The Butchers Arms, Headington, Oxford

This is a late 19th century pub, for which the term ‘backstreet’ doesn’t do it justice as you won’t have a hope of finding it without knowing about it and then only with the help of a map, albeit a bossy speaking one on my phone. A Fuller’s house, this place has undergone a bit of trendy modernisation recently, with a turquoise, white and grey colour scheme, a simple wooden mirrored bar back, a plain boarded floor with slightly modern traditional furniture. There’s a rough stone chimneybreast with real log fire, décor amounting to assorted framed prints, pump clips and an array of mounted and framed pump handles. Customers were young and probably students, mainly seated in the attractive rear garden. Ales amounted to the obligatory London Pride, then Hophead (off) and Big Smoke Solaris, an utterly bland beer at £2.50 a half, served by a friendly barmaid. Despite the nods to modernity, this is still well worth a butcher’s, making for a good triple with the White Hart and Masons.

You wouldn't know this off the beaten track Fuller's boozer existed, what with its distance to Headington's main arteries and location within narrow residential streets, but it's a good 'un and was certainly "fuller" than the Black Boy on Sunday afternoon. A long rectangular room with a forward facing bar on entry. The floor is bare-boarded and there's plenty of seating options either side of the bar. A tiny beer garden / patio is located to the far-left. As expected, Fuller's beers predominate with London Pride (x2), ESB and Dark Star Hophead (with two further pumps unclipped). They obviously get guests beers in as there were a proliferation of pump clips on the walls throughout the pub. There's also some Fuller's-based breweriana dotted around the walls as well as some nice framed photos of Old Headington. A grouchy, old pub car is another feature complaining to me when I took a trip to the Gents. Fuller's beers aren't for everyone, but this is well worth a visit if you're planning on doing a Headington crawl.

Official site of The Butchers Arms - www.butchersarmsoxford.co.uk

Official site of The Butchers Arms - www.butchersarmsoxford.co.uk

Hard-to-find backstreet Fullers outlet on the border of Nuffield hospital. A bit modern inside, coffee and mocha colour scheme plus double-glazing, still a very unusual feature in pubs. Board games, basic rear patio, food. Five pumps with an unusually good choice: Pride, Brithop (fair), Seafarers, Spring Sprinter with a guest Castle Rock Black, unavailable. Decent enough local.