Campus curiosities

Number 7: The Turf Tavern, Oxford

Bill Clinton may have regretted smoking marijuana ("I did not inhale") but at least he didn't have to admit to any part in cockfighting, bear-baiting or bare-knuckle boxing.

These were once traditional pursuits in the Oxford pub where the young Clinton is alleged to have tried the wicked weed.

The 13th-century Turf Tavern, next to New College, carries a plaque to mark the former US President's misdemeanour, a precursor to that other career-threatening episode, this time involving a cigar.

Clinton was a Rhodes scholar from 1968-70 and favoured the watering hole.

Barman and pub historian Dan Mitchell says this titbit of lore is a fascination for passing tourists.

The pub was once known as the Spotted Cow but changed its name in 1897 to reflect its clientele's penchant for gambling. This went hand in hand with whoring and the odd murder, a theme reprised when Inspector Morse was filmed there. The Turf Tavern has a long sporting history. The last legal cockfight in Europe was reputedly held there in the late 1800s.

The pub was also frequented by former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, a Rhodes scholar in 1953-55, who downed a yard of ale there in a record 11 seconds.