The Aviator, Carterton, Oxfordshire

There is a prejudice against the people of Carterton evident in the reviews I have seen on the web of the Aviator.  Don’t believe those reviews, though…this is a fine local that the folks here can be proud to call their own.

Carterton, itself, is not especially pretty, though, at least not along the north side as the bus approaches past mile after mile of 60’s and 70’s military housing, a lot of it the worse for wear.  But, for every bit of crumbling precast concrete, there is a small garden that has homely, personal touches in it.  It may be bleak, but by adding a pot of flowers it can also look like a home.  It gets a little posher on the southern half of town.

The Aviator itself is friendly and large and packed at lunchtime with friendly punters and families grabbing a bit of lunch (quite cheap lunch, in fact).  The name comes from a nod to the air base next door, RAF Brize Norton; I am surprised I was the only American in the house, in fact, and equally surprised after realising it that I got such a warm welcome…included right away in the gardener’s banter with the barmaid about how he’s just finished trimming her bush and what other jobs might she have for him.

Okay, not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’d much rather have that than either a fight OR a quiet pint alone.