The Blue Boar, Abingdon

Official site of The Blue Boar - blueboarlongworth.com

Official site of The Blue Boar - blueboarlongworth.com

An attractive thatched pub that looks very much the quintessential country inn, I had been looking forward to trying this since briefly stopping to photograph it a few months back. Although fairly quiet as might be expected on a midweek lunchtime, there were a few locals in propping up the bar and it struck me as an excellent local pub. The rustic charm continues inside although it has perhaps had a bit of a makeover at some point. It’s a large pub divided in to two halves, and whilst some tables were laid up for food, there doesn’t obviously appear to be a “dining half”. The bar to the left is a cosy affair with a red tiled floor, a salmon colour scheme and a log fire blazing away which was a pleasant touch on a cold February lunchtime. The bar to the right was similarly cosy, but had large pale flag stones on the floor and a lemon colour scheme along with a wood burning stove. The front wall was exposed stone and there was a large collection of skis on the ceiling, including some that looked to be antiques. There were plenty of old drawings on the wall, and many of these appeared to be old Guinness adverts, and continuing the beer theme there were hops strung from many of the ceiling beams. Appropriately enough given the pub’s name, there was a boar’s head mounted next to the bar, although it appeared to be from a black animal rather than a blue one. An extensive menu was chalked up on a board, although we didn’t sample the food on this occasion. Beers on tap were Breakspear’s Bitter and Oxford Gold along with Doom Bar. The solitary cider was Thatcher’s Gold. Well worth the short detour off the A420 to check it out.