I seem to remember CTC members once got a useful handbook with a list of "cyclists welcome" cafes - is this online anywhere?
Anyway, does anyone know of a cafe, garden centre or anywhere else to get tea and cake immediately to the west of Oxford (around the A420)? Not Faringdon - it's too hard to get a large group in and out of since the old quiet roads have been fenced off, and we don't want to use the A420 itself as it's a full-on killing zone. Pubs might be OK if they definitely do tea and cake and are open at 11am on a Saturday.
Cafes to the west of Oxford
Cafes
You could try Millets Farm
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rogerzilla
- Posts: 2919
- Joined: 9 Jun 2008, 8:06pm
I've run a few cycling weekends* in the Vale of the White Horse so I've spent quite a while looking for good coffee stops round there!
Don't write off Faringdon - there are several OK-ish ways in and out. The best are from the south or west via Great Coxwell or Little Coxwell, but the A417 from Lechlade is pretty quiet for an A road, as is the A4095 coming up from Radcot Bridge. You can also escape to the south-east via the old blocked-off main road past Folly Hill, which has a cycle path through onto the A420 roundabout and thence to a mile and a half of A417 before you can get onto the quiet B road. There are a couple of coffee shops in the marketplace, though one is very small.
There is also a tea-room in the National Trust village of Buscot, between Faringdon and Lechlade, but its opening hours have always seemed rather erratic to me.
Plenty of choice in Wantage, though if you dislike the approaches to Faringdon you'll hate the roads into Wantage. If you do venture in, probably the best is the excellent cafe in the Museum, though the chain bakery in the Square is perfectly acceptable.
The village shop in Coleshill is well worth a visit - it serves teas, coffees and home-made cakes. I've taken groups there. Seating for about 20 inside, with more tables outside. It's set in a courtyard, in the old estate farm buildings. They open Saturdays and some Sundays. It's run by volunteers, though, so opening hours can vary - you will need to call in advance to make sure they'll be open. Lovely people, very helpful and deserve support for their efforts keeping a village shop running.
Witney has a number of options. If you don't want to venture into the middle of town, Cogges Manor Farm museum is on the eastern outskirts and easily approachable via minor roads and cycle paths, and you can make use of the large cafe without having to pay entry for the museum itself.
I second the mention of Aston Pottery. They used to struggle to cope with more than 20 in a group as their coffee shop was small, but I believe they've been building a new, larger cafe.
The Ferryman Inn at Bablock Hythe (near Stanton Harcourt) opens all day on Saturdays from 9am(!). Not the greatest or most attractive pub in the world, but friendly, situated in an idyllic spot by the Thames and with plenty of room for large groups. The first time I took a cycling group there, the landlord arranged for us to be carried across the river in the pub's own ferry. Sadly the ferry was badly damaged in the 2007 floods and I don't know if they repaired it.
Finally, not much good for Saturday mornings but I can't leave it out: The ladies of Uffington serve tea and generously-sized home-made cakes in the village hall on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer months, and are well able to cope with large cycling parties (though I'm sure they'd appreciate prior warning).
* for http://www.bicycle-beano.co.uk, since you ask
Don't write off Faringdon - there are several OK-ish ways in and out. The best are from the south or west via Great Coxwell or Little Coxwell, but the A417 from Lechlade is pretty quiet for an A road, as is the A4095 coming up from Radcot Bridge. You can also escape to the south-east via the old blocked-off main road past Folly Hill, which has a cycle path through onto the A420 roundabout and thence to a mile and a half of A417 before you can get onto the quiet B road. There are a couple of coffee shops in the marketplace, though one is very small.
There is also a tea-room in the National Trust village of Buscot, between Faringdon and Lechlade, but its opening hours have always seemed rather erratic to me.
Plenty of choice in Wantage, though if you dislike the approaches to Faringdon you'll hate the roads into Wantage. If you do venture in, probably the best is the excellent cafe in the Museum, though the chain bakery in the Square is perfectly acceptable.
The village shop in Coleshill is well worth a visit - it serves teas, coffees and home-made cakes. I've taken groups there. Seating for about 20 inside, with more tables outside. It's set in a courtyard, in the old estate farm buildings. They open Saturdays and some Sundays. It's run by volunteers, though, so opening hours can vary - you will need to call in advance to make sure they'll be open. Lovely people, very helpful and deserve support for their efforts keeping a village shop running.
Witney has a number of options. If you don't want to venture into the middle of town, Cogges Manor Farm museum is on the eastern outskirts and easily approachable via minor roads and cycle paths, and you can make use of the large cafe without having to pay entry for the museum itself.
I second the mention of Aston Pottery. They used to struggle to cope with more than 20 in a group as their coffee shop was small, but I believe they've been building a new, larger cafe.
The Ferryman Inn at Bablock Hythe (near Stanton Harcourt) opens all day on Saturdays from 9am(!). Not the greatest or most attractive pub in the world, but friendly, situated in an idyllic spot by the Thames and with plenty of room for large groups. The first time I took a cycling group there, the landlord arranged for us to be carried across the river in the pub's own ferry. Sadly the ferry was badly damaged in the 2007 floods and I don't know if they repaired it.
Finally, not much good for Saturday mornings but I can't leave it out: The ladies of Uffington serve tea and generously-sized home-made cakes in the village hall on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer months, and are well able to cope with large cycling parties (though I'm sure they'd appreciate prior warning).
* for http://www.bicycle-beano.co.uk, since you ask
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rogerzilla
- Posts: 2919
- Joined: 9 Jun 2008, 8:06pm
Very comprehensive, and I didn't realise it was possible to break through at the A417/A420 roundabout.
I don't suppose you know if Park House Antiques in Bladon is still doing lunches? It was my thought for a lunch stop (since Blenheim Palace is rather bike-hostile; you have to chain your bike up at the gate and walk).
I don't suppose you know if Park House Antiques in Bladon is still doing lunches? It was my thought for a lunch stop (since Blenheim Palace is rather bike-hostile; you have to chain your bike up at the gate and walk).
It's quite a few years since I explored that far north, so I pass on that one. However... I see the West Oxon CTC section has just created a new web page of cafes in the area. They only created it in December so it should be pretty up to date! They mention Park House Antiques and quite a few others not yet covered here.