Latest news with #Charlbury
BBC News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Aunt Sally world champion targets back-to-back world titles
The reigning Aunt Sally world champion has said it would be "amazing" to retain his title, and win it for a record fourth Goodall, from Kidlington, is hoping to win back-to-back world championships during the competition at the Charlbury Beer Festival on 55-year-old told the BBC that he would need "a lot of luck" and "a few beers on the day" to extend his record of three Sally is a pub game, played almost exclusively in Oxfordshire, which involves throwing sticks to knock a small wooden block, called a dolly, off a short metal pole. Explaining the game, Mr Goodall said it was "completely different" to the often compared fair ground game coconut said he had "brilliant memories" of being introduced to it by his Dad when he was aged "about 12 or 13"."I was instantly hooked," he added. The Aunt Sally World Championship began at the Charlbury Beer Festival in 2011, with Mr Goodall winning it three times since then - in 2015, 2017 and his chances this year, he said: "There's a lot of good players there so you just need a bit of luck on the day, a bit of luck in the drawer and how players play against you on the day.""It would be amazing [to win it], it was amazing winning it last year for the third time, and Saturday would be just as good," he asked if he had any tips for budding Aunt Sally players, he said it was "difficult to explain how to hold a stick, or how to throw it - because everybody's got a different action, different throwing technique". The game sees players take part in three legs, with each having six attempts each leg to knock the dolly from a metal pole, called the iron, from 30ft (9.1m) origins are somewhat debated, with some theories suggesting it dates back to the 17th century or even earlier. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Reopened Oxfordshire pub named best in the UK at national awards
A 15th-century pub has beaten hundreds of others across the country to be crowned the UK's Bull, in Charlbury, Oxfordshire, was named the National Pub of the Year at the National Pub and Bar Awards - which were held in London on praised the rural pub for "blending quintessential qualities with the finesse and flawless service of a contemporary operation".Murray Ward, from the pub, told the BBC that the award "means a huge amount", adding: "We're delighted and we're very humbled as well." Mr Ward said Tuesday's success had been a "double whammy", after The Bull was crowned the best pub in the south east, and then in the UK as a whole, within 15 minutes of one another."It is definitely one of the main highlights of my career, and definitely a highlight for a Tuesday," he said. Praising the pub, those judging the awards said The Bull had "cemented its reputation as a leading countryside pub" since it reopened in July praised it for its "stripped-back design, brilliant front-of-house team and exceptional food coming out of the kitchen"."We're very lucky for what is a relatively small pub in a rural area that we're pretty busy and have a really good and consistent local following," Mr Ward added: "What we do is pretty honest and pretty simple, and we have a really amazing and really young team that push every single day to make sure that everything is better than it was the day before."The Bull is owned and operated by the Public House Group - which also runs London venues The Hero and The Pelican. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
