The Jolly Farmers, Oxford

A first in here the other night despite not being gay. The building looks to be quite historic, with some attractive exposed stone. The multi-level interior is a bit eclectic too, looking historic with some exposed beams that could be impressively old. There’s some wood panelling but this appears to be modern. The carpet is part boarded and part carpeted. Furniture comprises some Chesterfields and chairs clad in black vinyl. Lighting comes from some sconce lights by night with daylight penetrating from above courtesy of a Velux skylight. Décor comes in the form of some old prints of Oxford to the walls. Naturally there’s a jukebox and playing gay anthems too: muted Boney M, Samantha Fox, Bonnie Tyler and of course no evening would be complete without a round of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax. A very friendly barman working the pumps, with at least two real ales: the bar was somewhat obscured by customers, so I didn’t see if anything from the Two Cocks Brewery was on sale, as claimed by CAMRA, but there were two from the Loose Cannon Brewery – Abingdon Bridge and Firebrand at a reasonable £3.70 a pint but a wee bit off. Next door to the Castle, we quite liked the historic interior and atmosphere in here but would expect it to be a lot more frenzied during term time and on a Friday or Saturday night when the five-day midnight licence extends to 2.00 am.

Well-established gay pub, with a mix of genre types. Located in an aged building with some old rickety bits inside but ostensibly modern in ambience. Two pumps, Two Cocks Cavalier (ho ho) which was rather cold and lacking a bit of sparkle plus Old Rosie cider. As to expected on a Friday night, it was dim (though some candles were scattered about) with loud music. Nice relaxed atmosphere inside. Paved garden to the rear which the landlord has plans for, earwigging in on a conversation. Been in a few gay pubs over the years (mainly by accident!) and this is one of the better ones even if it isn’t somewhere I’d want to go back to on a basic beery level.