Hello everyone. I received an email recently from a blog reader asking if I had created an Inspector Morse pub crawl. I replied that I hadn’t but what a jolly good idea it would be for a blog post. So, here is this blog post.
I have also created three downloadable PDFs which can be found at the end of this post. The PDFs include one alphabetised by pub location, one alphabetised by postcode and one alphabetised by Morse episode title. Simply click on the PDF link and it will open in another window. You will then have the option to save, download and print. I hope this will help. You could then upload the PDFs to your tablet or phone.
So let us get started with the pub crawl. This ‘crawl’ consists of five pubs. The obvious place to start is the Morse Bar in the Randolph Hotel, Beaumont Street, Oxford.
The Morse bar was used as a location in The Wench is Dead and The Wolvercote Tongue.
The second pub to visit is the Eagle and Child which was used in the episodes, Second Time Around and The Way Through the Woods.
The next port of call is The King’s Arms. This was used as a location in the episode, The Secret of Bay 5B.
If you are still feeling thirsty while on route to the King’s Arms you could stop in at The Lamb and Flag located on Lamb and Flag Passage. However, I don’t believe it was ever used in a Morse episode as a location.
Onwards and upwards our next location is The White Horse. This pub was used as a location in Absolute Conviction, Dead of Jericho, Deadly Slumber, Last Seen Wearing, Service of All the Dead and The Secret of Bay 5B.
After The White Horse the next pub is the Turf Tavern. The Turf was used in the episodes, The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn and Absolute Conviction.
It is a hop, skip and a jump from The White Horse to the Turf Tavern.
Below is a map of all five pubs.
If you are still standing after visiting the five pubs there is a sixth but it is a little further away but certainly it isn’t too far and it a nice route to walk. That pub is the Bear Inn which was used as a location in the episode Absolute Conviction. However, Morse and Lewis never drank there. In the episode Lewis is following what he believes to be an escaped prisoner.
Below is how to get from the Turf Tavern to the Bear Inn.
I hope the above is helpful. However, do not blame me for any hangovers that are incurred the next day 😉
My next idea for a pub crawl is one by car. Of course it should go without saying that you either only drink soft drinks or get yourself a designated driver. This ‘crawl’ does depend on where you are staying in Oxford. As a starting point I have assumed you are staying in the city of Oxford. I have included four pubs in this pub car crawl.
The first pub to visit is The Perch Inn that was used a as a location in The Daughter’s of Cain. On leaving the city drive west down Botley Road the A4144. You are looking for Binsey Lane which will be on your right.
Drive up Binsey Lane until you come to this area shown in the picture below.
The full address is Binsey Ln, Binsey, Oxford OX2 0NG.
Our next pub is the The White Hart, Wytham, Oxford, OX2 8QA. The White Hart was only used once in the original Morse series in the episode, The Way Through The Woods.
Unfortunately one has to drive back down Binsey Lane back to Botley Road. When you get to the junction of the these two roads turn right. Go west along Botley Road which then becomes the West Way. Turn into A420 as you want to get on the Western Bypass Road (A34).
Go north on the Western Bypass Road . Take the first exit off the Western Bypass Road for Godstow and Wytham.
When you come off the Western Bypass Road you will see this below. (Of course minus the black arrow and writing 😉 )
Keep following this road until you come to a group of houses and in the middle of that group on the left is the pub.
Onto pub number three which is The Trout Inn, 195 Godstow Road, Oxford, OX2 8PN. The Trout Inn was only used once in the Morse series in the episode Second Time Around. It was used more often in the Lewis series.
Continue along the road you drove on to get to The White Hart.
You are now looking for Godstow Road.
Continue to follow Godstow Road
Following the Godstow Road you will cross two narrow bridges over the River Thames and then see this wonderful sight, The Trout Inn.
After the Trout Inn the next stop is The Victoria Arms, Old Marston, Mill Lane, Old Marston, OX3 0QA. This pub was used in the episodes, The Daughters of Cain, The Remorseful Day and Who Killed Harry Field.
When you leave The Trout Inn car park turn left and continue along Godstow Road until you encounter a roundabout. Take the fourth exit onto the M40.
Follow this road until you get to an exit marked for Marston and Elsfield.
Here is a video I made of my drive along Elsfield Road to the Victoria Arms.
There are of course many other pubs I haven’t included in these pub crawls for one reason or another but I hope the above will be of some help in enjoying your trip to Oxford.
So here are the PDFs (all two pages long) I mentioned at the beginning of the post. Firstly we have the pub locations alphabetised by pub name;
Next we have the same list but alphabetised by episode;
Next we have the same list but alphabetised by postcode;
Lastly, I have created a PDF of the walking pub crawl.
As I said above, you could put these PDFs on your smart phone or tablet rather than printing them off.
Thank you Chris. What a great idea! Can’t wait to do this crawl some day. Thank you for the PDFs.
That is so good of you to do this- I’m going to pass it on to that group- there are several people planing a trip this summer- and it nice for us to look at that cannot come to the UK ;O)
Thank you! Wonderful photos
You put an amazing amount of work into your posts. Quit making the rest of us look lazy.
We’ll have to try out a crawl one of these days. Rather, a stagger, fall, crawl, then pass out. Give me your WordPress password and I’ll live blog it for you. 😉
I didn’t view the video part till now- really enjoyed that- feel like I been there now-a little bit.- It is the 4th of July soon- I was born July 7- always said I was a left over fire cracker- That day we celebrate our separation from the mother country- but we still like to think we could be there someday-even if we cannot.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Chris. I’m sending it to my travel planner and we’ll include it in the tour we’re setting up. If you’re interested, I set up a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Britishmysteryloverstour2018/. The details of the tour will be avaiable there in a couple of weeks. I know this will be an enjoyable addition to anyone’s trip. Keep up the good work.
Thank you and I hope the tour goes well.
This post is just brilliant, especially since I am also one of those planning a trip to Oxford in the coming months. Thank you! Plus, since I don’t comment often enough, let me congratulate you on the blog in general, it is always a treat to read!
Thank you for your lovely comment. I hope you have a great time in Oxford.
This is fabulous!! Thank you!! Carol Kerrison
From: “Morse, Lewis and Endeavour” To: kemsing54@sbcglobal.net Sent: Friday, June 30, 2017 10:09 AM Subject: [New post] Inspector Morse Pub Crawl. (Including downloadable PDFs of Pub Locations) #yiv6751032536 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv6751032536 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv6751032536 a.yiv6751032536primaryactionlink:link, #yiv6751032536 a.yiv6751032536primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv6751032536 a.yiv6751032536primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv6751032536 a.yiv6751032536primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv6751032536 WordPress.com | Chris Sullivan posted: “Hello everyone. I received an email recently from a blog reader asking if I had created an Inspector Morse pub crawl. I replied that I hadn’t but what a jolly good idea it would be for a blog post. So, here is this blog post.I have also created th” | |
This is an amazing look at all the pubs where all the series have been filmed, so interesting and so much attention to detail. Thank you for all your hard work, and it adds to the pleasure watching the various episodes.
Thank you Angela for your lovely comment. I hope you find many other posts to enjoy on my blog.
July 11, 2017
This is not a major item, but just an example of how some things invariably are overlooked in a TV series. In the pilot episode of “Lewis”, when he arrives back in Oxford and visits his wife’s grave, Lewis is wearing a wedding band; yet in “Morse”, when Val Lewis was alive, he wasn’t. Traditionally, of course, most couples exchange rings at their weddings.
In a similar vein, Laura Hobson is seen wearing what appears to be a diamond wedding ring on her right hand. This is sometimes customary when a woman’s spouse has died; yet there is no mention of Laura having ever been married.
The “wedding ring jinx” strikes movies and TV shows more often than one might think. As I said, just an observation; not a big deal.
John Thompson
My daughter has now been married 16 years-(she works in an insurance office) there seems to be a thing now of replacing the wedding band with something-don’t know what is called- its green in color – its being used on the wedding finger for those that might have gain or lost weigh over the years- rings become loose- put away to be resize when convenient- the green ring is replacing the wedding ring for people actively work with there hands .I think this is it https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Silicone-Wedding-Ring-Winning/dp/B013Z54O7G
Congratulations and thank you for all your wonderful posts! I have been meaning to write for a while as I have thoroughly enjoyed the sight of your titles in my inbox and the anticipation of revisiting many episodes and locations. Like many, I am sure, I fell in love with the city through Colin’s books, even accepting an interview for a job there to relocate there, at one point. I was lucky enough to fly back from Switzerland on year to have lunch with Colin dexter in New College and it was delight to spend an afternoon in his company in such a convivial setting. I have revisited the city from India, China and will again soon from my current abode in the Middle East. I can’t wait to explore the new pubs you have mentioned! I will risk being that guy by throwing in that St. Helen’s Passage did appear in the Morse series in, at least two episodes; SOATD as Morse and Lewis go for a drink only for our hero to see Ruth Rawlinson in company, if my memory serves me right. Plus, there’s an episode I have a vague recollection of where a drunk is walking backwards and Morse laments to Lewis he feels the same way oftentimes. The latter will bug me now, I am sure. 🙂 Keep up the excellent work and it’s a real service to the series as well as to us, the erstwhile fan!
Thank you Patrick for your encouraging and supportive comment. I am very envious that you got to meet Colin.The other scene you mention about the drunk is also I believe Service of All the Dead.
Hello Chris,
Thanks for this post, i will visit Oxford the 22 th of August and will use your pub crawl post as a guide. Looking forward to your film-post when you’re back from your holiday in Oxford.
Regards,
Karel
I’ll be in Oxford in April and am looking forward to doing this pub crawl. Thank you so much for doing this,
have a great time Linda. Don’t get too drunk. 😉
This is fantastic. My parents and I are huge fans of Endeavour and will be visiting Oxford from the US in August. Was curious as to which pub is most often featured on the show- seems they are going for a pint several times per episode 🙂 Looking forward to visiting!
This is great! My husband and I are huge fans of Morse, Lewis and Endeavour. We´ll be visiting Oxford in June and planned to – among other things- try to locate some of the riverside pubs featured. You have made that much easier so a heartfelt Thank you Cris! We wish you the very best of luck with your studies!
Thank you so much for this post! It solved a mystery for me. The last time I was in Oxford was for a seminar in the summer of 2003. I went on a pub crawl with some of the participants who had been there before (and I seem to recall that they were Morse fans). I had this vague memory of being in a pub with neckties in glass cases on the walls but couldn’t remember the name of the pub. Your post helped me figure out that it was The Bear. It was so charming and cozy. I hope to make it back there again one day.
Super guide. Do you know where the other pubs are from Who Killed Harry Field? The ‘crooked chimney’ plus the other ones?
Bravo!
Hello and welcome to my website. The other pubs of that particular episode are mentioned in my review of the episode; https://morseandlewisandendeavour.com/2017/05/15/a-review-of-morse-episode-who-killed-harry-field-plus-the-art-music-and-literary-references/
Chris, The Trout Inn was also used in the Wolvercote Tongue .
Hi Robert and welcome to my website. I didn’t mention the Trout Inn as neither Lewis or Morse had a drink.
Sadly the Eagle and Child or the Bird and Baby as many locals call it has been closed for some time and I’m not when or if it will reopen.
And I will confess this is a pub crawl I’ve done many times and there’s always a few other interesting pubs between if your feeling thirsty
The Oxford Mail has reported that the Eagle and Child will reopen in 2022.
Hope so several potential dates have come and gone but I guess that’s Covid related.
Cracking pub though was always one of my favourites.
Thank you so much for this guide Chris, it is amazing. I just came across it when googling Morse pubs in readiness for a trip to Oxford. Morse, Lewis and Endeavour are the best programmes ever and I really miss Morse!
Hello Angela and welcome to my website. I’m so glad you enjoyed the pub crawl. Enjoy your trip to Oxford and I hope you get a chance to visit many of the pubs.
I don’t have a website, but thanks for the directions and photos!
You’re welcome Julia.