The Good Beer
Guide says this: "Located as it is between Christ
Church and Oriel Colleges, the Bear tends to be well
frequented by students - especially of the rugby playing,
beer drinking type! It is famous for a unique collection
of about five thousand university, regimental and
sports club ties which hang in glass cases from the
walls and ceilings. Reputedly built over a bear pit
in 1242, the pub is one of the oldest in Oxford and
it still retains its old fashioned, cozy charm."
Not a bad little
summary. It was certainly cozy, with small doorways
and two small rooms, one by the bar and one in the
back. Either one would work well, or maybe I am just
saying that because we missed out on the nice table
by the fire to two tourists. There is a claim that
the pub was built over an old bear pit, but by now
you must be learning how these pubs names were developed,
sometimes strictly adhering to historical accuracy,
and sometimes more or less randomly picking names
out of the air. The Turf Tavern also claims to be
the oldest in Oxford, so to hedge our bets, we visited
both.
We thought it
very pleasant that the nice young man that had directed
around the refectory at the nearby college turned
up drinking a swift pint in the Bear. In the midst
of a tourist town, here was a local pub being shared
by locals and the occasional tourist. Incidentally,
the tie collection is well worth seeing.
The Adnams beer
was excellent and smooth, and the more I had, the
better it got! Maybe the company improved it too,
since my sister Victoria and her young man Giles joined
us for a swift half. I always say that beer can be
influenced by the 'Wine Effect' by which moderate
stuff becomes wonderful in good and convivial company.
In this case however, no matter how good the company,
I believe the beer was actually excellent.
The Oxford pub
scene was dominated for several years by the last
surviving brewer to be found here, Morrells, founded
in 1782 and almost wiped out a few of years ago, when
the directors kicked out the long-time owners, Charles
& Margie Eld. With CAMRA and thousands of beer-loving
Oxford students behind them, Charles & Margie
promptly attempted to buy the company back and kick
out the directors.
That's how the
story goes. Somehow you picture a white-haired Charles
waving his walking stick at a bunch of balding managers
and slamming the door behind them, with Margie swinging
her handbag with abandon.
What actually
happened? Not entirely clear. But Charles has also
invested millions in Nanox Ltd., a company that produces
and commercializes nanocrystalline materials for applications
in a wide range of industrial markets. The world market
for nanomaterials is valued at $10billion. He moved
away to Staffordshire. This was no Ma & Pa operation.
Morrells beer is now being brewed by the Dorset-based
brewery Thomas Hardy.
Do not go looking
for the pub by car, though, as parking is impossible,
or expensive, but usually both.
Just a little
way from here is the Oxford canal, a canal that Oxford
almost did not have. The original plans called for
a contoured canal (winding according to the lay of
the land rather than a canal with deep cuttings, embankments
and locks) to link Coventry with Oxford, a distance
of 77 miles. This winding style favored by the famous
engineer James Brindley was theoretically cheaper
and certainly fitted within the bounds of the available
engineering technology, but was an inherently slow
method of getting from A to B and you could just about
forget about ever getting to C. Indeed, it was said
that a boatman could travel for a day within the sound
of Brinklow’s church bells. There is no complete
explanation for this winding line, because Brindley
had not clung quite so tightly to contours in earlier
canals. It appears that the route was forced on the
company because of budgetary constraints, engineering
skill, and several protests by local landowners. Among
their concerns, 'the inroads of bargemen', presumably
meaning tradesmen seeking sustenance and company after
a day on the canal. With hindsight, a straight, expensive
canal would have been better for the company and probably
for Oxford too.
Anyway, ground
was broken in 1769, and Brindley, engineer and promoter,
promptly died. In his absence, they reached Fenny
Compton by 1776 and Cropredy by 1777. Banbury Wharf
was reached in 1778. It had taken nine years for the
construction project to reach Banbury, and then the
money ran out, which is what happens when you budget
£3 million and spent £12 million. For
twelve years the Coventry to Oxford Canal was the
Coventry to Banbury Canal.
By the time the
canal finally reached Oxford in 1790, the canal industry
had changed dramatically. The Grand Union Canal was
now a wider, faster, straighter run north from London,
and the threat of competition from trains had begun.
The Oxford Canal operated with financial success for
the first half of the 1800’s, but then fell
into disrepair. Today, with its tortuous meandering
about the Oxfordshire countryside and the cheap-at-the-time-but-picturesque-now
lift bridges, it has become prosperous again through
the tourist trade.
The canal is busy
now with converted canal barges rented by families,
plying up and down the Oxford Canal. These boats,
some up to 70 feet in length, are a pleasure to navigate,
and a week on board chugging along at 3 miles an hour,
with your family helping negotiate flights of locks
and frequent cups of tea, well, it can just about
put your head back on straight.