The Royal Oak, Church Eaton.

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
As I am soon to be a resident of the village (fingers crossed) I wondered if anyone has ever been yo the pub and has any reviews?
 

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
As I am soon to be a resident of the village (fingers crossed) I wondered if anyone has ever been yo the pub and has any reviews?
No. Although I could swear I remember an unsatisfactory date which ended up in a cider bar, above a pub somewhere in Church Eaton. It definitely wasn't The Royal Oak and I may have suppressed the memory. I seem to recall a disagreement about hedgehogs, which resulted in me walking home. If it is of any interest, the scarecrow festival in Church Eaton is amazing. If you are to be accepted by your new neighbours, I would start planning your contribution now. A mere stick-and-straw job will not do. Also, there is a dog club in the village.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
the scarecrow festival
I'm up for that!

This a recent winner of the All-Ireland Scarecrow Championship.

scarecrow_2010_winner.jpg


Held in Durrow, Co Laois. http://www.durrowscarecrowfestival.com/scarecrows/
 

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
Wonderful though that one is, I am not sure it would help Lucy strike the right tone with her new neighbours? They did have a brilliant drunk scarecrow, the year before last, though. He was collapsed on a bench, still clutching a bottle of beer. At least...I hope it was a scarecrow. If it was one of the Royal Oak regulars, perhaps it is not too late for Lucy to change her mind?
 

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
That's much more like it. Lucy is going to be terribly grateful for all our help. For background, if she wants to give brief talks about her scarecrows, I can confirm that Lord Ashcroft is a 'Belonger' of the Turks & Caicos Islands. In fact, she might want to include that information on the noticeboard.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Lucy is always grateful for our help - particularly on non-food issues. I can find little reference to this Royal Oak on the Forum - I thought there was, but it was the Anchor at High Offley that I was remembering...
 

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
Yes, the house we're going for is near The Swan, it looks a lovely building, shame it closed. Think we might go for a visit to the pub, I don't want to fall out with the locals before we've moved though.

I am of course grateful for your help ;)
 

peggy

Well-Known Forumite
I have, in the past, spent many an evening in the pub there, and i too would recomend the scarecrow festival (although I dont believe they did one last year) they have a coffee shop in the village hall on a friday morning i think. lovely village. not eaten in the pub so cant comment on food, heard its ok, did hear a lot of locals were heading to nearby gnosal for a pint? The pub was up for sale not sure if it sold or got taken off the market?
Village has a strong community spirit. I would love to live there.
 

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
The pub is owned by the community, the vendors own shares, I am yet to ascertain if they are included within the sale or not.
 

peggy

Well-Known Forumite
yes its community owned, was the best way to keep the pub in the village, i dont know how it worked when it was on the market, whether the present owner was just selling his share and the villagers held onto theres? but anyway it looks like they have taken it back off the market now. They used to have great comedy nights in there when ray an australian comedian took it over for a while in early 2000's, Jimmy carr and some other famous folk (whos names i cant dig out from my brain fog) came in to put on comedy shows, often on their way to the Edinburgh comedy festival, very very good nights. watch out for the harvest auction, have seen the pickled onions go for hundreds!!
 

1JKz

Well-Known Forumite
'crackin pub!

worth a visit if you're in the area, worth a visit if you're not.

I went before it was turned into a balti house and it was depressing, now, it is fantastic.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
'crackin pub!

worth a visit if you're in the area, worth a visit if you're not.

I went before it was turned into a balti house and it was depressing, now, it is fantastic.
The Royal Oak at Church Eaton was also an Indian for a while?

Like the Hollybush at Seighford?

Perhaps they're taking turns..
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I'm suspecting that it's just a bit of confusion - all these places out in Yokelsville just look the same..
 

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
No they bloody don't. Oh, except Noah could be correct. I might have got Marston and Church Eaton confused. I know it was a very long walk home to Stafford via High Dudgeon. It was one of those dates you regret ten minutes in but instead of going home to finish your book, you have to keep making conversation. He definitely took me to a pub round there which had a separate cider bar upstairs.
 

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
The Vaughan Arms at Lapley used to do a mean balti, but it wasn't a balti house, did everything from fish and chips to game in red wine sauce. It has been closed for 6 or 7 years now, still empty and several applications for change of use have been refused. It was the two storey white & black version of the indistinguishable Yokelsville pubs. Maybe we should start a Memories of Pubs thread
 
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