Bear Inn

A small, cosy pub in the centre of Oxford. The Alfred Street entrance leads into a tiny snug which in turn leads to the small public bar in the angle in the streets. Sadly the old woodwork on the bar counter front, on the partition wall, and on the walls of the snug and bar have been cleaned and spoilt by sand-blasting at some stage. Old fixed seating in the public bar but that in the back room is modern. The back room fronting Blue Boar Street is the most impressive with floor to ceiling panelling from the inter-war period; also brass bell-pushes survive from the days of waiter service. In the bar and snug the pewter bar top was replaced in 2000. The bar back fittings are modern, possibly part of the 2000 refurbishment.

In glass fronted display cases on the walls of both main rooms and on the ceiling of the back room has accumulated a prodigious collection of ties which cover anything from the St Moritz Toboganning Club to Chichester Theological College! The Victorian tradition in which pubs could be museums or cabinets of curiosities lives on here. The ladies' toilet is accessed via a spiral staircase off the snug.