It is pretty tough in hospitality at the moment, with costs increasing left, right and centre, and the general public tightening their belts at the same time and not spending so much. It’s great therefore that we should take the opportunity to celebrate the best pubs that we have.

Pub of the Year 2026

The most prestigious of CAMRA Awards for pubs is the Pub of the Year competition, which is a nationwide competition to find the country’s best pubs. This starts with each Branch awarding its own Branch Pub of the Year, and this year South Oxfordshire Branch members have voted for their winning pub to be the Cross Keys in Wallingford.

All the 140 or so pubs in the branch area, have been judged by CAMRA members against a range of factors - their atmosphere, welcome, inclusivity, community-focus, service, value for money and, of course most importantly, great cask ales served in excellent condition, preferably coming from some of the 1,600 small, independent, and often local breweries, that have sprung up in the UK in recent years.

The Cross Keys ticks all these boxes and strongly demonstrates what a great pub should be. It was formerly a Brakspear pub, but was bought by the Thame-based pub company, Oak Taverns early in 2022 and reopened with Dave and Emma Howse at the helm (pictured with Branch Chair Graham Hards) in May of that year. The pub has gone from strength to strength ever since, and previously won our Pub of the Year in 2024, but its reputation continues to grow and thankfully it continues to serve a great always varying range of ales, in consistently great condition, alongside it’s house beer Howse Beer, which is a special release of Amwell Springs’ Stay Jammy.

Cider Pub of the Year 2026

CAMRA also supports and promotes proper cider and perry producers, and the pubs that sell their products. Proper cider and perry is made from 100% from squashed apples or pears – not from diluted fruit concentrates or from adding excess sugar to increase alcohol content, processes that most of the big-brand commercial producers use.

CAMRA therefore also has a national competition for the Cider Pub of the Year, to recognise pubs that promote and provide great real ciders, which again starts with branches voting on their own winner – and we are pleased to say that the Cross Keys has carried off this award too!

It is with great pleasure that we present these Awards to Dave and Emma on occasion of being voted winners in South Oxfordshire CAMRA’s overall Pub of the Year 2026 competition and also winner of our Cider Pub of the Year for 2026. Many congratulations to you on these fantastic achievements!

The pub now goes forward into the County and then possibly the Regional phases of both competitions (where it would be competing against the best of the 3,000 or so pubs in Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire). This then leads to the National finals later in the year.

Article credit to Graham Hards (Branch Chair)