The Lamb & Flag in Oxford is thriving more than six months on from reopening.

The pub in St Giles, one of the city’s oldest, closed in January 2021 due to adverse trading conditions in the pandemic.

But community interest group the Inklings stepped in to take over the running of the St John’s College-owned pub.

READ MORE: Charming pub gets new food hygiene rating 

Dylan Dudbridge-Hay and his wife Alice are managing the historic pub on behalf of the Inklings.

They opened the doors in October and it has been busy ever since.

“We certainly have a lot of students, many of whom never knew the old pub, but it doesn’t feel very different out of term time,” Mr Dudbridge-Hay told the Oxford Drinker magazine.

“We see the same volume, but a different mix. We still get a lot of CAMRA people, mainly in the daytime, whereas students come mainly in the evenings when we sell more keg beer.

Oxford Mail: "But I don’t think the audience for cask and keg is split by age, although people who are less versed in beer will go for keg. Our highest seller of all is Oxford Brewery’s Prospect.”

Although Mr Dudbridge-Hay and his wife started out with a plan to serve hot food, they decided in the end to stick to bar snacks as the feedback from customers was 'focus on the beer'.

“We keep our food offering to really simple bar snacks – things that go well with beer,” said Mr Dudbridge-Hay.

“In the old Lamb & Flag beer was always the big seller, and we didn’t want to lose sight of that. People come in to drink, not for food, but if you’re hungry we offer something to nibble on.

Oxford Mail:

"We’re still finding local breweries we haven’t had before – Wriggly Monkey, for example."

Inflation has taken its toll on all pubs, but the Lamb & Flag has kept its lowest cask ale price at £4.50 a pint and lager at £4.60, although other ales typically cost £5-£5.50.

READ MORE: Vital bus service is saved from the axe

The priority now is to steer the pub through the summer months, when it has no outside space except only three tables and six chairs allowed by its pavement licence.

Oxford Mail:

“We’ve settled down after re-opening, and found out what works and what doesn’t,” said Mr Dudbridge-Hay.

“We’ve bridged the gap between the old Lamb & Flag and the pub we have today, and want to create a space that works for everyone.”

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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