Oxford question

[venta]

Can anyone physically in Oxford city centre this weekend please verify for me exactly *where* the Chequers is? I know it's down a little alleyway off the High, and google maps puts it between Britannia and a jewellers. Are those shops still what they were when the little photocar googled its way past?

Don't make a special journey or anything, just if you're passing :)

Comments

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I may be down there this afternoon anyway but off the top of my head, yes, Britannia is still there and the jewellers sounds right too. If I were looking for it, rather than being on autopilot and letting my feet take me there, I'd look for Britannia as a handy landmark.

Edit: Ha, that goes to show - I just thought about it a bit more and no, Britannia is not there. It's now Hotel Chocolat. LOL.

[j4.livejournal.com]

I'm not physically on the High Street right now but I am fairly sure that what was Britannia is now Hotel Chocolat (trying to confirm this online: the Oxford High Street branch no longer appears on Britannia's branch finder, but a bit of Googling and cache-trawling suggests that it was 132 High Street, which is the address of Hotel Chocolat).

Also, the alleyway for the Chequers has a big white dog(?) statue above it, a chequered crest sticking out from it, and says "HISTORIC PUB" over the lintel -- I won't say "you can't miss it" because that's always fatal, but it's not too hard to find! :)

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

Yep, I recall the look-up-and-you'll-see-a-chequerboard strategy.

But not been there for a few years- good luck!

[shui-long.livejournal.com]

As it happens, I'll be walking past there within the next hour - more later

[shui-long.livejournal.com]

Site visit report: Brittania is no longer there, and the shop on the right-hand side of the alleyway is now occupied by Hotel Chocolat. There's a Chequer sign hanging above the alley entrance. Pizza Hut is on the opposite side of the High.
It looks like a decent pub, but I didn't stop to check out the beer. Presumably the rapper dance will be in the courtyard outside - not sure there's that much room in the pub bar.

[brrm.livejournal.com]

I was there only last night! It was quite packed, with people who I swear weren't old enough to be in a pub ;-) but interesting interior decor for a pub (you'll see what I mean) and pleasant, I thought.

And it is down a short alleyway between two shops, but as others have said keep an eye out for a 'Chequers'/checkerboard sign over the top of the alleyway and you can't go wrong. Quite close to the Cornmarket/St Aldate's end of the High St. If you pass Turl St you've gone too far.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Nah, there's plenty of space in doors... a decent rapper team doesn't need a very big bar!

And thank you very much for being the eyes on the street :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks - you are indeed correct it's Hotel Chocolat. I'd rather give people a shop to aim for than say "you can't miss it" because that is, as you say, fatal!

[j4.livejournal.com]

If you gave me Hotel Chocolat to aim for, I'd probably forget all about the pub. ;-)