Original Swan, Cowley, Oxford

Dating from 1854 and rebuilt in 1930, this place was acquired by Arkell’s in 1997, a beast which I first encountered – though didn’t visit – in November 1999 on the way to the Cowley Centre, encountering it again around a year ago, when like Steve, I found a place which looked closed; indeed, I couldn’t work out how to get in. A return the other day and yes, it’s open, the customer denied a typical welcome by entering via the front door – which would be too easy – but having to go through the car park with some smoking cabins to a side door. Like Steve, I too couldn’t fathom how to get into the front bar – access (or lack of) being a theme here – me finding myself in an utterly dreary creamy grey room as described, with bare boarding and basic furniture, complemented with little décor. A TV showing the football was on but only intermittently, seemingly cutting out periodically which allowed the other two elderly customers time to comment on the action. Again, like Steve, I clocked three pumps but this time the 3B clip was reversed, me making do with a half of Stella at £2.20, served by a parttime barman who seemed to spend most of the time in the inaccessible front bar. Indeed, the website makes mention of the ghost of a former landlord which is rarely seen, so perhaps this was the ghost in question? One has to wonder just how this place can survive; it’s also a B&B in this remote location. Due to a different marking system, I would have given this a ‘3’, but wouldn’t want to give the impression that my experience was better than the other two reviewers.

Official site of Original Swan - www.arkells.com

Official site of Original Swan - www.arkells.com

Despite the size of the pub externally, internally, the functioning bar area is a boxy, rectangular room with cream walls and battleship grey third-height panelling accessible from the car park (the room accessible from Oxford Road appears to be a function room). The bar takes up most of the right-hand side of the room and there's evidence of a couple of entrances to the other room having been walled up. The floor is mainly (newly) carpeted with a polished wood bar apron and a pool table takes centre stage in the middle of the room. There's some bench-style brown leather seating around the periphery with two semi-booths to the right as you enter. Of the three handpumps, two clips were reversed (one was Arkells 3B and the second another Arkells I couldn't quite make out - I did spot Arkells beermats during my stay). Several TV screens showed the North London derby as well as a Scottish Premier League game and a clutch of locals, predominantly on the fizz, sat on stools at the bar, whilst the presumed landlord preferred to play on a gaming machine. A half of Guinness was £1.90 and the one of the few redeeming features I spotted was a framed black and white signed photo of the victorious 1986 Milk Cup-winning side on display behind the bar.