The Bull in the Times

Sat 20 Jan, 12:16

Just read the Giles Coren article about the 'fantastic' meal his family had at the Bull which is even more good news for the food scene in Charlbury.

However, I was particularly stung by his reference to the AllTrails app in which he was only able to find walks that he described as 'a bit suburban, a bit "roady".  We have some wonderful, well-marked walks around Charlbury over varying lengths, that may be a bit muddy at this time of year, but could hardly be described  as "roady". Perhaps we should refer him to the Charlbury website for more accurate information about local pre-pub jaunts.

Fri 19 Jan, 23:29

Can we not just be thankful that we have another fantastic pub in Charlbury? Although I am sad that they aren’t allowed to have the fire pits or live music any more!

Fri 19 Jan, 20:46

Parking aside, it's great that the Bull is getting such stellar reviews in the press. The funny thing is, it is not even the best restaurant in Charlbury - we all know that is Chloe's!

I see that Giles Coren gave the Bull 10 out of 10 for "vibes". Someone told me this week that Richard Tice and Suella Braverman were seen sharing a meal there. Not sure those are quite the vibes I am after... great food though!

Fri 19 Jan, 14:52

Great review for the pub. Well done. 

Fri 19 Jan, 13:11

Yes I remember Charlbury 🤨

Fri 19 Jan, 12:51

The article makes a massive stretch to reference this poem, at length:  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53744/adlestrop

Adlestrop

BY EDWARD THOMAS

Yes. I remember Adlestrop—

The name, because one afternoon

Of heat the express-train drew up there

Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.

No one left and no one came

On the bare platform. What I saw

Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,

And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,

No whit less still and lonely fair

Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang

Close by, and round him, mistier,

Farther and farther, all the birds

Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Fri 19 Jan, 11:09

As a piece of pithy, lighthearted writing, I enjoyed Gile’s article. Amazing feedback for the Bull (again) so well done and well deserved! I’m pleased for them. By the way, if you don’t like GC’s articles, you can - with a subscription - post a comment in the Times app - he often responds directly.

Fri 19 Jan, 10:28 (last edited on Fri 19 Jan, 11:39)

Richard, I was unaware of this article until you mentioned it, so I went and read it.
Frankly it sounds as if it has been written by someone so far up his rear orifice that his head is coming out of his mouth... just like his review, in fact.

Fri 19 Jan, 09:31 (last edited on Fri 19 Jan, 09:33)

Spotting foul-ups like that is what sub-editors are for. Except Giles Coren, famously, doesn’t allow sub-editors near his copy. I won’t link to his infamous excoriation of the Times subs but you can Google it if you don’t mind a bit (ok, a lot) of… shall we say fruity language.

Fri 19 Jan, 08:58

Why does Coren talk about Adelstrop? Same reason his restaurant columns ALWAYS talk more about his other interests than about the restaurant: to fill (fee-generating) space. 

In this case, spectacularly inaccurately, Not only did Tom demonstrate at the Rose over the past 20 years that it's extremely possible to keep a rural pub open without a restaurant - when run by a professional innkeeper. But Coren hasn't even bothered googling Adelstrop (or looking while walking).  

He talks about the railway line through Adelstrop having closed. If he'd kept his eyes open while walking around the village, he'd have seen the line's still there. Only its station was closed in 1966 - and today the line carries more than three times as many trains as it did on the day in 1914 Edward Thomas looked out at the station.

The infuriating thing about Coren's belief that it's easier to make money writing about himself than about restaurants is that, behind all that self-obsession, there's a remarkably astute palate. Sadly, though, an extremely boring writer about anything else. 

Fri 19 Jan, 08:20 (last edited on Fri 19 Jan, 08:21)

Very enthusiastic review, by Giles Coren, no less. He seems to spend quite a lot of it talking about Adlestrop for some reason. https://archive.is/p2Qe9 if you don’t have a Times subscription. 

Though I’m a little confused how he could come to Charlbury and claim “Without restaurants in pubs, there would be no pubs at all in the countryside now. Just like there are no goddam railway stations.” Erm…