Peyton Arms, Bicester

Having passed this way regularly for over 30 years I'm amazed we never came across this gem before. It's as traditional a village pub as you could ever find, the bar a single room affair with the cellar out the back, the Hook Norton range on gravity stillage. It's in the CAMRA national inventory of pub interiors and if it isn't Grade I listed it should be. The proceedings, involving a friendly array of regulars, are conducted by Mick the Hat, who is something of an institution in these parts and the welcome is warm. Just five minutes off the M40, it makes a near compulsory stop now if we're passing at the right time. Those who live nearby are lucky buggers indeed, there aren't many pubs like this left now.