Ticking a few Donnington pubs by bike - Pt. One

In my most recent post I explored the prospect of a trip to the Cotswolds, with the aim of visiting a few of the pubs that make up the Donnington Brewery tied estate. This trip wouldn’t be the first that I’ve made to this idyllic area of England, but it would only be the second, and with a gap of four decades since my original visit to the area, it’s worth travelling back in time to the 1980’s, and taking a nostalgic look back at what I encountered.

In June 1983 the previous Mrs Bailey and I embarked on a cycling holiday in the Cotswolds. The aim was to cycle round as many pubs as possible, that belonged to the local Donnington Brewery. We were both keen cyclists, at the time, although our enthusiasm was pushed to the limit by the many hills in the region. This explains why, despite the best of intentions, we only managed to tick off eight Donnington pubs from a total of 17 pubs.

First, a bit of background information, to help set the scene. The Donnington Brewery is situated just outside the town of Stow-on-the-Wold, hidden in a fold in the Cotswold Hills, and is housed in a converted mill, complete with its own trout lake. Without a doubt, this
setting makes Donnington the most picturesque brewery of its kind anywhere in the UK.  The brewery itself came into being in 1865, but the mill buildings which house it are considerably older, Today, the mill house functions as part of the brewery. The mill wheel is still in use to power some of the machinery, whilst the water, or "liquor", for brewing is drawn from a spring beside the mill pond, making the entire operation as a true survivor from a bygone age.

Two draught beers are produced, all of them good, and claimed by the brewery to be brewed from recipes that have remained unchanged over many years. Both beers are bitters and are well received both locally and by visitors from further afield. I make this last point, as it is necessary to travel to the Cotswolds in order to sample the beers as, apart from a very local and somewhat restricted free trade, they can only usually be obtained in the company’s 17 tied pubs. Back in the 1980’s, a dark mild was also brewed, but this was discontinued many years ago, due to poor sales.

At the time of our cycling holiday the brewery was privately owned by Mr Claude Arkell, grandson of the brewery's founder. Claude sadly died in 2007, and control of the Donnington Brewery passed to his cousins Peter and James Arkell, who have their own family-owned brewery, Arkell’s of Swindon. The latter is a reasonably sized concern owning around 80 pubs. Following their acquisition of Donnington Brewery, the cousins stated they would keep things much as they were at Donnington, and so far, have stayed true to their word. There have been a few improvements as well, the main one being the commencement of brewery tours, an activity that Claude claimed there was never time, or indeed room for. (Note to self, book a place on one of these tours!)

The idea for this holiday came from a friend who had spent a year working in Gloucestershire, as part of his horticultural studies course. The beauty of the local area, left him with the thought of taking a holiday, cycling around all the Donnington pubs in that part of the county. As with many of the dreams we all have from time to time, my friend never got round to even starting out on such a trip, but inspired by what seemed an excellent idea, I drew up plans for a Donnington tour of my own, as soon as time and finances allowed.

I managed to sell the idea to my then wife, who was keen to give it a try, and after looking at what was involved, we both booked a week off in June from our respective jobs and set about planning the trip. Early on in the process, we concluded that our finances would not permit the luxury of bed and breakfast accommodation, so decided that camping would be the next best alternative, so prior to our planned departure date, we dusted off our camping equipment, sorted out the tent, and along with our bikes loaded it all into the back of our Mark II Ford Escort Estate, and set off for the Cotswolds.

We headed for Stow-on-the-Wold, as the area surrounding the town is where the majority of Donnington pubs are concentrated. We would also be looking at suitable campsites.  People forget that in the days before the internet, a letter of phone call was the only means of contacting businesses offering accommodation, but you had to find these operators in the first place. In a way, we were flying blind, but being full of youthful optimism, we were confident of finding a campsite close to the town.

As events were to prove, our confidence was rather misguided, and we had the great difficulty in finding a suitable place to pitch our tent. The journey to the Cotswolds was uneventful, and we stopped for lunch at the Six Bells at Warborough, an attractive looking Brakspear’s pub, complete with a thatched roof. We then carried on to the picturesque town of Burford, where we located the local office of the English Tourist Board. This surely was the place to help us locate a campsite.

It might well have been, had it been open, but to find the office closed on a Saturday afternoon, in a popular tourist town in the middle of one of the most picturesque regions of Britain, seemed unbelievable. We’d been banking on being direct us to the nearest campsite, but undeterred we carried on to our final destination, Stow-on-the-Wold (where the wind blows cold). After parking the car, we again made our way to the English Tourist Board office, only to find that it too was closed. Enquiries in the town informed us that camping was available at a nearby pub, the New Inn at Nether Westcote. 

The campsite was in the grounds of the pub and although rather basic, was, under the circumstances, most welcome. In the New Inn that evening, we enjoyed a couple of pints of the late and much lamented Morrells Bitter with our meal, before walking up to the Merrymouth Inn at nearby Fifield. This was the first Donnington pub on the itinerary and gave us the chance to sample both the company's BB and SBA bitters. (Spoiler alert: the pub no longer belongs to Donnington, and now operates as a free house).

The following morning, we cycled into Stow where, despite it being a Sunday, we were able to do some shopping. We then set off to cycle to the rather isolated village of Ford, where we intended to have lunch at the local pub. The Plough at Ford had been recommended by a work colleague from, who had enjoyed a long weekend break there, the previous year. En route to the Plough we decided to make a slight detour and take a look at the Donnington Brewery itself.

Unfortunately, this was not that easy, as the brewery is situated down a private road, close to Donnington village. Despite the picture postcard setting, visitors were not welcome, primarily because they would end up over-running the place. Leaving my wife at the top of the lane, I sneaked down as far as I dared and managed to obtain a few photos of the back of the brewery but was unable to get the classic shots from across the lake that I really wanted.

We resumed our journey towards Ford, a distance of some six miles or so, through some very pleasant countryside, and found the Plough Inn, located on a bend in the middle of this tiny hamlet. The Plough claims to be one of the oldest inns in England; its cellar having formerly served as a jail. With bare walls, of Cotswold stone, and low-beamed ceilings it looked every bit the part, but being a fine day we sat outside in the garden. Here, we enjoyed a good bread and cheese lunch, washed down with a couple of pints of Donnington’s SBA. That evening we visited our third Donnington pub, the Queens Head in Stow-on-the-Wold itself. The food was good here as was the pub, and for the first time on that trip, we were able to sample the now discontinued XXX Mild.

The following day saw us undertaking a longer cycle ride, to the village of Hook Norton, in neighbouring Oxfordshire. En route we stopped off in the busy market town of Chipping Norton, primarily to stock up on provisions, but also to try beer from Halls Brewery for the first, and, as it happened, last time. Halls were a brewery, based in Oxford, that had been taken over, by Ind Coope, a decade or so previously. As is usually the case with such take-overs the brewery was closed, and the Halls name disappeared.

Following the general revival of local beers that took place during the early 1980’s, the Hall’s name was resurrected as part of Allied Breweries move towards decentralisation, and a beer called Harvest Bitter, brewed at the Ind Coope Brewery in Burton-on-Trent introduced to appeal to local tastes. It was not long though before the policy providing local beers was reversed, and the Halls name once again vanished.

Suitably stocked up, and refreshed, we continued our journey. The ride took us through some very pleasant and undulating scenery, in short, the English countryside at its best. Before too long we arrived in the village of Hook Norton which, as all beer lovers know, is home to a renowned brewery of the same name. The Pear Tree, in the village centre, served some very acceptable, as well as cheap, pints of Hook Norton Mild and Bitter. After our long cycle ride they were just the ticket, as was the more solid refreshment they helped to wash down. 

Before leaving the village, we cycled up the lane leading to the brewery itself. This time there were no signs warning visitors off, and we were able to see the impressive tower brewery, designed by the famed 19th century brewery architect, William Bradford, in all its glory. From the brow of a hill, on our way back to the campsite, we were rewarded with a splendid view of the brewery from across the fields. The setting was just perfect; a fine, but rare, example of a working country brewery.

By the time we arrived back in Stow, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, becoming cold and windy. This made cycling hard work, and we were both glad of the shelter and relative warmth of the tent for a couple of hours, when we arrived back at the campsite. To be continued.......

Footnote: given that the events described in this narrative took place 40 years ago, there are obviously, no contemporary digital photographs available. Somewhere, in the various boxes and folder of photos, tucked away in a cupboard at home, there must be some decent images, taken on my old and trusty Pentax, SLR. If I find them, they will need to be scanned, prior to uploading, and that would be a project, in itself.

Consequently, I have selected a few “free to use” images from the net, along with a few I stumbled across on brewery websites – surely the breweries concerned won’t mind a bit of free publicity.

If, the owner of any of the images reproduced on this post, has any objections to their use, please get in touch and I will take them down, straight away.