BOOK REVIEWS by Book worm
Les Routiers Pubs and Inns Guide 2003
Edited by David Hancock
Routiers Ltd 2003, London
ISBN 0-900057-18-1 Paperback £12.50
Subtitled “The Road to Good Food” this has much to offer those engaged in the pursuit of excellence for food, wine and real ale served in pleasant, civilised surroundings.
Over 450 entries are arranged by county. It also includes Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands. The reader is given full descriptions, outstanding colour photography and pub walks, as well as in depth articles on Fullers, Jennings, Adnams, Wadworth, Hogs Back and the micro-brewery revolution.
Pubs selected in North Oxfordshire include The Bull Inn, Charlbury, The Chequers, Chipping Norton, The Falkland Arms at Great Tew, and The Stag’s Head at Swalcliffe.
CAMRA, St Albans; Fourth Edition 2003
ISBN 1-85249-183-3 Paperback £9.99
A guide to traditional pubs that cater for toddlers to teenagers, where parents can feel relaxed and enjoy excellent real ales. They can be confident that there will be suitable food choices, secure play areas, and games for kids. The guide includes interesting articles on what makes a child friendly pub, plus ‘Is pub food making our children sick?’, and how the ‘Children’s Certificate’ failed to make pubs more family friendly.
It is arranged in regions and then by counties. There are comprehensive descriptions with 250 pubs listed for the whole of Great Britain, - only six in Greater London. It is hoped that next edition will have more entries.
By Tim Hampson
AMRA, St Albans, Third Edition 2003
ISBN 1-85249-184-1 Paperback £9.99
This is a slimmed down version of the 1999 edition with 184 fewer main entries, and no ‘try also’. Surely many of these pubs are still worthy of inclusion?
Although nicely produced, with good use of colour, arranging entries by British Tourist Authority areas is cumbersome. Ie. Oxfordshire appears in two places, as does Gloucestershire. The lack of index does not help.
For those pubs lucky enough to get in (only four for the whole of Oxfordshire) there are full descriptive entries. For the price it is still just about worth buying.
CAMRA, St Albans, Second Edition 2003
ISBN 1-85249-191-4 Paperback £2.50
A must for anyone interested in visiting Britain’s true heritage pubs. There are over 60,000 pubs in the United Kingdom. The number whose interiors might be considered of outstanding heritage interest has dwindled to fewer than 250, and safeguarding what is now left of the nation’s pub heritage has become a very serious conservation challenge. The National Inventory is CAMRA’s pioneering initiative for bringing greater recognition and protection to Britain’s most priceless historic pubs. The introduction contains a wealth of background information. The pubs are listed by county and then by place. In Oxfordshire we have The Fox, Bix (Closed for repairs at present), Peyton Arms at Stoke Row, and The Red Lion at Stoke Talmage.