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          CAFES, BARS & CLUBS
        
        
          The Victoria is a traditional tavern with two real
        
        
          ales on tap and a real fire. It serves up simple
        
        
          but tasty pub food and a heated garden which is
        
        
          perfect for those brisk evenings when the sun’s
        
        
          still up but the temperature isn’t. Step into the
        
        
          heated beer garden and you’ll be greeted by the
        
        
          scent of wisteria and jasmine blooms. There’s also
        
        
          a front terrace which forms the perfect to watch
        
        
          the world go by. The Victoria loves real ale and
        
        
          firmly believes that it should be served at its finest
        
        
          which is why they only have two pumps. The
        
        
          Victoria’s proprietors opened the bar in early 2008
        
        
          after many years tending bar at Raoul’s down
        
        
          the road. They’d always held a passion for the
        
        
          traditional British boozer and wanted to create a
        
        
          pub with great drinks that was a world away from
        
        
          brewery-owned chains which is why The Victoria
        
        
          bills itself as an ‘anti-gastro pub’.
        
        
          
            
              THE CROWN
            
          
        
        
        
          
            High Street Woodstock
          
        
        
          
            Oxfordshire, OX20 1TE
          
        
        
          
            01993 813339
          
        
        
        
          The Crown is a real ale pub with a British menu
        
        
          which once reputedly served as Shakespeare’s
        
        
          local haunt. Situated within a short stroll of
        
        
          Queens Street, Carfax Tower and High Street,
        
        
          this traditional pub has a unique character. It’s
        
        
          revered for its eclectic range of real ales and
        
        
          its quality pub food, all served with a generous
        
        
          measure of famous British hospitality. Beers from
        
        
          the west coast of America, Belgium and Scotland
        
        
          are available along with cider that’s nearer home –
        
        
          from the sparkling cider orchards of Herefordshire
        
        
          and Somerset. The Crown has had a succession
        
        
          of famous landlords; in the year of the Gunpowder
        
        
          Plot it was kept by John Davenant and it was
        
        
          during this time Shakespeare paid his frequent
        
        
          visits to Oxford. The poet used to stop in the
        
        
          university town on his journeys between Stratford
        
        
          and London, and the Crown was believed to be
        
        
          his headquarters.
        
        
          
            
              THE VICTORIA