There was another Royal Oak, Pom Pax, that you might remember at Hooksway, north of Chichester off the B2141. It's still there, but in the 60s a couple had been the licensees going back to before the first world war. They held only a beer and wine licence and you needed an Ordnance Survey map to find them, but that all added to the charm of the place.
A group of us went there while attending 242OCU at Thorney. Entering the front door we were confronted by an elderly couple sitting either side of the fireside. Thinking we had stumbled into their sitting room in error, we made to apologetically leave, but they bid us enter and confirmed that it was indeed their lounge (and only) bar.
Later, other regulars joined us having been hard at work harvesting. It wasn't long before they were singing various ditties of the "I had her in my threshing machine" kind. We in turn regaled them with "Shire, Shire, Somersetshire", and other Air Force songs that were more usually performed in the Mess.
A most enjoyable evening spent many years ago. The pub is under different management now, and no doubt in the same Chicken-in-the-Basket mode as so many others these days.
Last edited by Chugalug2; 12th Oct 2013 at 19:15.