12. The Cellar Bar
Imagine a Thursday in early May. It is 1968, and the citizens of Oxford have sobered up from the strange and ancient festivities of the previous day. This is a great day: Her Late Majesty the Queen lays the foundation stone on the Linton Road site of Wolfson College. What is being birthed is a home for generations of students to revel not in the pagan dances and superstitions to be found downstream, but rather in the wonderful enterprise of learning and the maddening pursuit of academia.
‘Well, that’s settled. We should celebrate! Where is the nearest watering hole?’ – ‘There is Summertown, or North Parade.’ – ‘That seems a bit far to go for a pint, doesn’t it?’ That very day the seeds were sown for a bar to be built within the grounds of Wolfson, so that no one, whether royalty or self-respecting scholar, need walk more than a few meters in the harsh British weather in order to obtain a decent, affordable pint.
This story might not be entirely accurate but the truth is that ever since its establishment the Cellar Bar has been the centre of Wolfson’s social life and has sustained the sanity of innumerable dedicated students, research fellows and Governing Body fellows for decades throughout the hardships of life, the University and everything else in academia. The Cellar Bar is very much out of sight but rarely out of mind since it boasts an extraordinary selection of quaffable offerings at prices that would make any landlord’s eyes water. More importantly, it acts as a much-needed space for social interaction and discussion for everyone, and on certain nights it is a live venue for music or other well-loved events such as our fiendish quizzes. The surge in popularity of non-alcoholic drinks (not only in Dry January) is proof that the bar is not just a repository for -OH solutions but an inclusive space for every Wolfie to boost both their spirits and their hydration. The bar is often buzzing out of term-time when other colleges are deserted.
One of the most remarkable features of the bar is that it is run entirely on a volunteer basis: every year a cohort of students is inducted into the dark arts of pouring pints and spirits; upon approval by their friendly Bar Committee they agree to serve their fellow Wolfies at the bar without remuneration. The innovative spirit of the Wolfson Bar has been admired by none other than Wired Magazine.1 Wolfson Bar’s model of a community-run bar has stood the test of time and actively contributes to the warm community spirit that is often remarked upon by visitors.
Lucho Hildebrandt Belmont and Toby Hudson
