Chipping Norton has no shortage of places to eat, but The Chequers is the one that feels most like the town's own living room. Tucked beside the old market place, it's the kind of pub where locals settle in for the evening and visitors quickly feel at home.
The Chequers occupies one of the oldest buildings in Chipping Norton, and you can feel it the moment you step inside: low ceilings, worn flagstones, the sort of comfortable quiet that only centuries of use can produce. The beer selection leans toward well-kept real ales, and the food is honest pub cooking done properly. Pies with proper pastry, thick-cut chips, Sunday roasts that arrive without ceremony but disappear quickly. Nothing tries too hard, which is precisely the point.
We tend to end up here on evenings when we want something unfussy after a day exploring. Chippy itself is worth a wander beforehand: the wide high street, the old theatre, the independent shops that somehow keep going in an age of retail parks. The Chequers sits just off the market square, so you can do the loop and arrive thirsty. It's about fifteen minutes by car from the cottage, and there's usually parking nearby in the evening.
“If you want a proper pint and a pie without any fuss, The Chequers is where to go. It feels like it's been there forever, and hopefully it will be.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.