AFTER more than half a millennium in business, even last month's floods couldn't leave The White Swan in a flap. More recently run by the late Boon star Michael Elphick, there has been an inn on this site since 1352 and the current building dates back to 1550-65. There should be no real surprise, then, that the hotel, restaurant and bar happily withstood the torrent of water which flowed down the High Street on Wet Friday, July 20. Many of the people who flocked here for refuge apparently ended up bedding down. The newly-refurbished pub might have a ghostly reputation, as well as a courtyard used for public hangings, but if some of today's bar food is any guide the stranded would have reckoned an overnight stay would have been worth every penny. My homemade steak and Guinness pie arrived with a super-light pastry crust which reminded me of a flat capped friend who would really enjoy this sort of food. The meat was beautifully tender and the gravy almost as rich as Bill Gates. New potatoes are a personal July favourite and mine were splendid. Our waiter happily supplied me with some tasty olive oil to round them off to perfection. Our children each had garden peas, chips and chicken goujons. The crispy batter was deceptively tasty but the goujons' sponge-like meat was the only disappointment of our meals given that Collette enjoyed her whole-tail scampi with equally good chips and mushy peas. Our non-itemised bill included a large Fairtrade glass of Chardonnay, J20s and a pint of real ale that was new to me. Oxfordshire's Hooky Bitter (3.6 per cent) claims to be made where 'progress is measured in pints'. At £2.65 for a glass of golden 'honey', I half-hoped we'd end up stranded for the night. THE BILL: Steak and Guinness pie £6.75, Wholetail scampi and chips £6.75, Three children's meals £11.85, Drinks £11.05. Total: £36.40. | 
