hanging in the entries and apartments. We ordered a lunch (the most delightful of English institutions, next to dinner) to be ready against our return, and then resumed our drive to Blenheim…"
The Bear in Park Street is a handsome old inn with a heavy-beamed bar on the right, cosy alcoves and a tastefully casual mix of antique oak, mahogany and leather furniture. There are paintings, sporting trophies and a blazing inglenook log fire during the winter. It’s a lovely place but the prices reflect the captive tourist clientele (many of whom are American) visiting Blenheim which is just a short walk away.

Copyright T.W. Townsend - the opinions expressed herein are those of the author and any observations were correct at the time of the review.