Oxford The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain

Pubs have been at the heart of Britain for hundreds of years.

Cheers, mucker.

In city taverns...

..and village inns...

..landlords have pulled pints for locals, travellers

and, well, the odd king or two, myself included.

Try and have a drink now.

LAUGHTER

But with 30 pubs closing every week, our historic taverns need defending.

Step. Step.

We're heading out to discover amazing stories

linked to the nation's watering holes.

-Not far to go.

-How far?

-Oh, a couple of miles.

-What?!

From the Wars of the Roses...

..to shipbuilding on the Clyde,

we've ditched our bikes so that we can sample an ale or two.

Get in!

-This is very good.

-THEY LAUGH

So, join us for...

Oxford - the city of dreaming spires.

For centuries, it's been a mecca for some of the greatest literary minds.

Some of Britain's best-loved authors have enjoyed nothing more

than a pint in a pub as a reward for a hard day's writing.

And in Oxford, that's definitely the case.

Welcome to Oxford, the birthplace of this -

-the Oxford English Dictionary.

-Thank you.

Now, the complete work has 59 million words in it,

but I, at the minute, am just interested in one -

how Dave here would describe Oxford.

Well, it's simply pulsating with literature and history.

Isn't it, Si?

-It is. That was very well put, that, mate.

-Thank you.

I, however, am interested in just two.

Here. Public and house.

Because the pubs, apparently, in Oxford,

are some of the oldest in Britain

and each one of them has got a story to tell.

And that's talking our kind of history. Come on.

Oxford has the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

It predates its illustrious rival Cambridge by around 100 years

and has been home to some of the world's most famous authors.

-What have you got there?

-I've got a guidebook.

And did you know that, in Oxford,

there are more published authors per square mile

-than anywhere else in the world?

-I did, funny enough.

-Oh, give over. You didn't.

-I did.

-You didn't.

Our Oxford pub crawl starts in the 1940s,

here at The Eagle and Child.

This pub was the local for a group of renowned authors.

'As a way of coping with the grim realities of World War II,

'they created a new brand of fantasy fiction.'

CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien hung out here regularly for 20 years.

Now, that's dedication.

Oh, brill.

Oh, look at this, mate.

-Oh, the snug - the heart of a pub.

-Yeah.

What a place to come and sit and toast your toes

-while you're thinking great thoughts.

-Oh, it's marvellous.

It's great, this, isn't it? It's like a proper boozer.

As well as being writers,

Tolkien and Lewis were both university fellows,

or dons as they're known at Cambridge and Oxford.

On Tuesdays, along with a group of their colleagues,

they would drop into The Eagle and Child

for a lunchtime pint.

Literary expert Dr Anna Caughey...

-Hello, Anna, I'm Dave.

-Hi.

..is here to tell us more.

Hi, how are you? Nice to see you.

-Hey, we love that snug. It's fab, isn't it?

-It's lovely.

-Hey, how old is the pub, Anna?

-Well, this has actually been a pub

since the middle of the 17th century.

And there was a famous bunch of chums who used to meet here,

-wasn't there?

-Absolutely.

A group of writers called The Inklings,

and they actually used to meet right in this room over here.

-Really?

-Ooh!

-I think we should go and stand

where great minds thought over a pint, Dave.

I have an inkling we should find out about The Inklings.

I think we should.

What a great idea.

Oh, hey, it's lovely, isn't it?

Here we are, stood in the presence of greatness.

Tell me, who were The Inklings?

The Inklings were a group of writers and academics.

They had quite a few different members,

but probably the most famous were CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien.

And they actually used to meet up in here from the 1930s

all the way through to the 1950s, have a bit of a pint and a chat

and talk about the books that they were writing.

I find it odd, you know, with the glittering spires of Oxford

and the most wonderful libraries and studies they must have had,

that they choose to think great thoughts,

to come and chat, in the pub.

-Such is the power, I suppose, of the pub.

-Absolutely.

I think this was a really nice, informal place for them to meet up -

a place that was away from the college

and perhaps away from the students as well.

These lunchtime get-togethers were pretty positive affairs

for Lewis and Tolkien.

Indeed. During the era that they drank here,

they wrote their two most famous post-war fantasies -

The Lord Of The Rings

and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

We know they did a lot of their best arguing here.

We know that it could get a little bit heated and intense at times,

and also that this is the space where CS Lewis

passed around the printer's proofs

of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe

-to his friends to read.

-BOTH:

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-Can you imagine being there for that?

-Yeah.

-What a special occasion.

-Mm-hm.

You'd be so, so, so cross if you spilt your pint on that.

Wouldn't you?

"Here, man, I've told you about that before, you clumsy oaf!"

If you look at their work,

pubs are actually a really important theme in both of their writing.

In the ending of The Lord Of The Rings,

in the books, when the hobbits go back to the Shire,

they actually find that Saruman has been wreaking havoc

and destroying the place.

One of the first things they notice is The Green Dragon Pub

has no food and no beer and all its windows are smashed.

It's actually a really, really sad scene

and it's Tolkien's way of representing

exactly how wrong things have gone.

Do you think that, with the pubs getting wrecked,

do you think that had anything to do with the war?

I think that's a big theme in both of their work,

and we know that, while they were meeting here in The Eagle and Child,

a lot of the time was while the war was actually going on.

I think that was a very stressful time for both of them.

It took from 1937 to '49 for Tolkien to write The Lord Of The Rings,

all while he was a regular here.

No doubt dreaming up his great characters and stories over a pint.

I've seen pictures of Tolkien and he does remind me of a hobbit.

I mean, do you think he would be offended by that?

Actually, I don't think he would've been offended at all.

In fact, would you like to hear what Tolkien had to say about himself?

-Yeah.

-Oh, very much, yeah.

-This is what he says.

He says, "I am, in fact, a hobbit in all but size.

"I like gardens, trees and un-mechanised farmlands.

"I smoke a pipe and like good, plain food,

"but detest French cooking."

So, I think he very much saw himself

as being a bit of a hobbit-like character.

I think he'd have agreed with you.

What a wonderful place for a hobbit to exist.

Lewis and Tolkien's fantasy stories are as popular today

as when they were first written.

The Lord Of The Rings' cult status

has even spawned a whole community of fantasy gamers.

These guys meet up regularly to play Warhammer Fantasy,

a tabletop war game.

It's a bit different to darts and pool,

but it just goes to show you

the ever-changing games you can play down the boozer.

Ooh, now, this looks interesting.

-Hello, chaps. ALL:

-Hello.

-Is this inspired by Tolkien?

-It is.

It is the next generation on from the books, you could say, really.

-It's a different slant on Tolkien.

-Cos I have a confession to make.

I used to play it in my early 20s

and I painted my figure and I was a...

What was I? I was a Bjornin.

You know, one of those shape changers.

'A Bjornin? It sounds like an ABBA tribute band.'

I'll have you know, I was really into it in my younger days.

This dice game allows the lads to really immerse themselves

in Tolkien's fantasy world.

Is this your way of escaping from reality?

-Yeah, it is.

-Absolutely.

Definitely. The real world, it's just too...

-Real.

-..real for me.

THEY LAUGH

There's two aspects - there's the social side

where we meet and we play each other,

but there's also the time we spend building and painting the models.

And does liquid refreshment play a part in...?

-It certainly does.

-Can we have a go?

-Yeah, no problem. Of course you can.

-Yeah.

-Step up.

The game involves miniature models being manoeuvred into battles

depending on, well, a roll of a dice.

Death to the Trolls! Death to the Trolls! Aargh!

-Ooh, one.

-So, is this castle ours?

'Ooh, you know what, Kingy? I think I could get into this.'

-You've got the help from the Eagles.

-Ah, the Eagles, yeah.

'And what better place to play than in Tolkien's local boozer?'

And how does it feel sitting here

playing where Tolkien used to sit and think and write?

I never thought I'd do it. It's like a dream come true.

-To be honest, this is where it all started.

-Yeah.

So, it's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Well, lads, I know from experience that this can take many, many hours,

so Dave and I are going to let the armies go.

-Have a great time.

-It's time for us to elf off.

-It is.

-Thanks, fellas, and thanks very much for your time.

-Thanks, guys.

-Bye.

I wonder what Tolkien would have made of that.

Hmm. A group of grown men playing with elves and orcs down the pub?

I think he would've approved.

-Phwoar!

-Well, that was fascinating, wasn't it?

It's true to say that the fantasy of Tolkien really does live on.

-Here's a bit of trivia for you.

-Crack on.

I think I'm right to say

that the only pub named after a Tolkien character

is called The Hobbit and it's in Southampton,

but they were having trouble with the licence fee

cos it costs a lot of dosh to call it The Hobbit.

So, two Hobbity characters, Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry,

stumped up the dosh for the licence fee.

-Magic!

-No, no, it was just cold, hard cash.

And that's not the only fascinating pub fact we have for you.

Oh, no.

Pub signs tell a story too,

and here are a few of our Oxford favourites.

The Chequers, just off the high street,

dates back to the 1500s.

The checked sign is a Roman symbol for a money changer,

and, you guessed it, it was the place used to house,

well, a moneylender.

Clever, isn't it?

The Grapes first opened its doors in 1820.

It's also named after a Roman tradition.

When a bunch of grapes was hung over the tavern door,

it meant that a new batch of wine was ready

and much merriment was to be had.

Then there's the Turf Tavern.

This place dates back to the 14th century

and its name reflects the venue's gambling history.

Top spot for a pint and a punt.

Hey, Dave, Oxford - what a fantastic place to be a student.

And a university don.

I'm going off to examine another great Oxford tradition

and to dabble a little bit more in the academic life.

-I've got an invitation like that.

-Are you punting?

No, I'm going in to see what the authors do

on the inside of these hallowed halls and colleges you see.

Anyway, don't fall in, mate.

'Don't you worry, Kingy.

'There are punting experts around these parts.'

Time for a stroll down some of Oxford's learned lanes.

The university has over 30 different colleges

and I'm heading to one with a rather strange name - Brasenose.

Now, here's an interesting fact.

If you were in trouble in medieval times,

you could knock on the door of a college

and be given sanctuary, much the same as you could in a church.

That meant that you couldn't be accosted by the law.

Excellent.

Wow.

What a fantastic place to learn.

Brasenose College was founded in 1509

and used to have its own brewery

dedicated to producing ale for the students.

Sounds like my kind of college.

I'm here to meet archivist Georgie Edwards

and college steward Alan Bennett

to find out more about an ancient student beer-drinking ritual.

There's two people over there and I can smell beer. Marvellous.

These are the men and women I need to talk to. Hello, are you...?

-You're the archivist, Georgie. Is that right?

-Yes, hello.

-Georgie, hi. Very nice to meet you. I'm Si. Alan?

-Alan.

This is quite a special place.

I mean, it's a remarkable building, isn't it? Remarkable hall.

-So, what have we got here?

-It's a celebration beer

that is drank on Shrove Tuesday after dinner.

So, the beer would be drunk as a celebration on Shrove Tuesday.

The hall would be full of pupils and students of the college.

Of the college. And they all stand on the benches.

-There's over 120 people, 130 people in here.

-Wow.

And then the singing commences and the beer is passed around.

The ale is a specially-brewed concoction

using a mix of fruit and spices.

And it would be rude not to sample it.

So, ooh, what do we have in it?

Ooh, yeah, you can smell...

-Ooh, yes, you can smell the spice - star anise, ginger.

-Ginger.

-Ooh, cinnamon. Nice.

-Yeah.

-Mixed spice?

Mixed spice, stem ginger and star anise.

Yeah, and then, quite often, right at the end,

-I just pour in some more beer just to give it a head.

-I like you.

-Do you drink it, Georgie?

-Yeah.

-Where's yours, Alan?

-Mine's in here.

-THEY LAUGH

You see, rank has its privilege, doesn't it?

Well, I'm looking forward to this.

Mm.

-Nice?

-I can see the attraction, that's for sure.

-Mm, delicious.

Isn't it? I have to say,

it's the first beer I've ever had to chew.

THEY LAUGH

It's very pleasant, though.

Brasenose is a rather funny-sounding name

for such a prestigious college

and randomly, it all links back to a disappearing door knocker.

What's the story behind the knocker?

Basically, the college is named after the brazen nose,

-so brass nose.

-Brass nose.

The knocker in the hall behind us

-was brought to the college from Stamford in Lincolnshire...

-Right.

..where some students rebelled to.

You mean they nicked it. That's outrageous behaviour.

'Students today nick traffic cones. Back then, it was a door knocker.'

So, this is what the college is named after -

the Brasenose Knocker.

Amazing.

I'm drinking beer in a really nice hall

looking at a brass knocker

and he's out in the freezing cold in the wet punting.

You'll have to send him some.

He can get lost. THEY LAUGH

Well, Kingy, while you're sampling ale,

I'm taking a punt on Rob Walters, Oxford city tour guide and writer.

-Hello, Rob. I'm Dave.

-Hello, Dave.

-Nice to meet you.

-You too.

'Punting along the river is the quintessential leisure activity

'for any self-respecting Oxford University don.'

Oh!

-This is a gentlemanly way to travel, isn't it?

-It is.

Well, you can keep Venice. I've been wanting to do this for ages.

When did punting start in Oxford, Rob?

Well, it's been going a long time. Originally, it wasn't for pleasure.

It was for work. Shooting pigeons and ducks and so on on the water.

All sorts of things like that.

But about 1860-ish, it began to be used as pleasure.

It wouldn't be Oxford

if our trip didn't tie in with a famous author.

It was whilst rowing on the River Isis

that another of the city's literary giants, Lewis Carroll,

told a rather tall tale to a ten-year-old Alice Liddell.

This tale would be transformed into the classic

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.

But not all stories of punting are suitable for children's ears.

There must have been some sites to see

-going down the river on a sunny day.

-Yeah, yeah.

Well, there was a place up the river from where we are now

called Parson's Pleasure.

-In the past, before 1878...

-Yeah.

..all of the dons of the colleges were actually ordained priests.

-They were all parsons.

-Right.

-And this is where they bathed nude.

-Normally, ladies didn't go by.

-No.

Anyway, one day, the dons were bathing there naked

and a party of ladies did come by.

A great shout went up. "Ladies ahoy!"

So, all the dons picked up their towels and covered themselves

except for one, who put his towel over his head.

-HE CHUCKLES

-The ladies went by

and they said to him afterwards,

"What the devil did you do that for?"

And he said, "Well, they won't recognise me, will they?"

HE LAUGHS

'Well, I promise to try and remain decent

'as I attempt a bit of punting myself.'

Bringing the pole up, keeping the pole straight.

Oh, that's better.

-I feel quite noble.

-ROB CHUCKLES

-It's long, isn't it?

-Very good. Plenty of energy.

Can you imagine, though, the summer,

where you've got your lady there in her diaphanous garments?

You've met at the May Ball.

You're punting down the river looking for a river bank to picnic,

maybe have that first chaste kiss and plan your life together,

having children.

You know, it's the future, isn't it?

You paint a lovely picture.

Do you know what? I think I better hand over the power, as it were.

-No problem.

-Oh, that's it.

-You go first.

I must say, Rob, I've got my best bib and tucker on

and it's starting to pour.

I think we better go back.

I think that would be a very good idea.

-Shall we go to the pub?

-Yes, to the pub.

-To the pub.

Great idea, mucker, but Oxford pubs haven't always provided sanctuary.

Back in 1355, in a city tavern,

a dispute between two students and the landlord

over the quality of their wine led to a full-blown riot.

For two days, town fought gown

and 93 were killed in the Saint Scholastica Day riot.

Thankfully, students and townsfolk mix much more harmoniously

down the boozer these days.

And, Kingy, I reckon it's time to meet

some locals who love their local.

Historically, most people lived outside the city walls

and pubs like The Old Bookbinders Ale House

served the working man.

Opened in 1869 in the suburb of Jericho,

it's one of the area's few surviving boozers.

Three years ago, it briefly closed,

until it was rescued by the Sadones family,

including son and mum Josh and Jacky.

It's one-of-a-kind.

You don't really get pubs like this so much,

especially not in Oxford now.

It was built in 1869.

It has the feel of a nice, traditional pub. A pub of old.

It really does feel like it belongs back when it was built.

We run it as a family pub.

We invite people with their dogs, with their children,

and I think that's really important -

to, you know...for people to be able to go somewhere

where they can feel comfortable.

People like Jimmy.

He's been a regular for nearly 40 years

and certainly doesn't have far to come.

I live immediately next door. Ten yards.

-If I laid down, I'd be halfway home.

-HE LAUGHS

This pub is the best one around, without a doubt.

I mean, you had such a choice 20, 30 years ago.

There was a pub on every corner.

But they've all vanished, I'm afraid.

Most of the pubs are closing wholesale, aren't they? Every week.

The name of the pub comes from the University Press.

It's just a publishing house now,

but they used to do bookbinding and everything there.

You know, printing.

The pub served the workers

of the neighbouring University Press for generations

and Jimmy, for one, is nuts about the place.

See what I did there?

Do you want me to take a handful out like this and show you?

There they go. And they're free. Help yourself.

That's definitely a one-off.

I've never seen that in any pub before. No.

Back on our tour of Oxford's literary pubs,

we're jumping ahead a few decades to the 1980s.

And it wouldn't be an Oxford alehouse

if there wasn't a connection to a famous author.

Here's one for you, Kingy.

One of the greatest characters in modern fiction visited this pub,

and he was on the telly.

Oh, did he, now? Who was it, then?

Well, to find out, you're going to have to do a bit of detective work.

-Oh. That was a clue, that, wasn't it? That was a clue.

-Maybe.

That was definitely a clue.

'The Bear Inn, right in the city centre,

'is Oxford's oldest pub.'

Established in 1242, it's certainly a quirky boozer.

Oh, wow. Kingy, look, there's thousands of ties.

-Thousands of them.

-Good, isn't it?

-Look at the ceiling.

Around 5,000 ties line the walls.

The collection was started in the '50s by the landlord,

who snipped customers' ties in exchange for beer.

Sounds like a fair swap to me, old son.

-What a fantastic collection.

-It is, isn't it?

'Yeah, let's hope manager James has forgotten his scissors today.'

-Hello, James.

-How are you?

-Dave. Nice to see you.

Now, James, we're slightly worried about our ties.

You're not going to attack us with a pair of scissors, are you?

Well, we don't tend to any more,

unless it's a really good tie on a celebrity, in which case, we might.

So, how does it work, the tie thing here?

Well, the landlord, in 1952,

started collecting ties from the local sports clubs and universities

-and he used to exchange a snip of tie for a bit of beer.

-Right.

And it started off locally and it moved on

and it's now from all over the world.

-It's now about 5,000.

-Well, you could do Kingy's.

Come on. You could get some free beer.

-I can just pay for it like everybody else.

-No, no. No, no.

-It's not up to much anyway. It's boring. Come on.

-Get off.

-What do you mean? Here.

-Oh, you're having a laugh, aren't you?

'This is my kind of tradition.'

-There you go.

-Marvellous. Thank you very much.

-You did it.

'It's not you getting your tie vandalised, is it?'

What are you worried about? Free beer!

Right, you. I want my half pint.

'Now, Kingy, answer my earlier question -

'which fictional character visited this pub?

'Hmm. A quirky Oxford boozer, and I had to do some detective work?

'Well, it's got to be Inspector Morse.'

Correctamundo.

The creator of the Morse books, Colin Dexter,

supped regularly at The Bear.

He even set a scene in one of his Morse novels right here.

Unfortunately, Colin isn't able to meet us at the pub.

But Inspector Morse Society founder, Antony Richards, could.

-Hello, nice to meet you.

-I'm Dave. Nice to meet you.

-I'm Si.

-Nice to meet you too. Hi, Si.

Antony, is it fair to say that Colin Dexter loved pubs?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, as far as Chief Inspector Morse

and his creator, Colin Dexter, were concerned,

with their taste for pubs and alcohol, they're one and the same.

In fact, if you read the Inspector Morse books,

there has to be a quota of at least ten pints per book, you'll find.

So, really, pubs played an integral part in plots and...

-So, he didn't just come here for the beer, did he?

-Oh, no, no.

The theory goes that he was a great, avid listener to The Archers.

He'd listen to that, then afterwards,

he'd come down to town, go to a pub or two, sit there,

watch the characters and so on, write some notes,

perhaps write a page of a book per day.

He always said, "A page of a book per day -

"at the end of the year, you've got your novel."

Colin Dexter wrote 13 Inspector Morse novels in total.

And John Thaw's portrayal of the character

is one of the most iconic in television history.

-So, did Morse actually ever come to this pub?

-He did, yes.

A very famous example in one of the latter books

called Death Is Now My Neighbour.

He came here. He had a clue.

There was a death at Bloxham Drive

and the only clue was a photograph of a person

wearing a rather splendid tie.

Could've been a sports tie, a military tie,

club association tie.

And, of course, as I think you know,

this place has 5,000 of them

all over the place - on the ceilings, on the walls and so on.

So, Morse decides to come here

to see if he can match up the tie in the photograph

to the tie in the pub.

-He comes here to look for the ties.

-Yeah.

-The pub's closed at the time.

He knocks on the door.

He gets the poor landlady out at 10.20 in the morning.

In fact, let me read you the extract.

He looks around here for 25 minutes, bemoans the fact

that Lewis isn't here.

And then, the young lady Sonya, who's the landlady, comes back.

Morse shows him the photograph and she says,

"Is that the one you're looking at?"

"Morse nodded. 'That's it.'

" 'But I can tell you where you can find that.'

" 'You can?'

"Morse's eyes were suddenly wide, his mouth suddenly dry.

" 'Yep!

" 'I was looking for a tie for Steve's birthday

" 'and you'll find one just like that

" 'on the tie-rack in Marks and Spencer's.' "

HE LAUGHS So, the tradition of this

-is just fantastic, isn't it?

-Indeed.

-I mean, Oxford's all about tradition.

-Yes.

I mean, you're in the oldest pub -

1242 or thereabouts.

I wonder if we could find Colin Dexter's tie.

Well, I don't think it's here, but I'll tell you what.

Colin couldn't be here today, but he did leave a little gift for you.

Now, I know you, as personalities and stars and so on,

you probably have your photographs that you give people.

Well, Oxford, being very traditional and old,

they don't have photographs of their stars.

They have oil paintings of them.

-So, Collin signed an oil painting for each of you.

-Oh, wow!

And he put on the back Morse's first law.

And if you don't know what Morse's first law is,

it's, "There's always time for another pint."

-BOTH:

-Hey!

-Oh, that's wonderful.

-Oh, fantastic.

-Oh, that is wonderful. Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

We'll treasure that.

And, please, when you see Colin,

-please give him our regards and wish him well.

-Oh, I will do.

Well, it's a great treat and a very special gift.

-Thank you very much.

-Pleasure.

-Thank you.

'What a fitting end to our Oxford pub crawl.

'It's time for us to get on our bikes.

'I think I prefer the ones we normally ride.

'You know, with an engine and that. This is too much like hard work.

'Come on, Kingy.

'We're just like those carefree Oxford students

'or learned Oxford dons.'

-Here, Dave.

-What?

-Do you know where we're going?

-Oh, yes. Cambridge.

-Oops!

-You lying toad. Aargh!