From the front room of The Eagle and Child, St Giles, Oxford.
The Eagle and Child is commonly referred to as the "Bird and Babe" (other, less palatable variations on the name are known). About fifty yards away to the left of the front door, is a very good second-hand bookstore, run by Oxfam.
The pub belongs to St John's College, (as does the Lion and Lamb, on the other side of St Giles). It's been a pub since about 1650, just after the civil war.
In more recent times its claims to fame include having had me as a regular customer in the mid seventies, and prior to that, being a regular meeting place for a group of Oxford folk who enjoyed writing; they were known to each other as "The Inklings". The best known of this group were C.S. Lewis, writer of, amongst other things, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, followed by a host of other Narnia stories, and J.R.R. Tolkien, best known for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
I can report that it still serves a good pint of beer.
I can report that it still serves a good pint of beer.
