Monday 5 November 2012

Radnor Arms - Coleshill, Oxfordshire

Walking is a good recession friendly activity, and apparently good for the back. In November it can be cold though, and particularly tough work after a 6-months break. The sun also has an annoying habit of disappearing at around 4.00pm, making the last mile or so a relative sprint.
With chilled hands, but a hot face, the furnace level heat from the Radnor Arms was very welcome. A small pub in the tiny village of Coleshill some 20-miles west of Oxford, and surrounded on all sides by National Trust farmland, the Radnor has won numerous awards, including CAMRA Central Southern Pub of the Year 2011. Ads from ales and cigarettes of yesteryear adorn the walls, the special board sounds inviting (although not available at lunchtimes), and the beer on tap is from a brewery so local it sits in the pub garden. 
The three solitary locals present informed informed us that it does get busy in the evenings - which I can well imagine - but we only stayed long enough to sample half an Anvil Ale (3.8%) and half a Sledgehammer (5.0%) from The Old Forge Brewery. The latter lived up to it's name - flavourful, bitter, and definitely carried the hints of coffee and chocolate I think mentioned in the notes.

It's a shame that many tourists (and residents) rarely leave the Oxford ring-road for anything other than Blenheim Palace. If they do Coleshill and the Radnor Arms should definitely make the list.

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