Oxford’s Campaign for Real Ale branch named its best pub of this year as The Crafty Pint Bar in Langdale Court, Witney, which describes itself as a ‘fiercely independent’ craft beer bar.

The Oxford Branch of CAMRA, which covers the whole of Oxfordshire, said picking an overall winner for the coveted title of best of the year was ‘next to impossible’ with the top three narrowed down to The Crafty Pint, The Brewery Tap in Abingdon and The Red Lion in Yarnton.

The Crafty Pint Bar in Witney was named Oxford CAMRA’s Pub of the Year 2026 (Image: Melanie Cassidy)

With 85 people voting, which ‘may be the largest number ever’, according to the organisation, The Crafty Pint Bar came out on top.

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Melanie Cassidy, landlady of the craft beer bar, said: “It was so lovely to see everyone come out and support The Crafty Pint Bar as we received this monumental award, voted by CAMRA members.

Melanie Cassidy receiving the Pub of the Year certificate from an Oxford CAMRA representative (Image: Melanie Cassidy)

“So many friendly faces came to see us and it humbled me to think this space means so much to everyone not just me.

“The beers are one thing and I’m proud of the ever changing selection we offer, but it’s the people, the community, the way everyone welcomes everyone and how new friendships are forged that makes The Crafty Pint Bar what it is.”

Oxford’s CAMRA added that ‘every candidate was someone’s pub of the year’ as each of the venues nominated won votes from members, and commended the ‘excellent’ quality of the contest.

Paul Westcott, of Coxwell Road, Faringdon, appeared at Oxford Crown Court on Monday, May 11.

The 56-year-old had initially been due to stand trial, but entered four guilty pleas.

He pleaded guilty to stealing three Mercedes cars and £42,000 from the Hrycko family between October and December 2019.

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Oxford Crown Court (Image: Oxford Mail)

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation to Michael Hrycko relating to a Mercedes C220d, Range Rover and a Mercedes A180.

The court heard Westcott had a previous conviction of a similar nature from 2012.

A pre-sentence report was ordered ahead of the sentencing hearing set for July 7.

Judge Maria Lamb told the defendant to put his affairs in order as his sentence will be one of immediate custody.

Baroness Lucy Faithfull was honoured with a blue plaque in a ceremony on Saturday, May 9.

Baroness Lucy Faithfull (Image: Oxford Blue Plaques Board)

The campaigner was born in South Africa, and returned to England in 1916 where she was education at Bournemouth and then at the Sorbonne in Paris.

During the Second World War she was appointed a regional welfare officer for the evacuee programme, which involved travelling with the children and troubleshooting, and later became an inspector with the Home Office children’s department.

She was appointed by Oxford City Council in 1958 as one of the first children’s officers created by the Children Act of 1948, a ground-breaking national commitment to children’s welfare.

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303 Woodstock Road with the blue plaque (Image: Stephanie Jenkins)

The expectation was that apart from being an administrator she should know all the children in care personally and be in effect a one-woman social service.

After the care system became county based, from 1970 to 1974 she was director of social services in Oxford, receiving an OBE on retirement.

In 1975, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, then leader of the opposition, persuaded her to accept a life peerage and bring her experience to debates in the Lords.

The blue plaque commemorating Baroness Lucy Faithfull (Image: Stephanie Jenkins)

The first social worker to sit there, she became an outstanding, tireless and outspoken advocate of children’s interests and other social causes.

She helped create and chaired the All-Party Parliamentary group for Children and had a seminal influence on the Children Act of 1989.

She held many trusteeships, chairs, and presidencies, including Barnardo’s, the National Children’s Bureau (which she helped found), and the NSPCC, and worked behind the scenes with ministers on the committee grind.

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She helped create the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a UK child protection charity that seeks to prevent child sexual abuse before it happens, through treatment of abusers and other awareness projects.

At the ceremony was Elizabeth Poskitt a councillor, for West Oxfordshire, Katharine Keats-Rohan the chair of South Oxfordshire District Council, Mark Lygo the chair of Oxfordshire County Council, Louise Upton the Lord Mayor of Oxford, and Oliver Forder the chair of the Vale of the White Horse District Council.

From left to right: Elizabeth Poskitt, Katharine Keats-Rohan, Mark Lygo, Louise Upton, and Oliver Forder (Image: Stephanie Jenkins)

She was commemorated by the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board with a plaque on 303, Woodstock Road her address from 1958 until her passing in 1996.

Also attending was Adrian McNulty, director of operation at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

This marks the first blue plaque unveiled in Oxfordshire in 2026.

The baroness joins C.S. Lewis, author of Alice in Wonderland, poet Robert Graves, and Dame Agatha Christie as one of the many people, inventions and places honoured by the Oxford blue plaques scheme.