ON A recent day trip to Oxford, revisiting old haunts with a local friend, I was appalled to be told – while wheeling a bike from the Thames Path into The Perch at Binsey – that we were not allowed in with bicycles.

And this was early afternoon on an almost-wet Wednesday. Don’t they want customers or what?

We didn’t go in and I would put them on any list I can to stop others visiting what used to be a good pub.

How do they get away with banning bikes in one of the most cycle-friendly cities in the world? Do they just want people in fancy cars?

Luckily, the Trout at Wolvercote was open and we had a good meal there, though I was shocked to see their bar now has an array of fizzy drink dispensers and barely a hand-pump to be seen, yet they still dare to show Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse book covers.

As they say, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

DAVID REED, Eton Avenue, London