Thursday July 28th- Sun 31st July 2011

How about: quality live music, great food, a family-friendly atmosphere, a weekend of laughs, booze and (hopefully) sunshine!

This will be the 4th Moreton Beer and Cricket Festival, hosted by The Bear at Home and Moreton Cricket Club. The original festival, held in 2008, was to celebrate the cricket clubs 150th anniversary and the festival was such a hit that it was held again last year and continues to grow.

Take a look around this site to get a taste of what the weekend has to offer

It is free entry, and free parking (details on the directions page) so what's to stop you from coming?

We all hope that you thoroughly enjoy the festival, a celebration of what is quintessentialy English: ? Village cricket and Real Ale!

Camping

Limited camping is potentially available at a local campsite, for more information please contact Jon Slade on 07850 040311

Blog http://moretonmidweek.blogspot.com/

Last few Home games...........                               

Sun       Sept      5     FRIENDLY CUP final 1.30p.m              

Sun       Sept    12     THE PRESIDENT’S XI 1.30p.m

MCC annual Dinner 25th Sept                      

The Bear at Home is a 16th-century public house in the South Oxfordshire (England) village of North Moreton, near Wallingford. It retains many original 16th-century features, including timber-framed walls, inglenook fireplace and a well, but was extended sympathetically in 1980 to allow it to serve food. New features include a minstrel's gallery above the bar, which is almost certainly unique. In 2007, the Freehouse was voted the best pub in Oxfordshire by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale)^[1] members, and its range of locally produced real ales, ensures it is a regular entry in the Good Beer Guide.

As recently as 1930, there were four pubs in this small village, serving a population of about 400 people^[2] but The Bear at Home is now the only remaining outlet. It overlooks the village green, home of Moreton Cricket Club (M.C.C), founded in 1858, a thriving club in this desirable commuter village, with members of all ages and ability; the pub has close ties with the cricket club, and is MCC's unofficial clubhouse.

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We have just designed a brand new website for the Bear at Home Inn. The old website was rather good but it was getting a little long in the tooth and was very hard for an amateur to update. So, we decided to upgrade it to make it a lot more simple to change and to take advantage of new web technologies that allow your site to have a lot more self-optimising content. We engaged Lightquick Web Design, the designers of the old website to perform the update. They seemlessly transferred all the content from the old site to the new, added new functionality and made the new site so much more pretty than the old. We used a technology called a Content Management system which allows anyone to add content to any page straight from a browser. The CMS we used is called Joomla and we have used it on three of our sites so far. I can say we are very happy with the result.

A word from the webmaster: The site has been built using the CMS functionality of a tool called Joomla. This CMS is the easiest of all Content Management Systems for entering new information, new content and even allowing guests to comment on everything within the site. We chose Joomla 1.5 as it is the most up to date version of Joomla, it is flexible and the client gets the cutting edge of current open source web technology. On this page you will find news, newsflashes, access to the diary, a tag cloud, recently modified articles, easy access to all the pages, a user selectable look and feel (site colours) and so much more beneath the skin. Contact us here if you interested in the same.

I was first made aware of the good things about the Bear at Home in North Moreton – some of them at least – through an article early last month in The Times.

In it, the landlord Tim Haworth described how he and his wife Alison, tired of the many deficiencies of their local, decided to take the place over and see if they could manage it better. So well did they do, that very soon they found themselves in charge of the Campaign for Real Ale’s Oxfordshire pub of 2007.

Tim is an antique dealer by trade – he has stuff on sale at the Bear, besides running a shop in Wallingford – but he clearly has a gift for landlordship, if such a word exists,. He said: “Seeing people having a good time at your establishment is incredibly rewarding.” I fancy he has quite a lot of opportunity for doing just that.

Twenty-seven years ago, when I was interviewing the licensee of what was then called simply The Bear she, too, spoke of her happiness in the pub trade. “It’s just like having a party every day of the week.”

Since the licensee was Tracy Reed, a former actress once a darling of the gossip columns, it must be presumed that ...

The Bear at Home in North Moreton, between Didcot and Wallingford, has scooped the title of Best Pub in Oxfordshire by the Campaign for Real Ale.

The Bear at Home

The freehouse has four different ales on tap, including two local brews, which are changed each week.

You'll find our own Bear Beer from West Berks, and Taylor's Landlord are always available plus 2 guest ales from a variety of local breweries, including Loddon, and White Horse. Lovibonds Henley Gol;d & Dark are also regulars at The Bear.

However, the former 15th century coaching inn, which features low beamed ceilings and character fireplaces, is a decent bet if you're after hearty grub, produced from fresh ingredients by chefs Laura Gammon and Alan Smith, and their staff.

Fish is delivered from Cornwall and my tip is so book on Tuesdays, Fridays or Saturdays when the catch is new in.

But look out too for the occasional 'specials', such as pies, barbecue or paella nights.

As for puddings, the pub is fantastic if you like ice cream - it offers a range of Swiss Movenpick flavours that include rum n raisin, cognac, and espresso. Blokes might prefer the sticky toffee pudding !

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CRICKET: Celebrations at Moreton

URL: http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/archive/2008/07/29/Cricket+%28om_cricket%29/2412368.CRICKET__Celebrations_at_Moreton/

One hundred and fifty years of cricket at North Moreton, near Didcot, was marked by the first Moreton & Beer Festival.

The highlight of Moreton CC's four days of cricket, held in conjunction with the Bear at Home's beer festival, was a match against the MCC, skippered by Oxford's veteran spinner, Rupert Evans.

In reply to MCC's healthy total of 295-3 dec, the hosts made 176, with Sam Fletcher hitting 68, with three sixes and ten fours.

The match was played in front of a good crowd, which included former and present members Jim Buckle, Don Buckle, John Culley, Anne Howat, Mike Howat, Nigel Hessey, Harry Marriott, Tony Rouse, Eric Tappin and Mike Underwood.

The previous days had seen four Twenty20 matches played, two of which Moreton won.

They beat Conway's Cavaliers by two wickets, and also defeated an Invitation XI by nine runs.

FESTIVAL WEEK RESULTS Dorchester Boys 180-3 (O Wells 35no, L Woodington 35no, R Denton 31), Moreton Boys 84 (L Wells 6-18).

Conway's Cavaliers 87 (J Yaxley 3-10, M Wicks 3-27), Moreton 99-8 (J Stimpson 3-12).

Moreton 97 (S Smith 4-11), The Astons 99-3 (R Smith 34no).

Moreton 140-5, Invitation XI 131-9 (K Miles 3-22).

MCC 295-3 (S Hobson 130, M Marvell 67, M Sydall 54), Moreton 176 (S Fletcher 68, C Fellows-Smith 3-34).

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The Plough Inn - Long Wittenham

URL: http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/archive/2008/03/03/Letters+%28hs_letters%29/2089704.Stop_whingeing_and_do_something/

I feel I have to contact you about the absurd comments made by Sandra Brown about the effect the smoking ban has had on her trade.

The Plough at Long Wittenham has one of the best locations of any pub in Oxfordshire. Its trade is suffering because none of that potential is utilised.

Village pubs, such as The Bear in North Moreton, have increased trade because of the smoking ban, they have done this by supporting the local community, providing good food that people can afford and by providing a welcoming environment to customers. Blaming the smoking ban for a downturn in trade is ridiculous, most non-smokers are far more likely to visit a pub now than they were before the ban.

The message to pubs like The Sprat, Didcot, and The Plough is stop whingeing about something you can't change and get on with providing a service that people want.

Written by: Stephen Rudge Sales and marketing director New Venture Products Ltd Queens Yard North Moreton

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The best beer in the district will be flowing this month at The Bear in North Moreton, which has just won a pub of the year award.

After just 18 months in business, The Bear received an award from the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) for being the best pub in the south of the county.

The landlords will be presented with a certificate on Thursday, June 21, before holding a party from 8pm.

Landlord Tim Haworth said: "As novices in this business, we are very proud of our achievements.

"We're holding a bit of a party for our locals, and some of our brewery suppliers are donating barrels of beer.

"We'll also have live music and a BBQ."

What makes a perfect pub? For George Orwell, wistfully writing in 1946, there were ten precise criteria - including motherly barmaids, draught stout and tobacco available at the bar. Settled into a tired but comfortable sofa for my first visit to The Bear at Home, a free house in North Moreton, Oxfordshire, I can see a few of my own favourite pub features, including a fire, pork pies, a dog, a plentiful supply of newspapers and, yes, draught stout.

My own local, Father Ted's in Kilburn, lacks the dog and the fire - but boasts different charms, including Sid Waddell quotes painted on the wall, Arsenal-on-demand, a 24-hour licence and cheap Guinness. Both pubs share Orwell's prime criterion, atmosphere.

Any attempt to define a perfect pub is, of course, hopelessly subjective. But Orwell's question, “what makes a perfect pub?” may yet become academic.

According to startling figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) released last week, there are now 39 pubs closing in Britain each week. Were the closures to continue at that rate, last orders in Britain's last pub would be called for the final time one evening in June 2037.

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What makes a perfect pub? For George Orwell, wistfully writing in 1946, there were ten precise criteria - including motherly barmaids, draught stout and tobacco available at the bar. Settled into a tired but comfortable sofa for my first visit to The Bear at Home, a free house in North Moreton, Oxfordshire, I can see a few of my own favourite pub features, including a fire, pork pies, a dog, a plentiful supply of newspapers and, yes, draught stout. My own local, Father Ted's in Kilburn, lacks the dog and the fire - but boasts different charms, including Sid Waddell quotes painted on the wall, Arsenal-on-demand, a 24-hour licence and cheap Guinness. Both pubs share Orwell's prime criterion, atmosphere.

Any attempt to define a perfect pub is, of course, hopelessly subjective. But Orwell's question, "what makes a perfect pub?" may yet become academic. According to startling figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) released last week, there are now 39 pubs closing in Britain each week. Were the closures to continue at that rate, last orders in Britain's last pub would be called for the final time one evening in June 2037.

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Friday 22nd September 2006

What a surprise! - An unexpected turn of events is that the Bear at Home has an entry in the Good Beer Guide of 2007. Out of 65,000 pubs in the UK only 4,500 make it into CAMRA's good beer guide and we have done it too due to our peculiar combination of good beer, good food, good antiques and the Bear at Home warm welcome. Thanks to the mystery man from CAMRA who came in and gave the Bear at Home a thumbs-up!

See our entry on page 394 on the Oxfordshire region of the guide.

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CAMRA Pub Of The Year - South Oxon

Monday 22nd April 2007

Another surprise! - The South Oxon branch members of the Campaign for Real Ale have voted the Bear at Home Inn as 2007 Pub of the Year. This is no mean feat since there are around 150 pubs in the South Oxfordshire area.

Paul Dixon CAMRA - South Oxfordshire Branch Secretary says, "Congratulations - it's very well deserved....The Bear at Home Inn will now be entered into the Oxfordshire Pub of the Year, the other areas being North Oxon, Oxford City and the Vale of the White Horse. The winner of this round goes into the Regional Pub of the Year which includes Berks and Bucks. The final stage is national." -

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Sunday 9th May 2010 is Fete Day

The Village Fete, one of the villages most treasured yearly events has just taken place. Sunday the 9th May is the big day. The Bear at Home will be operating its BBQ from midday & offering a full range of drinks. Come & enjoy the fun

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Stella Blackstone

The name Stella Blackstone is one closely associated with the Bear at Home. However, she is not a regular drinker in our pub but a writer of Children's books. She has written a series of books based around a friendly big brown bear. The books are wonderful starter books for toddlers and are illustrated by Debbie Harter.

"Follow Bear on a guided tour of his cosy home. Wander through the various rooms.From the kitchen "all clean and neat" through the playroom with its "great big toy chest" and end up in the bedroom "where the Bear at Home says goodnight!" 

(quoted from islandtreasuretoys website)

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Texas Hold 'em Tournament

URL: http://press.arrivenet.com/entertainment/article.php/794275.html

Distribution Source : ArriveNet
Date : Monday, January 09, 2006
Author: Dean Beedell

Sunday 30th April - The Bear at Home's first Texas tournament was an outrageous sucess; great atmosphere and cameraderie was generated from the start, and Alison's curry kept the losers happy. The early exchanges were notable for the "heavyweight" departures of  The Landlord, Simon Claridge & Big Mac, leaving the smug semi professionals in charge of the chips at the tables. However they did not reckon on  the women gate-crashing the poker party, and both Heather & Jubs made it to the final on merit. The final two places were drawn as "lucky losers" and Stuart "chavster" Montgomery and Riccardo Nicholas were the lucky dudes. The "know all" players were seen off early, clearly unable to read either of the girls who did a great job of pretending they didn't know the rules. Down to the last three and only Stuart could stop Hev & Jubs wiping the floor with the blokes. He adopted the "I'll go blind" strategy, which was marginally more daft than their own cunning plan, so jubs was knocked out to leave the last two to slug it out. By the time Heather went "all in" on a 7-high, nobody cared except Stuart, who won by default. Thankfully he bought everyone in the pub a drink, so we forgave him. When asked what his tactics would be when defending his title, he said "go ****** all in blind" of course; not surprisingly the queue has already started to take him on !!

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Brewery Trip to the Fullers Brewery

Headline : A trip to the Fullers Brewery, described in detail.
Date : Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Author: Dean Beedell

Fullers Brewery Chiswick  - A trip to the Fullers Brewery, described in detail. Despite only a short drive in the van a certain member of the group was unable to control his internals and needed to stop every twenty minutes for light relief. The eight of us arrived on time for a pint or two in the old store cellar of the Fullers brewery in Chiswick, right by the flooded Thames.  ESB, London Pride, Chiswick and Gales HSB were drunk in quite small quantities.

Next, a short walk from the Victorian buildings to modern brewing premises built in the nineteen-eighties in order to view the production processes. No small-time brewery this, but a vast manufacturing facility capable of brewing half a million barrels of beer each year with production rising so we were told. Inside, only a  few vestiges of old copper and wood brewing vessels and a minimal amount of traditional brewing equipment was all that was left of the Fullers Brewery of old, now replaced by the gleaming steel of efficient modern equipment. A cold and impersonal manufactory warmed only by the heat of the brewing beer.

The guide had a lot more personality than the factory, he had worked there since 1969 and had seen the old ways swept away by the sweep of progress turning Fullers from the seemingly defunct operation of the 70s to the flourishing, healthy and profitable enterprise it is today. He seemed to agree that some of the new lager-type beers that Fullers are now producing are a little lacking in taste. They are popular however with the young.

After the factory trip we were allowed another last pint in the cellar and then onto the Mawsons Arms where a buffet was especially laid on for us. The buffet was tasty enough though some complained at the specially-prepared nature of the Pringles, softening them ready for gentle and easy laying upon the tongue. The beer in the Mawson Arms was good Fullers beer, not surprising considering that the pub is practically part of the brewery. The Fullers rep. seemed happy to say goodbye leaving us to play some silly drinking games, chucking the matchbox, spoof and bunnies, with local variations. Some of us drank too much and had to resort to tactical methods of keeping sober. Not nice.

The trip home went very quickly with cards played in the bus and silly songs being sung. We stopped off in Henley and determined to have a quick fight or rather a quick pint in the Bird in Hand. Luckily we all remained firm friends and despite some water on the brain we returned home to the Bear at Home Inn for some late night cards and few more rounds of beer. As always thanks to Tim for organising the trip. Thanks to the Brewery for having us. Thanks also to the driver for not crashing, the group is now thoroughly convinced of his ability to equal any white van driver on the road.

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Brewery Trip to the Loddon Brewery

URL: http://press.arrivenet.com/entertainment/article.php/793991.html

Headline : Brewery Trip to the Loddon Brewery
2nd Headline : Better than Brakspears - better by far!

Distribution Source : ArriveNet
Date : Monday, January 09, 2006
Author: Dean Beedell

Thursday 20th April - Same as before twelve of the local boys arrived at the pub expectantly looking forward to the evening's entertainment. A kitty was created to fund the evening's fun, then a quick one in the pub before the short journey to Dunsden. The driver was much more sympathetic to his passengers than last time, the journey went without mishap and although in the back of the van it still felt like the inside of a submarine's  conning tower, condensation running down the windows, everyone was happy and expectant of the evening ahead. We had to suffer the usual typical men's talk on the journey with much childish giggling, talking stupid and being rude, especially from Paul Jackson who seems to like this sort of behaviour..

We arrived at the brewery ready for the usual brewery trip but were most surprised and encouraged at the friendly welcome we received from Chris Hearn, the Loddon Brewery's owner and Head Brewer. Chris started by opening eight barrels for us to sample and drink as much as we wanted. The beers he had to offer us were Ferrymans Gold, Hoppit, Hullaballo, Bamboozle, Flight of Fancy and one other which due to the amount of alcohol we drank has temporarily slipped from my mind...but these were only a selection of  the Loddon Brewerery's sixteen regular beers. All the beers were delicious.

Chris gave us a grand tour of the modern British-made brewing facilities which were highly automated but still needed his unique touch to manufacture a beer to Chris' high standards. Chris Hearn was on the brewing team of Brakspears in the days when Brakspears cared about their beers rather than being just focussing on their property management. These were the days when Brakspears beers were handmade in old brewing vessels using the same processes they have used for two hundred years. Chris has carried over some of these age-old techniques to his own brewery assisted by modern technology that allows one or two skilled personnel to make significant quantities of good quality beer.

The Loddon Brewery is situated in rolling Dunsden countryside within an old brick built  renovated barn. The Brewery is the very model of efficiency and cleanliness and we were all very impressed by the combination of modern methods and the traditional environment.

The beer tasting was interrupted by the delivery of fish and chips for everyone, we sat down to a very pleasant meal with a load of slightly tipsy but very happy Bear at Home locals. The guest book came out and everyone wrote down their thoughts on the trip. One of our party however wrote some very rude things about the others on the trip, we firmly believe it was Duncan despite his denials.

Afterwards we had a short trip to the Black Horse at Checkendon, a lovely virtually untouched pub in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside. After a single pint we headed back home for cards and more refreshment back at the Bear at Home Inn  Thanks again from all the attendees to Tim Haworth, the Landlord for organising the trip. Once again, a superb time had by all.

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Brewery Trip to the White Horse Brewery

URL: http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200805/1209933056.html

Headline : Brewery Trip to the White Horse Brewery
2nd Headline :The boys at the Bear at Home Inn submerged

Distribution Source : Free Press Releases
Date : Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Author: Dean Beedell

Thursday 2nd March 2006 - Twelve of the boys arrived at the pub expectantly looking forward to the evening's entertainment. They all loaded up into the minibus in quick time. The minibus driver drove a tadge too fast with not quite enough thought for the passengers. In the back of the van it felt like a scene from DAS Boot with all the sweaty men contained in a small rolling capsule.  Perhaps we ought to have a van with less of a rolling suspension next time.

We arrived at the brewery having eaten one or two bags of greasy but desirable chips in Wantage. These were useful for lining the stomach later as we realised we were going to have to drink a lot of White Horse Beer.

Despite experiencing what felt like the gales of the Atlantic from within U-264, we arrived at the location without incident. The Head Brewer and MD of White Horse Brewery gave us a grand tour of the modern brewing facilities. We were impressed by the Belgian-made brewing machinery which was highly automated, allowing one man to make a brew all by himself. The enthusiasm of the owner was communicated to us all by his rich and colourful descriptions of his beer and the manufacturing process. The story about the man diving into the Barley Wine tank had us all splitting our sides whilst feeling quite jealous that it wasn't us in the tank. After the tour we were given a barrel of White Horse Best bitter to drink all for ourselves, 72 pints were gone in very short order with none wasted whatsoever.

Afterwards we had a short trip to the Royal Oak in Wantage to see a publican known as Dr. Hexter in person. Dr. Hexter is a legend in beer drinking circles, selling only the very best of beer, some of them have been brewed especially for him. He also sells a quality whisky brand-named after his own pub.

Unfortunately we could only drink a single pint with Dr. Hexter as it was then back to The Bear at Home Inn for a home made curry, a pint or two and then cards until dawn.  Thanks from all the attendees to Tim Haworth, the Landlord for organising the trip. A good time had by all.

If you like Lightquick's article - please visit it at Free Press Releases and leave your comment - all publicity helps the pub!

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URL: http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200805/1209664724.html

Headline : Boule at the Bear!
2nd Headline: North Moreton’s game in the garden..

Distribution Source : Round & About
Date : May, 2007
Author: Peter Savage

Boule at the Bear!
North Moreton’s game in the garden..

Joy of Joys, you’ll be able to play boule at The Bear from May 1^st. (Or, some might say petanque, but we can form a debating society to discuss what to call it. I believe they call it petanque in the South of France and Boule in the North). It’s a great game of guile and bluff, skill and luck and with ‘sledging’ potential, as the aussies call it. Here’s an extract from the www.petanque.org site as a taster...

As in all of Europe this fantastic game can be, and is, enjoyed by all the family. How many times on holiday in the warm early evening have you watched games from the sidelines trying to figure out who was winning. The shouts, aahhs, the laughter and congratulations. Or, late at night after a fabulous supper, have wished you could have a go at this quintessentially European game. Now you can, and locally, but I suspect that the real problem will be in getting ‘a go’ as I’m convinced the new attraction will be a mega hit at the Bear.

It is not hard to play but being good at it is a different kettle of fish…. Don’t worry if you don’t have a set as the Bear will make some available and the rules of the ‘simple game’ will be pinned to a post next to the pitch.

Everyone’s welcome, so pop around and have a game…….

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For a couple without previous pub experience it is truly remarkable how they have a natural instinct for pleasing the visitor; Alison’s food is wholesome, fresh and home-made, Tim’s manner is relaxed and amiable. Tim put their philosophy succinctly  ‘ we think we are a pub that wants to serve food, rather than a restaurant that needs to serve drinks’. Indeed their food is not ‘pub grub’ but an ever changing menu of really interesting, nicely presented range of dishes. Prices for a healthy main dish are faround the £8 mark with starters and puddings at about £3.50. Their Sunday menu includes a roast priced at about £7.95. That puts them in the really good value for money bracket. The Bear is deceptively large; the main bar and restaurant can cope with about 50, the rear function room can handle a further 50 to 60 people which makes them ideal for private parties or office functions.

Summer plans include a new beer garden adjacent to the cricket pitch, no doubt for some Dutch courage prior to facing a fast bowler!

I suggest though that you pop along well before then.

If you like Round and About's article - please visit it at Free Press Releases and leave your comment - all publicity helps the pub!

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URL: http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200804/1209594288.html

Distribution Source : Free Press Releases
Date : Monday, January 09, 2006
Author: Dean Beedell

Oxfordshire England -- (ArriveNet - Jan 09, 2006) -- An Oxfordshire pub has been taken over by the locals. No it's not a revolution nor even a minor uprising, it's just that the Landlord has left the pub to the drinking locals to run it themselves for a month. Tim Haworth the new landlord had recently taken over management of the Bear at Home Inn, North Moreton, when he suddenly announced that he was going on a Christmas holiday for a month leaving his business behind with no management nor bar staff in his stead. Not wanting the pub to close, the friendly (and not really that revolting) locals have stepped into the breach to run the pub on a daily basis, opening every day, lunchtimes and evenings. You would expect that they might invite all their friends and drink the pub dry, all for free, but that was not the case. The locals have been honest and hard working and have paid all the pub's takings into Tim's bank account. Business has been phenomenal and a fun time is being had by all, locals and paying customers. Having a new landlord every day seems to add to the charm of what is already a very lovely and quaint olde Englishe pubbe. The real landlord who has just returned from his vacation, is reputed to be stunned by the response of the locals in keeping his business running. His jaw has been seen trailing on the bar floor, still amazed by the good job they have all done. Interviewed on this subject by Central Television in the New Year Tim has supposedly just started planning his next holiday...

If you like Lightquick's article - please visit it at Free Press Releases and leave your comment - all publicity helps the pub!

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Press Releases

The following press release have been made on behalf of the pub by private individuals and are published as such here. The information within each article is not  necessarily the opinion of the owners of this website nor the Landlord of the Bear at Home Inn.

URL: http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200804/1209579330.html

Distribution Source : Free Press Releases
Date : Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Author: Paul jackson
Oxfordshire, England -- (Originally on ArriveNet - Jan 11, 2006) -- The Bear: Necessities

The 17th century ‘Bear at Home Inn’, nestled in the calm, picturesque Oxfordshire village of North Moreton, halfway between Didcot and Wallingford, provides an object lesson in how to run a successful village pub – and how not to.

The pub has had six landlords in fifteen years: not too bad, you might think, except that four of them arrived - and left - in the last five years. What went wrong? And why is the pub, at last, working so successfully now?

Many village pubs face the same alchemic challenge: the beer, the ambience, the food, the prices, the publican – all elements have to be ‘right’, in order to turn into gold. One landlord tried to convert the pub into an expensive, upmarket, non-smoking fish restaurant; another tried to run it single-handed, including doing all the cooking and serving, whilst simultaneously running a village shop some 45 miles away. Needless to say, both failed.

What’s changed? The first is the new landlords have lived in the village for 14 years. Tim & Alison Haworth with their three children now run the pub as a family concern, having renamed it ‘The Bear at Home Inn’. They are well-liked, and well-connected, in the community.

The second is that the food is now expertly prepared from entirely fresh local ingredients by a professional chef. Stuart MacKay has, for the last five seasons, been the Head Chef for the BAR Honda Formula One team. The food he creates is of the very highest standard – and priced to entice.

Finally, when Tim and his family went on a dream holiday to New Zealand over Christmas 2005, booked prior to their pub tenure, the village community stepped in and ran it for them in their absence. This brought the villagers back into the pub and reintroduced them to one of the loveliest old pubs in the county.

Well-kept local beers complete the picture: all the elements are in place, and the buzz is back. Here’s to the English village pub. Cheers!

If you like Paul's article - please visit the press release page and leave your comment - all publicity helps the pub!

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Great to be back playing darts again this winter.............................

Click on the dart board on the left to visit the Benson dart league at

http://www.benson4s.co.uk/ and check on our progress !

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Cricket on the Green

Moreton CC 2012 HOME Fixtures

Sun      April     15  OXFORDSHIRE U14s   1:00pm                                                         

Thurs   April     19    FCC XI (6.00p.m.)                   .

Sun      April     22  WARBOROUGH & SHILLINGFORD (2.00.)                                                  

Thurs   April     26  WALLINGFORD SQUASH CLUB (6.00p.m.

Sun      April     29   ABINGDON VALE (2.00p.m.)                                                                                        

Thurs   May       3   MIELE (6.00p.m.)                                                                                                            

Sun      May       6   ALDWORTH (Friendly Cup 1^st round)

Fri        May     11    INTER ALLSORTS (6.00p.m.)                                                                                       

Weds   May     16*  RAF BENSON (6.00p.m.)                                                                                               

Sun      May     20  WALTHAM ST. LAWRENCE (The National

                               Village Cup, 2^nd round, 1.00p.m.)                                                                   .              

Thurs   May     24   BLEWBURY (6.00p.m.)                                                                                  

Sun      May     27   CHAIN GANG (2.00)                                                                                                       

Thurs   May     31   FCC XI (6.00p.m.)                                                                                                           

Sun      June      3    WIMBLEDON WIZARDS (1.00 p.m.)                                                                            

Thurs   June      7   ASTON Nr Bampton (6.00p.m.)                                                                                    

Weds   June    13*   GORING (6.00p.m.)                                                                                       .

Thurs   June    14   SOUTHFIELD SUPERSTARS (6.00p.m.)                                                                      

Sun      June    17  FRIENDLY CUP (2^nd. round, 2.00p.m.)                                                          

Weds   June    20*  DORCHESTER (6.00p.m.)

Thurs   June    21  MILL STREET WANDERERS (6.00p.m.)                                                                       

Sun      June    24  THE ASTONS (2.00p.m.)                                                                                 .              

Thurs   June    28  CUXHAM (6.00)                                                                                               

Sun      July       1  THE INVALIDS (2.00p.m.)                                                                               

Weds   July       4* CHOLSEY (6.00p.m.)                                                                                                      

Weds   July      11* CLIFTON HAMPDEN (6.00p.m.)

Mon     July      16  DIDCOT GIRLS (Ladies match, 6.00p.m.)                                                                    

Thurs   July      19  TAPPIN CUP (6.00p.m.)                                                                                 

Sun       July    22   THE ALLSORTS (2.00p.m.)                                                                                            

Beer & Cricket Festival (26^th July – 29^th  July)

Thurs     July    26  CORPORATE 6’s (11:00Am)

                               DIDCOT BOYS (Junior’s match, 6.00p.m.)                                                   

Fri          July    27  ALDWORTH (2.00p.m.)                                                                                  

Fri          July    27  ASTON (Nr Bampton) (5.30p.m.)                                                                                                        

Sat         July    28  SIX –A- SIDE TOURNAMENT (9.30a.m.)                                                                                             

Sun        July    29  AMSTERDAM (12.00 noon)                                                                           

Sun        July    29  LONG WITTENHAM (Ladies match, 3.0pm)                                                

Thurs    Aug       2  INVITED TEAM (6.00p.m.)                                                                              

Weds    Aug       8  GREY’S GREEN (2.00p.m.)                                                                                            

Thurs    Aug       9  INVITED TEAM (6.00p.m.)                                                                              

Thurs    Aug     16  DIDCOT 4 XI (Challenge Shield, 5.30p.m.)                                                  

Sun       Aug     19  GORING (2.30p.m.)                                                                                                        

Thurs    Aug     23  INVITED TEAM (6.00p.m.)                                                                                              

Sun       Aug     26    BLEWBURY & UPTON (2.00p.m.)                                                                                

Mon       Aug    27  J.HARROP’S XI (2.00p.m.)                                                                             

Sun       Sept    16    PRESIDENT’S XI (1.30p.m.)

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Aunt Sally Calendar

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		Aunt Sally at the Bear at Home Inn
Aunt Sally is a simple game played by throwing wooden sticks or batons at a wooden skittle known as an Aunt Sally. The wooden Aunt Sally or Dolly is positioned on a piece of angle iron positioned in a vertical hollow rod two and a half feet above the ground. Eight player teams each throw six stub-ended 18" long wooden sticks at the dolly from behind a line known as the "hockey" which is 10 yards from the iron. Each turn consists of six throws and a winning point is only counted when the stick hits the doll before the iron. Hitting the doll is really quite tricky.
		The game dates back to the 17th Century and may have been introduced by Royalist soldiers during the English Civil war when King Charles I set up his Royalist court in Oxford in opposition to the Parliamentarians in London. Despite the game only being played in Oxfordshire it is still a very popular game indeed taken very seriously by regular players in serious leagues.
There are two possibilities for the development of the game. One is that is an evolution of a 14th century game called 'kayles' which is a skittles game in which differently shaped skittles must be knocked over using an underarm throw. The largest of the skittles may have become the Aunt Sally.
		An alternative theory ascribes Aunt Sally as an evolution of the barbaric game of "throwing at cocks". In this game a cock would be tied by one leg to a stake in the ground and the participants would then pay for a turn at throwing a "cok-steles" or small club at the bird. Whoever killed the bird won it and was able to take it home for dinner. If the bird's leg was broken, the creature would be supported on sticks until the bitter end.
After last years debacle, we are confident of an improved performance from our team this Summer. Capt Slade has several new signings, and competition for places is likely to be hot. I confidently predict a bold showing- you heard it here first !

Landlord Colm Powell stages a protest. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

If you ever needed to show a visitor a typical pub you couldn't go far wrong with the Punch and Judy. Nestled between low houses on a back street in Tonbridge, Kent, its exposed wood beams, dark wooden floors, brass rails at the bar, desultory couples at tables with their half pints and Sunday papers, are a very British kind of ideal. Most in the room recognise, or know each other; some have been coming here for nearly 20 years.

The coffin in the front room would be unusual, though. Colm Powell, 44, the publican, has just ended a 10-day hunger strike, during which he slept in the coffin every night in a rococo but heartfelt protest against rising rents, beer prices, and fines imposed by the pub company, Enterprise Inns, that owns the pub. Last Friday he was served with an eviction notice, and at 11am on November 11, he will lose the business he has run for 17 years, and with it his social life and his home, because he lives above it. On November 1 he intends to go on hunger strike again. Out the back, in the garden/smokers' area, where his grapes have ripened dark and juicy and a tomato plant defies the coming autumn, he is subdued and quietly spoken, but determined. "When they come to take me they'll have to physically take me out in the box."

Coffin aside, he is part of an epidemic.