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Picture source: Darkstar

The Oarsman was situated at 2 New Oxford Street and was previously known as The Oxford & Cambridge.

The Oarsman was a Scottish and Newcastle pub which was part of an office block. It had previously been called the Oxford and Cambridge but when I worked opposite it and occasionally drank in there in the early 1990s it was called the Oarsman. The pub was closed in 2001 when the block was redeveloped and there is now no trace of it.

Colin Price (July 2011)

I was fascinated to read another contributor as I also worked opposite this pub mid 1970s in Commonwealth House on New Oxford St. It was a funny location in the angle at the bottom of another building in a little triangle oasis between 2 bigger roads. The area was busy during the week but like a ghost town at the weekend, like a world within a world. I remember the pub as being clean and well kept, and was very popular with our office. We would use it lunchtimes and after work, it was particularly popular on a Friday evening and I can recall often staying as a group leaving feeling worse for wear as there was no food there (or very locally) just salted or dry roasted nuts !! I had to go in once on a Saturday and was amazed to see it closed Sat/Sun, but I soon saw why, it was office trade only. I returned years later and the little area had been totally reconfigured - it was as if the pub had been struck out of history. It’s really sad when a building that has seen joy, talk, plans, intrigue?, arguments … who knows? …. just loses its soul and existence.

Tim Piercy (November 2021)

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Contacts

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Name	Dates	Comments
Gerard Mongan	1990s	I managed this place (and a fair few others) for a while as a relief manager for S&N