The Thatched Tavern (Brakspear)
Appleton, Oxfordshire

    * Brakspear Bitter £1.60
    * Brakspear Special Bitter £1.75
    * Guinness Stout £2.20
    * Strongbow Cider £2.00
    * Heineken Lager £1.90
    * Henry £1.00
    * Jonathan Crisp Crisps 35p (11.i.1998)

The more northerly of the two pubs in Appleton, this one appears to be 
open for longer, and is run by a middle-aged couple. It was too dark to 
tell whether the pub genuinely is thatched. They have four pumps in 
operation, two of which seem to be connected to casks of Brakspear Bitter, 
and one of the others was connected to the Brakspear Special. The 
Brakspear Bitter I had here was a lot better than the stuff in the 
Catherine Wheel at Sandford-upon-Thames.

The food is good and averagely priced (many main courses for under £5), 
and the service seems friendly enough (Brakspear, I should point out, 
should be pronounced to rhyme with Shakespeare), there's a reasonable 
fire, the atmosphere is good, but unfortunately, and like most of the pubs 
out in this direction, they have piped Fox FM.

Customary warning: The Jonathan Crisp crisps on sale here are made with 
peanut oil. (12.i.1998)