Out and about in Oxfordshire

Back in September, I travelled to Oxfordshire using the recent addition to Stagecoach bus service the 835. I originally wanted to go to Swindon, but at the last minute I noticed a bus to Oxford appear on the horizon. Service 835, used to be operated by Pullhams coaches, which I used a couple of times to travel to Witney. There has been a lot of chopping and changing of bus services in my locality, over the last few years. Normally I would buy an Explorer ticket that covers the whole of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and parts of Wiltshire. The Oxford service has a different system, so I bought a Day gold, I'm glad I did because a day return would have been quite restricting. I decided to take my “proper camera” which has had little use this year. 

The Day gold ticket enables the passenger to travel to many areas of Oxfordshire. The 835 travels to Oxford Via the A40, it passes the Burford roundabout and travels through Witney to get to Oxford. On my first journey using this service, I stayed on the bus until it reached Oxford, the only downside of this service, is that it is infrequent.

As the bus arrived in Oxford, I noticed a picturesque looking pub in dappled sunlight, so I gingerly crossed the road to photograph it. I googled some information about the pub, which I frequently do to pass the time whilst on long bus journeys, and walking around seldom visited places. The Eagle and Child has a distinguished history, apparently C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien used to visit. The pub is closed at the moment, but with such a unique history, I'm sure it won't be long before it reopens. 

The Eagle and Child, Oxford

Walking further into the centre of Oxford, it soon became apparent that they take social distancing and mask wearing quite seriously. I guess they need to, with so many buildings in close proximity to each other! After attempting to photograph a few pubs, I decided that the centre of Oxford, might not be the safest place for a photographic expedition, so I limited the amount of time I was there. Quite a few of the pubs in Oxford have tables and chairs in the street, some of the streets are closed off at the moment. One of the pubs I managed to photograph was The Plough at 38, it has recently re-opened, after being closed for 95 years. For many years, the building was occupied by Austin Reed, until they went into administration. It really is heart-warming, to have some positive news about the hospitality industry in the current climate.

The Plough at 38, Oxford

Another pub that I photographed was The Red Lion, a rather splendid curved building, with a traditional pub exterior, I really enjoy photographing this type of pub. I ventured as far as the internal entrance, to have a swift half, but I was a little deterred because of the rigmarole you had to go through, just to buy a drink, so I decided against it. On reflection, they were probably right to take all these precautions. I tried to take some more photos of the pub, but the sun did a disappearing act. Normally, I try to take photographs of pubs without people in the foreground, but the best photo I took, had a lady wearing a mask. As this is an important historical time we are living in, the photo represents an interesting record of the events of 2020

The Red Lion, Oxford

It was quite a few hours to wait for the bus back to Gloucestershire, so I caught the S1 bus service to Witney. On the journey out of Oxford, I noticed a large pub called The Seacourt Bridge, which is in Botley. I googled it and discovered that It was the last remaining pub in Botley. At this point I didn't get off the bus to photograph it. The bus continued to Eynsham, passing a roadside pub called The Talbot Inn, which looked picturesque with the sun upon it. But I stayed on the bus, until it reached Eynsham village. I immediately got off, and caught the bus on the opposite side of the road, heading back to Oxford.

The Talbot Inn, Eynsham

It was a short journey, because I got off at the Talbot Inn to photograph it. I also went inside to have a much needed drink. The Talbot is an Arkells 3 star hotel and pub, with picturesque views of the River Thames. I sat outside and gazed at the river for quite some time, it was quite relaxing. I then caught the bus back to Oxford, to photograph The Seacort Bridge. From the photos I have seen of the interior of the pub, it looks quite impressive with it's traditional bar and stained glass embellishments above it. I didn't go in, because it is not really my kind of pub – it is family orientated, so it would have been a little shall we say, noisy! The photographs I took of the pub, had every element of clutter imaginable – including an electricity pylon in the background! I did manage to cut out the bus stop in front of the pub though.

The Seacourt Bridge, Botley

After this amusing interlude, I caught the S1 to Witney, but got off at Eynsham village again, to have a look around. It is quite a pleasant place, but like Oxford they were taking social distancing quite seriously. I took a few photos of The Red Lion (which was closed at that point) and The Jolly Sportsman, which has a traditional exterior. Unfortately the photos I took were not that good, so I have omitted them from this post. I would have liked to have called in for a drink, but I wanted to make the most of the time I had left, and the light that was available.

The Red Lion, Eynsham

Time was getting on, but there was still quite a long wait for the 835, so I travelled back to Witney and caught the bus to Woodstock. This is the beauty of purchasing such a versatile bus ticket, you can cover quite a lot of ground in one day, and you can plan another journey, whilst you're travelling on the bus, driving through yet to be discovered areas. On the journey to Woodstock, I passed a few interesting looking pubs – The Masons Arms in North Leigh, and The White House in Bladon. I stayed on the bus, had a brief glimpse of Woodstock, and travelled back to Witney again. A while later, I caught the bus back to Gloucestershire, whilst planning a return trip to Oxfordshire.