The Mad Hatter, Oxford

The building probably dates from the 1930s and was formerly the Morland offices as well as a pub; the façade features a rare Morland ceramic plaque, a stylised version of which can be seen on bottles and clips for OSH, if you ever buy the stuff; also of note is the stone relief to the corner splay which depicts Don Bradman no less, which would explain why this was originally the Cricketers Arms. I came here once in the late ‘90s and it had the feel of a dayroom at an old people’s home. A return the other night revealed a building still covered in scaffold, with windows intentionally boarded up as this is now some sort of ‘fun-themed’ bar called the Mad Hatter. I can well believe the previous review and although I couldn’t see anyone at the door and didn’t fancy any of these shenanigans, I moved on.

No longer a pub per se, you are greeted by an over-enthused am-drammer who will demand you answer a riddle before you are granted entry. Peak OX1 behaviour. I politley told him my life was too short.