Five months without real ale! After landing we headed for the airport pub! There isn't one landside - just O'Neills with Guinness!
So we took the coach to Oxford (4 hours through most of the Home Counties... but interesting and comfortable!)
We stayed 8 miles east of the city at the Travelodge:- a clever wheeze to avoid Oxford hotel prices and with two cheap buses per hour!
We went next door to the Harvester - two pumps - including Old Speckled Hen - but both - frustratingly off!
Never fear - next day we met up with Chloe. She is working at The Mission - Oxford's first and only Burrito Bar, where she rolls a mean one. Before her shift we took her for breakfast in the Covered Market and showed her where Ruth worked on Saturdays in the Sixties. In return she pointed us towards the Three Goats Heads opposite The Mission and we were later able to enjoy a pint or two over full-sized Guardian & Independent!